Which Is Best For Your Online Store: Shopify Or Amazon?
A business needs to be seen on as many platforms as possible. So, you can contact the people you want to buy from and persuade them to sell to you. This usually starts with Amazon vs. Shopify, two of the most popular online stores. This article will assist you in figuring out which one you should sell.
Goals of Amazon
The choice is what Amazon is all about. It has a huge number of items from a lot of different sellers. People other than Amazon sell more than 300 million products on Amazon. And this number keeps getting bigger. But with so many options, getting people's attention and standing out can be hard.
Shopify, on either hand, is all about making things easy. You are limited to selecting from 100 different kinds of products with Shopify. Customers can find what they want faster and easier than Amazon, which has thousands of different kinds of products.
Goals of Shopify
Shopify is a platform that makes it easy for businesses to sell things online. Its main focus is on this, so Shopify might not be the best choice if you want a platform for tools for customer support or keeping track of your stock.
Besides selling things online, Amazon also does these other things. For instance, if you try to sell something on Amazon but don't have enough, Amazon will immediately order it from a third-party vendor or one of their warehouses. You can also send and get packages through Amazon's fulfillment services.
Shopify vs. Amazon
There are numerous things to entertain when determining whether to sell on Amazon or Shopify. Here are several of the largest distinctions between these two famous e-commerce platforms.
Use-Friendly
Both Amazon and Shopify are simple to use, but Shopify makes it simpler to set up an account, add products, and administer your online business. You must create an account for your business to be listed on Amazon.
Create an account for your business on Shopify, and you'll never have to change your profile again. When you purchase on Shopify, you get an easy-to-use platform with many apps that let you market your goods in many ways.
Pricing
If you make good, high-quality things, Amazon might be a better place to sell them because Amazon pays more for items sold. Let's say you sell cheap items or packages that give the buyer many options. If that's the case, you could be better off using services like Basic Shopify, which doesn't need you to pay to sell products or manage a store. You can set prices without worrying about an extra empowerment fee for every sale.
Advertising Places
Shopify doesn't let you put ads or shopping carts on your site, but Amazon does. You can buy ad space on Amazon's eCommerce platform to get the word out about your store. Depending on your eCommerce business, you should consider putting ads on both sites or just one.
Online Sellers
More than 3 million people are selling things on Amazon, so you are not the only one. Because Shopify only has roughly 100,000 sellers, your products will face less competition.
Processing Fees
When you sell something online, you can get paid in multiple ways through both sites. With Amazon, you can pay with a direct bank account or a merchant account. You can also move money from your Amazon Seller Account to a checking account, or you can choose to get an ACH transfer every two weeks.
Amazon Professional accounts can have referral fees and transaction fees added to them. But keep in mind that some banks charge fees to transfer money, and if you don't pay back the loan on time, you may have to pay interest, which can be expensive.
Shopify uses EWAY and Stripe to accept credit and debit card payments. Each transaction costs $0.30 and 2.9% of that amount. This will help you keep your costs low and get paid for your sales quickly and easily.
What Kinds of Things Does Amazon Sell?
There are many things for sale on Amazon, but most are expensive. They sell books, clothes, and even things for the kitchen. On either hand, Shopify is more for small businesses that want to purchase a wide range of products online.
What Kinds of Goods Can I Sell on Shopify?
On Amazon, you can sell more things than you can on Shopify. You can sell anything on Amazon, but you can only sell clothes or digital goods on Shopify. Amazon sells many different kinds of things, like books, parts for electronics, and things for homes and kitchens.
How do they put their online shops together?
Both Amazon and Shopify offer different ways to set up an online store. As you scroll down on Amazon, you'll see the storefront on the right of the screen. This can make it challenging to find a product because users have to go back to the main page. Shopify is distinct because it is set up in a grid, making finding products easier. They both have different layouts that you can change to meet your brand's needs.
Amazon and Shopify: Key Differences
Accessibility
Amazon seems to have more products and sales than Shopify so shoppers can discover more things there.
Marketing
Amazon FBA does not provide merchants with marketing tools, whereas Shopify does, so you can collaborate with the business to create and execute a marketing strategy.
Storage
Amazon charges you to store your products while you aren't using them; however, Shopify allows you to store as many items as you'd like for free.
Fees
Amazon also fees high-volume sellers an annual fee on top of the seller fees, which are the same on both systems. Shopify doesn't charge selling fees like that.
Support
Amazon FBA features a free customer care line available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But most customer service concerns on Shopify should be handled by email, and it can take up to 24 hours to get a response.
Things to keep in mind
Shipping Costs
Because you must transport your product to Amazon, selling on Amazon can be more expensive. When you sell something on Shopify, the buyer orders it, and the firm ships it to them.
Return Policies
When you sell on Amazon, you can only offer a return by mail. Using the Shopify app, you can offer returns if you want to.
Advertising
One of the initial things you might notice about Shopify and Amazon is how they market themselves. There are many ways to advertise on Amazon, such as with marketing authorization and keyword-based ads. With these options, you can reach a broad demographic or focus on specific groups of individuals with interest in products like yours.
Shopify has a feature called “Shopify Sponsorship Products” that lets you talk about your product to those looking for it at other stores on Shopify. If someone notices your product in another store, they might return to your store to buy it. This is a great option for Shopify sellers because it helps them get other shoppers' attention.
Marketplace vs. Ecommerce
Amazon is a marketplace, which means it is one of many stores selling items on Amazon. This makes it more difficult to stand out from things like books and other goods for sale. You can set up a store on Shopify where people can buy your brand or line of products.
You also understand that when someone purchases something from your business, they purchase from you rather than a third-party firm selling through Amazon. Amazon mostly works with individual sellers, but Shopify has business accounts for businesses that want to sell online or start making their eCommerce site available in more than one country.
Amazon already has a lot of products, so Shopify is great for small businesses that have been around for a while. All of these companies' necessities for eCommerce are met by Shopify in one place. Customers love Amazon because it gives them access to various products and options.
Through Shopify, you can choose to market your products on other sites. All customers will find shopping easier and better because of this. Both Shopify and Amazon have good and bad things about them that make them both good and bad places to sell. What works best, though, depends on how big your business is and what you like.
Conclusion
When starting with eCommerce, figuring out which platform is most suitable for your company can be challenging. The five significant distinctions above can help you decide which is most beneficial to your company and clients.
