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This article reveals the latest core data on the composition of top sellers on Amazon’s U.S. marketplace, with key takeaways summarized below:

The structure of top sellers on the platform has undergone a qualitative shift. Among the top 10,000 sellers on Amazon U.S., Chinese sellers account for 55.9% of the total, surpassing U.S. sellers’ 40.5% for the first time. This share has risen 3.8 percentage points over the past 12 months. Top seller positions have also become more stable: 68.6% of current top sellers held the same rank one year ago, and tenure for top positions is longer than it was in 2019.

The core competitive advantages that have allowed Chinese sellers to overtake their U.S. counterparts include proximity to manufacturing supply chains, direct factory partnerships, export subsidies and AI-powered operational tools. These advantages have helped Chinese sellers close the gap in listing quality that U.S. domestic sellers long held, align their business models with the platform’s current shift toward prioritizing paid advertising traffic, and enable more flexible promotional spending thanks to the lower gross margins accepted by direct factory-to-consumer models.

Notable gaps remain: U.S. sellers still hold an edge in total sales. Among the top 10,000 sellers, U.S. sellers contribute 65.3% of total GMV, while Chinese sellers contribute only 28.6%. U.S. sellers also command a substantially higher average order value than Chinese sellers.

The latest shift in the composition of top sellers on Amazon’s U.S. marketplace offers valuable insights for Chinese cross-border brands, with key takeaways summarized below:

The recent structural shift marks a breakthrough for Chinese cross-border brands: Chinese brands now account for a larger share of top seller positions than U.S. domestic brands, and their share among new entrants to the top tier continues to grow. As top positions have become more stable and turnover between new and incumbents has slowed, cross-border brands need to prepare for long-term investment to maintain top-tier placement.

Proven strategies Chinese brands can adopt include leveraging China’s complete domestic supply chain, cutting costs through direct factory partnerships, and using AI tools to optimize operations to close the listing quality gap long held by U.S. domestic brands. Brands can also align with the platform’s shifting traffic rules by adjusting paid promotional spending flexibly, gaining a competitive edge through inherent cost advantages.

Room for improvement remains for Chinese brands. U.S. domestic top-tier brands still hold a dominant advantage in GMV contribution, average order value, and brand premium. Among the top 100 ultra-tier sellers, U.S. brands contribute 93.2% of total GMV. Chinese brands need to continue making progress in moving upmarket and building brand premium.

This latest tracking data outlines the current market landscape, opportunities and risks for sellers operating on Amazon’s U.S. marketplace, with key takeaways summarized below:

The core features of the current competitive landscape are as follows: Top seller positions have become significantly more stable, with tenure longer than it was in 2019, making it harder for new sellers to break into the top tier. Only 17.5% of current top sellers entered the market during the pandemic-driven traffic boom between 2019 and 2021, and this cohort now faces double pressure from incumbents and new entrants. New sellers should prepare for intense competition in advance.

Opportunities available to sellers now: Chinese sellers have already become the majority of top sellers by count. Backed by export subsidies, the direct factory operating model is well suited to the platform’s current shift toward prioritizing paid promotional traffic. The low-cost, low-margin structure of this model enables more flexible promotional spending and delivers clear competitive advantages, so sellers can build their competitiveness by adopting this model.

Key areas for improvement: Chinese sellers overall still lag far behind U.S. sellers in total GMV contribution and average order value, with the gap being particularly large at the ultra-top tier. Sellers should focus on building branded, premium offerings to capture higher profit margins.

The shifting composition of top sellers on Amazon’s U.S. marketplace offers clear insights into opportunities and transformation for Chinese factories looking to expand cross-border, with key takeaways summarized below:

The direct-to-consumer factory model has been proven to deliver strong competitiveness. Most top Chinese sellers on the platform rely on direct factory partnerships to cut costs. Against the backdrop of Amazon’s gradual shift toward prioritizing paid promotional traffic, direct factory models can accept lower product gross margins and support more flexible promotional spending, allowing them to close the listing quality gap that U.S. domestic sellers long held and gain a clear competitive edge.

Advantages available to Chinese factories looking to go overseas include China’s complete, clustered supply chain ecosystem and export subsidies that reduce cross-border expansion costs. Factories can also leverage AI tools to address operational gaps and improve listing and operational quality, eliminating the historic advantages held by U.S. domestic sellers.

There is ample room for growth today. Among the mid-tier top sellers ranked 5001 to 10000 on Amazon U.S., U.S. sellers already account for just 34%, creating ample space for Chinese factory sellers to enter and scale. Factories can start building their presence in this mid-tier segment and gradually grow their ranking and business scale.

The shifting composition of top sellers on Amazon’s U.S. marketplace reflects new trends in the cross-border e-commerce industry and clarifies growth directions for cross-border service providers, with key takeaways summarized below:

Industry trends show that Chinese cross-border sellers have become the largest group of top sellers on Amazon U.S. Chinese sellers account for 55.9% of the top 10,000 sellers, surpassing U.S. sellers for the first time, and their share continues to grow, rising 3.8 percentage points in the past 12 months alone. This indicates the Chinese cross-border services market is still expanding, with abundant market demand.

The core pain points of Chinese cross-border sellers are clear. Most Chinese sellers operate direct factory models, and while they benefit from supply chain and cost advantages, they lack capabilities in building brand premium, operating premium offerings, and growing GMV. Their average order value is far lower than that of U.S. domestic sellers, leading to a large gap in profit margins. They also need to adapt to the platform’s new rules that prioritize paid promotional traffic, creating clear demand for relevant operational services.

Opportunities for service providers: Providers can develop products tailored to Chinese sellers’ needs, including AI operational tools to improve listing efficiency, paid promotional optimization services, and new offerings such as premium brand operation consulting and pricing advisory, to help Chinese sellers boost average order value and profit margins.

The structural shift among top sellers on Amazon’s U.S. marketplace offers important reference value for cross-border e-commerce platforms’ recruitment and operation strategies, with key takeaways summarized below:

Seller structure has undergone a fundamental change: Chinese sellers, particularly direct factory sellers, have become the majority of top sellers by count, surpassing U.S. domestic sellers, and their share among new top-tier entrants continues to grow. Cross-border platforms can prioritize recruitment of Chinese factory sellers and branded sellers to enrich their seller supply.

The needs of Chinese sellers have evolved. As platform traffic allocation gradually shifts from organic ranking and review accumulation to paid promotion, direct factory Chinese sellers have higher acceptance and capacity for paid promotional spending. Platforms can optimize their paid promotion product ecosystems to align with the spending characteristics of Chinese sellers and boost platform advertising revenue.

Key operational considerations for platforms: As top seller positions become increasingly stable, it is harder for new sellers to break into the top tier, and sellers that entered during the pandemic face double competitive pressure. Platforms need to optimize traffic allocation mechanisms, reserve more growth space for new sellers to maintain platform iterative vitality, and avoid over-concentration of seller structure in a single region to maintain a healthy platform ecosystem.

The latest data released from this tracking effort reflects new trends in the cross-border e-commerce industry and raises new questions worthy of in-depth research, with core content summarized below:

The cross-border e-commerce industry has seen a landmark new development: Chinese sellers now account for a larger share of the top 10,000 sellers on Amazon U.S. than U.S. domestic sellers, reaching this milestone two years earlier than Chinese sellers became the majority of global active sellers on the platform. This indicates that the competitiveness of China’s cross-border supply chain has expanded from the mass market to the top-tier market, and the Chinese cross-border business model — direct factory operation, low gross margins, and flexible paid promotion — has demonstrated strong competitiveness.

New research questions have emerged from the current industry landscape: Chinese sellers exhibit a structural pattern of high count share, low GMV share, and low average order value, while U.S. sellers still hold a near-monopoly in the top 100 ultra-tier segment, contributing 93.2% of total GMV. The root causes of this structural imbalance, its future evolution, and how Chinese sellers can break through the brand premium ceiling are all worthy of in-depth research.

Implications for industrial policy research: The catalytic role of export subsidies and China’s domestic supply chain advantages in supporting Chinese sellers’ cross-border expansion has been validated. Future research can focus on how to help Chinese cross-border sellers shift from quantity advantage to value advantage and build stronger brand competitiveness.