Amazon or the local leader?
Amazon is the easy way in, but in many markets shoppers already have a home-grown favorite. Here is what we could confirm, market by market.
The short answer
Start with Amazon where a foreign company can sell without a local entity and you can use tools you already know. Add the local leader once the market proves itself, or start there if your category is strong on it. Access varies a lot. Rakuten welcomes overseas merchants from 22 countries, while bol is limited and India needs local tax registration.
| Market | Local leader | Scale, as the company reports it | Can a company based abroad sell? | Amazon there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Latin America |  | $65.0B sales value and 121M unique active buyers in 2025, across all its countries | Yes, through cross-border trade. Its international range comes mainly from sellers in China and the US | Mexico and Brazil can be served from US stock. Stock in Mexico needs a Mexican tax ID |
| Poland |  | 15.6M active buyers in Poland, PLN 70.1B sales value in the last 12 months to Q2 2026 | Yes, with a business account and company documents. We couldn’t confirm the limits for companies outside Europe | Yes, through a Europe account |
| Netherlands and Belgium |  | €6.3B online sales in 2025, including partners | Limited. By invitation from outside the two countries. From outside the EU, only sellers from China, Türkiye and the UK, shipping from EU stock | Yes, through a Europe account |
| The Gulf and Egypt |  | No official figure found | Possible through a separate process, but we couldn’t confirm the details. A trade license is mandatory for UAE sellers | UAE and Saudi accounts. A local company may not be required |
| India |  | No Flipkart-only figure. It is majority-owned by Walmart | We found no official statement. Amazon India asks for PAN and GST registration, so plan on local registration or a local partner | Amazon.in asks for Indian PAN and GST details |
| Japan |  | ¥6.35 trillion in 2025 across its Japanese online services, not only the marketplace | Yes. No Japanese company needed for merchants from 22 listed countries. The seller system is in Japanese only | Yes, through a Japan account. Imports need a customs agent in Japan. Amazon’s 2025 net sales in Japan were $30.7B |
| Southeast Asia |   | Shopee: $127.4B sales value and about 400M buyers in 2025, including Taiwan and Brazil. Lazada: six countries and 32,000+ LazMall brands | Lazada says it has cross-border sellers from China, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, the US and Europe. We couldn’t confirm Shopee’s rules for companies outside its markets | Amazon has a Singapore store |
| South Korea |  | 25.2M active customers and $8.4B product revenue in Q3 2026 | It runs a Global Selling program for overseas sellers. We couldn’t confirm the terms | We found no Amazon store for Korea |
| Türkiye |  | No official figure found | We couldn’t confirm selling into Türkiye from abroad. Its official material covers selling in Germany and six Gulf countries | Amazon has a Türkiye store |
How to choose
Lead with Amazon if
- You want one account style and familiar tools
- You are testing several countries
- You use Amazon’s fulfillment at home already
Lead with the local leader if
- Local shoppers in your category clearly buy there
- You can meet its entry rules
- You are ready for local-language content and service
Reading these numbers
Amazon reports net sales only for the US, Germany, the UK and Japan, and those figures include more than marketplace sales. So there is no fair head-to-head on size in most of these markets. We haven’t used third-party estimates, because the ones we found conflict. bol’s own pages don’t fully agree on who can join. “We couldn’t confirm” means the official page was missing or blocked when we checked, and it doesn’t mean a route is closed. We confirm access for your product in your market plan.
Sources: Amazon 2025 Form 10-K, Amazon global selling, Amazon, Latin America, Amazon, Middle East, Amazon, Japan, Amazon India FAQ, MercadoLibre results, February 2026, MercadoLibre 2025 Form 10-K, Allegro Q2 2026 results, Allegro Help Center, Ahold Delhaize Q4 2025 presentation, bol partner registration, bol VAT rules, noon seller FAQ, Walmart 2026 Form 10-K, Rakuten 2025 results, Rakuten overseas merchants, Japan Customs, Sea Limited 2025 results, Lazada, Coupang Q3 2026 results, Coupang Global Selling, Trendyol Developers FAQ. Fees and rules change, so please check the current position. General information, not legal or tax advice. Last checked November 2026.
More comparisons
Start with one market.
Tell us what you sell and where you sell it today. We’ll come back with the first three markets we’d open, and why.
