RetailTechNews’ weekly roundup brings you up-to-date research findings from around the world. In this week’s edition: The World’s Biggest E-commerce Players; Walmart Taking on Amazon’s E-book Business; and Google Home Gaining on Alexa.

The World’s Biggest E-commerce Players

Amazon is the most used e-commerce site in the world, with an online population of 1.2 billion, shows data put together by WBE. Chinese multinational Alibaba (2nd) and Argentine company MercadoLibre (3rd) present the biggest resistance to Amazon’s complete global takeover

The study shows that though Amazon appears to be winning the e-commerce race right now, Alibaba’s online population of 1.07 billion makes it a worthy adversary.

Amazon has strongholds in every continent – particularly in North America, Europe, and the Middle East – and looks set to remain the biggest player in the e-commerce space for the foreseeable future. However, the study found that a whole host of East Asian e-commerce sites – namely, Taobao, Lazada, and AliExpress – are all owned by Alibaba; and the company’s recent partnership deal with France’s Bollore Group suggests that Alibaba’s reach is likely to grow.

Whereas most other world regions belong to a distinct e-commerce empire, the study found that Africa still has a number of e-commerce sites vying for the dominant position. Amazon, Rocket Internet, Naspers, Be Forward, and eBay all have a presence in the African market, but none have succeeded in expanding their empires across the whole continent.

Walmart Taking on Amazon’s E-book Business

Walmart is taking direct aim at Amazon's Kindle business by selling e-books, audiobooks, and e-readers for the first time. The company's new e-books business, called 'Walmart eBooks', is launching on Wednesday in partnership with Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten.

The new offering will give Walmart shoppers access to e-readers made by Kobo, a division of Rakuten, in stores and online at Walmart.com. Kobo is one of Amazon Kindle's biggest competitors.

Customers will be able to access the e-books and audiobooks through Walmart.com and through a co-branded Walmart-Kobo app that will be available on smartphones, desktop computers, and Kobo's e-readers.

The partnership will give Walmart access to the massive e-book market, which is largely dominated by Amazon. Amazon is responsible for roughly 83% of all ebook sales in the U.S., according to a report by Author Earnings. Kobo, by comparison, commands just 0.3% of the U.S. e-book market. While the e-book business is perhaps the foundation of Amazon’s success, their numerous other retail ventures will help mitigate the loss of any market share to Walmart here.

Google Home Gaining on Alexa

Since snagging an early lead in the smart speaker market with the Echo product lineup, Amazon has maintained its dominance through the second quarter of this year – but it has less breathing room than ever.

As this chart from Statista shows, Amazon is credited with shipping 41% of the 11.7 million smart speakers distributed worldwide this past quarter, with Google coming in second with 27.6% of shipments. Apple came nowhere close to either of its rivals, with the Cupertino-based giant only shipping off 5.9%.

Amazon's competitors are slowly, but surely, gaining traction in the smart speaker race. The company no longer has as big of a lead as it did in Q2 of last year. With Amazon the pioneer in the smart speaker market, newer entrants were always going to eat away at their market share.

However, at a time when voice shopping is starting to reach the mainstream, Amazon will need to continue to innovate with Alexa if they are to maintain their position as market leader.