Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA) and Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) are two very different e-commerce companies.

Alibaba owns Taobao and Tmall, the two largest consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer marketplaces, respectively, in China. Those two platforms generate most of its e-commerce revenue, but it also owns the business-to-business marketplace Alibaba.com, the cross-border platform AliExpress, the Southeast Asian marketplace Lazada, and the Turkish marketplace Trendyol.

Shopify doesn't operate any online marketplaces, unlike Alibaba. Instead, it provides the e-commerce tools that enable individual merchants to set up their own online stores, process payments, fulfill orders, and manage their marketing campaigns. That flexibility makes it an attractive option for merchants who don't want to join a crowded third-party marketplace like Amazon or eBay.

Continue reading

Source Fool.com