Alibaba leads the pack in name recognition

Global e-commerce sales are forecast to increase by more than 20 percent this year, surpassing $1.5 trillion.

Even more significant is the growth predicted in the Asia-Pacific region, which this year is set to topple the United States as the largest market in the world by sales revenue.

At this stage of market evolution, it is still unclear which countries and companies will benefit most from this massive market surge. The United States, with its array of world-famous e-commerce corporate brands such as Amazon.com Inc, eBay Inc, Facebook and Twitter, is considered by many to be likely to enjoy substantial gain. However, the global e-commerce market, which is still very much in its infancy, does not contain any dominant brands, despite the awareness and recognition levels enjoyed by those US companies.