Skip to content
TechBreakdownsUNDERSTAND WHAT YOU OWN
Get the newsletter
← All mapsCOMMERCE MAP UPDATED SEP 28, 2026

AN INTERACTIVE TECHBREAKDOWN

You bought something online. Who gets paid?

You see a buy button. Behind it are stores, software, banks, warehouses and delivery networks. Follow the payment. Follow the parcel. Find the businesses earning along the way.

Explore the system ↓Track the Commerce Index →
START WITH A QUESTION

01 / THE SYSTEM

Behind the buy button.

Pick a stage to meet its companies. Switch to “How they earn” to see the business models behind the buy button.

MEET THE COMPANIES

75 public companies. U.S. listings and ADSs.

Choose a stage. Meet the companies.
What squeezes the sale?

Pick a pressure point to see who feels it next.

BEFORE YOU BUY
ONE CHECKOUT / MANY BUSINESSESA sale for one. Revenue for many.

Follow the card request to the bank, and the order to your door. Settlement and refunds travel back.

THE PARCEL → THE CARD REQUEST →
Arrows show the request, order or service—not dollar amounts or exclusive partnerships.
Order / parcelTechnology / audiencePayment request

02 / FOLLOW THE ECONOMICS

The sale is the starting point.

These businesses can all earn from commerce. They earn in different ways—and face different risks.

01 / THE STORE

Sales ≠ platform revenue.

A retailer sells inventory. A marketplace typically earns fees on someone else’s sale. Compare what each company actually retains.

02 / THE PAYMENT

The fee gets shared.

Card acceptance can bundle the provider’s fee, network charges and interchange paid to the issuer. Visa and Mastercard do not keep interchange.

03 / THE PARCEL

Convenience has a cost.

Picking, packing, delivery and returns compete for the merchant’s margin. Software and automation aim to make those operations more productive.

03 / OUR RESEARCH

Go from the system to a company.

Explore our published research on companies featured in this map.

COMPANY STORY & MODEL

Instacart

The grocery basket becomes an advertising business.

In this mapStores & marketplacesShipping & delivery
COMPANY STORY & MODEL

MercadoLibre

The marketplace builds payments, delivery and credit.

In this mapStores & marketplacesWarehouses & robotsShipping & deliveryCheckout & payments
COMPANY STORY & MODEL

Nu Holdings

A banking relationship has to earn more than it costs.

In this mapIssuers & credit
COMPANY STORY & MODEL

Adobe

Commerce software is one part of a wider software business.

In this mapStorefront software
COMPANY STORY & MODEL

Apple

Apple Pay brings the device ecosystem to checkout. Explore the broader Apple business.

In this mapCheckout & payments
COMPANY STORY + MODEL

dLocal

The price of connecting global merchants to local payment methods.

In this mapCheckout & payments
Sources, methodology and edition notes

Edition 2026-09-28, published 2026-09-28. Relationships and moat views are dated editorial interpretations. Financial figures retain their own fiscal periods. A line shows an illustrative relationship, not a transaction amount or an assertion that adjacent example companies buy directly from one another.

A qualitative commerce field guide. Company names and roles are sourced; no fee rates, margins, market shares or financial forecasts are asserted. U.S. exchange listings and ADSs are prioritized, with OTC ADRs labeled. Stripe is a private contextual example.