E-commerce today is no longer just about transactions. It’s a platform war, integrating fulfillment, fintech, AI, and advertising. Let's look at how major players are positioned within this shift:

Amazon leads with full-stack control: online marketplace, Prime ecosystem, FBA logistics, AWS cloud infrastructure, and growing ad revenues. It's the most vertically integrated commerce platform.

Walmart competes by blending online and offline. Its physical store network acts as local fulfillment hubs, and it's aggressively building out marketplace capabilities and ad tech. It’s a hybrid commerce engine.

Costco thrives on member loyalty and scale efficiency. Though less tech-heavy, its bulk value model and global sourcing power keep margins strong and prices competitive. It's analog efficiency in a digital world.

Shopify empowers merchants to build independent storefronts with tools for checkout, fulfillment, and AI-driven personalization. It captures value across the long tail of commerce.

MercadoLibre is the Latin American e-commerce leader with its own marketplace, payments (MercadoPago), logistics (MercadoEnvios), and lending arms. It’s building a full-stack regional ecosystem.

Sea Ltd operates Shopee, which dominates Southeast Asia with mobile-first design, aggressive subsidies, and local market adaptation. It trades profitability for growth, betting on long-term network effects.