Sell on Amazon or sell on Shopify?

Sell on Amazon or sell on Shopify? Or, sell on Amazon and also on Shopify?

These questions are becoming more frequent from sellers already present on the marketplace who may be interested in exploring the business opportunities that can be achieved on another platform.

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But is selling on Amazon compatible with selling on Shopify, or do the two platforms exclude each other? Are there strategies that need to be adopted to maximize the benefits of selling on Shopify? And how can Zon Wizard help you?

We’ve tried to answer these (and other) questions in today’s guide. We recommend reading it all the way through, and if there’s still something unclear, feel free to contact us using the information provided here.

Let’s get started!

Amazon and Shopify: Two Very Different Markets

First of all, let’s highlight how Amazon and Shopify are two very different markets to operate in.

Limiting the comparison to just the size aspect, for instance, we can note that Amazon has approximately 10 million sellers and over 300 million active accounts worldwide. Moreover, there are over 200 million Amazon Prime members and more than 350 million products available (12 million of which are eligible for Prime).

Shopify’s numbers, on the other hand, are quite different. For example, there are about 2 million active websites using Shopify, and around 1.75 million merchants utilizing the platform.

A glance at these brief statistics suggests that the comparison between these two e-commerce giants doesn’t quite hold: the marketplace founded by Jeff Bezos currently offers numbers that are unmatched by Shopify or any other online sales platform.

Yet, a direct comparison between Amazon and Shopify, tempting as it may be, deserves to be approached from a more interesting qualitative perspective.

Amazon and Shopify: Differences and Commonalities

When weighing the differences and commonalities, the former certainly outnumber the latter.

For clarity, we have summarized the main differences between Amazon and Shopify in this table:

Differences	Amazon	Shopify
Business Model	A marketplace that allows sellers to offer their products and services on a single large platform.	An e-commerce platform that enables sellers to create independent online stores.
Brand Control	Limits customization options. Every store is bound by Amazon’s format.	Allows greater customization in design and user experience within the seller’s own store.
Audience	Amazon sellers have immediate access to millions of customers searching for products daily.	Being an independent online store, sellers need to actively work to build their own customer base.
Costs	Involves a fixed fee plus sales commissions and optional costs. There is a free plan, but only for very small sellers.	Requires a fixed monthly subscription in addition to transaction fees.
Logistics	Amazon offers integrated logistics services like Fulfillment by Amazon, which handles warehousing and support on behalf of the seller.	Sellers must manage their own logistics or use integrations provided by third-party operators.
Competition	Competition is very high, with many similar products appearing in the same search results.	Competition is lower, with a focus on building one’s brand, which the seller must develop independently.
Marketing	Amazon sellers must use a more specific SEO approach limited to the marketplace. However, Amazon is well-represented on search engines like Google.	The seller, as the owner of an independent online store, has full control over SEO and their online and offline marketing strategies.I punti in comune

Although less numerous, the commonalities between these different solutions also deserve to be briefly highlighted:

• Global Reach: Both Amazon and Shopify cater to an international audience. They can provide high-quality operations worldwide.
• Scalability: Both platforms offer scalable solutions to their customers. They adapt over time to businesses of all sectors and sizes.
• Payment Security: Amazon and Shopify provide secure and reliable payment systems that protect the seller, enabling them to manage revenue flows more efficiently.
• Performance Monitoring: Both platforms offer advanced sales performance analysis tools. These tools are customizable and easily interpretable, even for non-expert sellers.
• Mobile Operations: Both Amazon and Shopify support e-commerce on mobile devices, allowing all parties involved to benefit from the advantages of shopping via smartphones and tablets.
• Third-Party App Integrations: Both operators support and allow the use of third-party apps and integrations, enabling deeper customization of their services.
• Customer Support: Both platforms ensure excellent levels of support for their sellers.

How to Create the Right Synergy Between Shopify and Amazon

But what conclusions can we draw from what has just been outlined?

The summary is quite simple. Not only is Amazon not a substitute for Shopify (and vice versa), but both platforms can coexist positively. They can, in fact, generate added value for sellers who can wisely manage their presence across both sales channels.

So, if you’re wondering whether it’s possible—or even beneficial—to use both platforms, our answer is an absolute yes. Amazon and Shopify not only can coexist, but they can also create significant synergies for your business.

Amazon, with its vast customer base and well-established logistical infrastructure, can provide enviable exposure for your products. In a sense, it’s like having a store on one of the world’s busiest streets. While it’s not a guarantee of success, you’ll have remarkable visibility as millions of potential customers visit Amazon daily in search of products like yours.

On the other hand, Shopify offers you full control over your online presence. You can have a personalized store, managing every detail of the customer experience much more flexibly than on Amazon. With Shopify, you have the freedom to build your brand, tell your story, and establish a direct relationship with customers. Remember that when customers purchase from your store on Amazon… they are still Amazon’s customers!

The Advantage of Using Both Platforms

The key benefit of using both platforms lies precisely in their complementarity. Amazon can serve as a powerful customer acquisition channel, considering that more and more shoppers begin their search directly on Amazon, making it their first point of contact with your brand. Once they have purchased and appreciated your product, customers can be directed to other channels, such as your Shopify store.

Additionally, it’s possible to differentiate the types of offerings across platforms. For example, you can sell only a portion of your catalog on Amazon, while reserving a broader range of products for your Shopify site, including:

• Exclusive bundles,
• Personalized products that may not be suitable for Amazon.

Since it’s easy to integrate informative content on Shopify, your site can also provide more detailed resources, such as user guides, stories and emotional experiences behind the products, or customer testimonials, thereby creating a richer and more engaging brand experience.

Diversifying Sales Channels

It’s also important to note that diversifying sales channels can reduce risk for your business. By being present on multiple sales channels, you are less exposed to the performance risks of a single platform. In other words, if there are suddenly unfavorable changes in one channel or significant sales fluctuations on one platform, you will still have at least one other channel to rely on.

Of course, this approach is not without challenges. For example, managing two channels requires more work and dedication, whether you want to keep them completely separate or, as we suggest, create synergies between them.

You’ll need to keep track of inventory on both platforms, manage orders from different sources, and potentially adjust your pricing and marketing strategies for each channel.

With the right tools and good planning, however, this extra effort can translate into essential benefits for the future of your brand!

Speaking of tools, have you already checked out our brand-new Shopify integration? It allows you to use our Tax and Profit Tool features on this platform as well. Try it out here!

Also, read [Selling on both eBay and Amazon].

FAQ – Answers from Our Experts

To address all the questions from our readers, we’ve involved the ZonWizard experts to provide clear and direct answers to any doubts you might have on this topic.

Which platform is easier to use?

Amazon doesn’t require you to build a website from scratch. You simply need to upload your products to Seller Central, and you’re good to go. Of course, if you need to upload thousands of products, you’ll need to use a database. But in any case, it’s nothing too complicated, even for beginners.

Creating an online store on Shopify is also easy. However, the initial experience tends to be a bit more complex compared to Amazon.

Which service is more affordable?

Shopify’s cheapest plan costs €5 per month, but with this, you won’t get a full website. The entry-level plan is essentially just a link you can share online. To have a full store, you’ll need to opt for the Basic plan, which costs €21 per month, plus transaction fees.

Amazon offers an individual selling plan with no fixed costs. However, there are fees for each product sold and final sale commissions. You can also choose the PRO plan, which costs €39 per month, plus only the final sale commissions.

Which platform is best for payments?

Generally, Shopify offers more payment options than Amazon, or at least does so with greater flexibility, which might be appreciated by customers.

However, Amazon does not charge any additional fees for processing payments. The cost is included in the referral fee.

Which platform offers more store customization?

Since Shopify is a platform specifically designed to build e-commerce sites, it is evident that this operator will allow you to present your products in a more personalized way.

Amazon, on the other hand, is a marketplace that requires adherence to stricter layout and design guidelines.

Who offers the best customer support?

Amazon has a highly effective help center that quickly responds to frequently asked questions. It also has a forum, a community-driven tool where sellers can share their issues with other sellers.

Shopify provides another reliable support option, including phone support, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. Like Amazon, it also offers access to articles, tutorials, and guides that will help you learn everything you need to know.

Who handles logistics better?

Shopify allows sellers to fully customize their shipping processes.

Amazon, on the other hand, offers sellers two options:

• FBM (Fulfillment by Merchant): where the seller uses their own logistics to ship products to buyers.
• FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon): where the seller can use Amazon’s logistics to delegate all activities to the marketplace.

Which platform has higher sales potential?

Amazon has the significant advantage of offering all sellers access to a potential audience of millions of daily visitors. However, this also means facing fierce competition, making price a crucial component for shaping marketing strategies.

When selling on Shopify, you’re starting from scratch, which means you’ll need to invest in promotions and search engine optimization (SEO).

How does search engine optimization (SEO) work?

Sellers on Amazon need to focus on optimizing for the marketplace’s internal search engine.

However, it’s also true that Amazon products can rank very well on Google, given Amazon’s high domain authority. This means listings on the marketplace carry substantial weight in search engine results.

With Shopify, you’ll need to optimize your pages for search engines by creating content that can rank on Google. Since you will have little to no domain authority initially, this process may take a lot of time.

Amazon or Shopify: No Need to Choose

In this comprehensive guide on Amazon and Shopify, we’ve discussed the features and advantages of both platforms.

We’ve also highlighted that it’s not a matter of choosing one over the other; the two platforms are not mutually exclusive.

Therefore, sellers do not necessarily need to choose between them. In fact, they can multiply the benefits for their business by managing their presence on both sales channels simultaneously.

This management can be made even more effective with our suite of tools for online entrepreneurs, now integrated with Shopify. Check it out here!