How big is online shopping really?
According to a recent study by eMarketer, retail sales worldwide—including both in-store and internet purchases—will reach $22.492 trillion this year. However, worldwide retail sales will increase 5.5% to reach $28.300 trillion by 2018.
In 2013/2014, global per capita food use of milled rice amounted to 57.3 kilograms per year, where the global per capita food use of wheat stood at 67.2 kilograms per year.
With over 876 million visitors to this list, you would probably listen to the crowd.
Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar tops the list with 91 million visitors.
Only 11 lucky countries have those 50 most visited attractions of the world. With United States in the lead with 26 attractions and 429 million visitors, Mexico coming second with 2 attractions and 105 million visitors, then Japan with 5 attractions and 101 million visitors. India, Turkey, Thailand, Italy
and Australia made the list with one attraction only.
Fifteen theme park attractions listed in world’s top 50 most-visited attractions, including 4 theme parks from Disney.
UK, Spain or Germany didn’t make the list, despite being in the top 10 most visited countries (by international tourist arrivals in 2014, according to UNWTO). The attractions included are cultural and historical sites, natural landmarks, and officially designated spaces.
Here is the list (credit to Travel and Leisure Magazine here)
| Position | Place | Visitor | Continent | Country |
| 1 | Grand Bazaar, Istanbul | 91,250,000 | Europe | Turkey |
| 2 | The Zócalo, Mexico City | 85,000,000 | North America | Mexico |
| 3 | Times Square, New York City | 50,000,000 | North America | USA |
| 4 | (tie) Central Park, New York City | 40,000,000 | North America | USA |
| 5 | (tie) Union Station, Washington, D.C. | 40,000,000 | North America | USA |
| 6 | Las Vegas Strip | 30,500,000 | North America | USA |
| 7 | (tie) Meiji Jingu Shrine, Tokyo | 30,000,000 | Asia | Japan |
| 8 | (tie) Sensoji Temple, Tokyo | 30,000,000 | Asia | Japan |
| 9 | Niagara Falls, New York and Ontario | 22,000,000 | North America | USA |
| 10 | Grand Central Terminal, New York City | 21,600,000 | North America | USA |
| 11 | Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City | 20,000,000 | North America | Mexico |
| 12 | Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Orlando, Florida | 18,588,000 | North America | USA |
| 13 | Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston | 18,000,000 | North America | USA |
| 14 | Tokyo Disneyland | 17,214,000 | Asia | Japan |
| 15 | Disneyland Park, California | 16,202,000 | North America | USA |
| 16 | Forbidden City, Beijing | 15,340,000 | Asia | China |
| 17 | Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco | 14,289,121 | North America | USA |
| 18 | Tokyo DisneySea | 14,084,000 | Asia | Japan |
| 19 | Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris | 14,000,000 | Europe | France |
| 20 | Golden Gate Park, San Francisco | 13,000,000 | North America | USA |
| 21 | Balboa Park, San Diego | 12,000,000 | North America | USA |
| 22 | South Street Seaport, New York City | 12,000,000 | North America | USA |
| 23 | San Antonio River Walk, Texas | 11,500,000 | North America | USA |
| 24 | Epcot, Disney World, Orlando, Florida | 11,229,000 | North America | USA |
| 25 | St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, Italy | 11,000,000 | Europe | Italy |
| 26 | Great Wall of China | 10,720,000 | Asia | China |
| 27 | Sacré Coeur Basilica, Paris | 10,500,000 | Europe | France |
| 28 | Disneyland Park, France | 10,430,000 | Europe | France |
| 29 | Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Florida | 10,198,000 | North America | USA |
| 30 | Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Florida | 10,110,000 | North America | USA |
| 31 | Universal Studios Japan, Osaka, Japan | 10,100,000 | Asia | Japan |
| 32 | Hollywood Walk of Fame, California | 10,000,000 | North America | USA |
| 33 | Pike Place Market, Seattle | 10,000,000 | North America | USA |
| 34 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee | 9,345,695 | North America | USA |
| 35 | Musée du Louvre, Paris | 9,334,000 | Europe | France |
| 36 | Navy Pier, Chicago | 8,900,000 | North America | USA |
| 37 | Disney’s California Adventure,California | 8,514,000 | North America | USA |
| 38 | Sydney Opera House, Sydney | 8,200,000 | Australia | Australia |
| 39 | Universal’s Islands of Adventure, Orlando, Florida | 8,141,000 | North America | USA |
| 40 | (tie) Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. | 8,000,000 | North America | USA |
| 41 | (tie) Grand Palace, Bangkok | 8,000,000 | Asia | Thailand |
| 42 | (tie) Pier 39, San Francisco | 8,000,000 | North America | USA |
| 43 | Palace of Versailles, France | 7,527,122 | Europe | France |
| 44 | Ocean Park, Hong Kong | 7,475,000 | Asia | China |
| 45 | Bourbon Street, New Orleans | 7,470,000 | North America | USA |
| 46 | National Museum of China, Beijing | 7,450,000 | Asia | China |
| 47 | (tie) Hong Kong Disneyland, Hong Kong | 7,400,000 | Asia | China |
| 48 | (tie) Lotte World, Seoul | 7,400,000 | Asia | South Korea |
| 49 | Everland, Gyeonggi-Do, South Korea | 7,303,000 | Asia | South Korea |
| 50 | Taj Mahal, Agra, India | 7,000,000 | Asia | India |
Source: Travel and Leisure
Amazon continues to acquire successful brands to market themselves grow their sales power. Here is a list of popular websites that Amazon acquired over the years:
With $89 billion (2014) in revenue, and almost 154,000 employees, Amazon is one of the key players in online shopping, in addition to web hosting and contents distribution.
Amazon also managed to be a key career stop in several influencers who decides to leave Amazon and start their own business. Here is an interesting list of a number of companies which have been started and founded by former Amazon employees.
Source: GigaOM