Shopify and Amazon are the two most popular ecommerce platforms. But no two businesses are exactly alike, and the tools and capabilities you need to sell your products vary based on your industry, size, and goals.
So how do you decide your unique answer to the Amazon vs. Shopify debate? You’ll need to weigh the pros and cons of selling on Amazon and Shopify. Here’s what to consider.
Shopify is an ecommerce platform that enables you to build an online store and sell your products easily. It provides a range of tools and products, including artificial intelligence (AI) and third-party apps, to help you craft your ecommerce website and process and manage sales. Perks include a range of payment options to improve conversions, discounted shipping rates, and marketing tools like audience lists and analytics reports so you can retarget customers with abandoned cart emails, for example.
Your business purchases one of four tiers of Shopify plans that determine which products you get access to. It’s ideal for businesses that want to scale to seriously large sales volumes. Plus, it has solutions for brands that sell products in person, too.
Amazon, on the other hand, is an online marketplace. Selling on Amazon is like offering your product at a popular street fair. An enormous, global customer base is built in, but those customers aren’t necessarily seeking out your brand, they’re there for the ease of use. That’s a bonus for small businesses or anyone who isn’t ready to create their own online store just yet. But it’s also a helpful tool for established brands looking to expand into broader markets.
You’ll need to set up your seller profile, list your products, and make sure you’re complying with Amazon’s regulations. You can also opt for Amazon to handle order fulfillment for you.
It’s time to dig deeper into how Shopify vs. Amazon really compare across various categories you may be curious about.
Both Shopify and Amazon have relatively inexpensive monthly subscription rates, making them both good choices for those just getting started with ecommerce. But because both platforms have pretty different pricing structures, it’s hard to know if Shopify is cheaper than Amazon in every instance.
Sellers generally find they pay more to list their products on Amazon. The marketplace may charge referral and transaction fees.
For an Amazon ecommerce business, you can opt for the Individual plan, where you’ll pay $0.99 per item sold and only get access to Amazon’s essential selling tools. Or, you can go with the Professional plan for $39.99 per month and get access to more advanced features. You can find more about how these two options compare at Amazon.
Fees on Shopify are generally lower than on Amazon, which means you’re able to invest those savings back into your marketing and product development. But you will pay additional fees for some features, such as using third-party apps. Shopify doesn’t charge referral or transaction fees if you’re using Shopify Payments (although you will still have to cover credit card processing fees).
Shopify’s pricing structure has four tiers:
Some of the biggest differences in selling on Amazon vs. Shopify have to do with how much say you have in the process.
As a marketplace that houses your online store, Amazon retains a lot of the control over the look and feel of your online shop (we’ll go into more detail on design pros and cons below). That means you’re competing with other third-party sellers in a crowded field where it’s hard to stand out, which can be seriously detrimental to your bottom line.
Some sellers fear Amazon is also essentially making its own versions of their products and selling them to undermine established brands. With limited customer interactions, it’s also harder to gather as much data as you can with Shopify.
With more ownership over your brand and design on Shopify, you’ll build brand identity, loyalty, and conversions. Sellers also say they’re better able to engage directly with customers and collect feedback.
Both platforms offer a relatively seamless experience when it comes to actually setting up your online shop.
What does Shopify do that Amazon doesn't? It offers a lot more customization options when it comes to designing your store.
You’ll have very limited design flexibility for selling on Amazon. And some businesses find that makes it hard to establish a brand identity on the marketplace, especially among so many other sellers offering similar products.
Shopify is undoubtedly better at design than Amazon. Customizing your store is fast and easy, thanks to its theme editor and templates. Customization options even include multilingual tools so you can sell internationally on Shopify in your customers’ languages. Retaining this type of control and maintaining a clear sense of brand identity can help drive customer loyalty, which in turn can help you make money on Shopify. That said, keep in mind Shopify is still a hosted ecommerce platform, so it won’t be as customizable as open-source platforms (nor will Amazon).
One of the big disadvantages of Shopify is it doesn’t have Amazon’s built-in customer base.
Amazon has 2.45 billion visits to its marketplace every month, and these are often loyal users. You can pitch your products on Amazon and have access to an enormous number of prospective customers looking for products. Amazon traffic is lower in the funnel than Shopify traffic, so you’ll generally see a higher ROAS from Amazon selling. But you’re usually surrounded by competitors selling similar products, so it can be more challenging to convert customers.
Building your brand’s reputation can be a challenge: Shopify allows you to create your online store, but if you don’t market your store yourself, you won’t get traffic to your site. As a result, some sellers end up spending much more money on search engine optimization (SEO) for Shopify selling. Triple Whale’s Pixel is here to help!
Many sellers appreciate the payment flexibility offered by Shopify because it can boost conversions if customers can check out with their preferred payment method.
Of course, your job isn’t done after a purchase. Now, you’ve got to get your product into the hands of your customer. And there are some major differences between Amazon’s FBA vs. Shopify.
Amazon makes operations really simple. With its Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) service, Amazon keeps your merchandise in its inventory. You’re not responsible for storing, picking up, packing, or dispatching your products, simplifying your operations and saving you time. Plus, Amazon’s comprehensive seller portal helps you manage inventory, pricing, shipping rules, and business operations seamlessly.
You can also opt to use dropshipping. Wondering if Amazon dropshipping is worth it? It takes fulfillment off of your long to-do list, but it can compromise your customer’s experience and lower your margins, according to Amazon. (You actually don’t even need to decide between Amazon vs. Shopify dropshipping: You can use Amazon dropshipping to fulfill Shopify orders, but more on that below!)
Some businesses find FBA is an excellent option because it offers merchants product storage and gives shoppers access to super-fast Prime delivery. There is, however, an additional charge associated with it.
When you compare Amazon FBA vs. Shopify, the two don’t come close. Shopify doesn’t directly handle order fulfillment, although you can use third-party apps if you don’t want to fulfill Shopify orders yourself. That said, keep in mind third-party apps often come with additional costs.
You can set your shipping rates, weights, rules, price, tonnages, and more with Shopify if you wish to ship your own goods.
In terms of Shopify vs. Amazon dropshipping, Shopify lets you build a custom, independent store and run fulfillment through a dropshipping app or supplier. Dropshipping integration makes it an ideal platform for reducing inventory storage costs. This is a good approach if you’re more focused on sales than on brand-building at the moment, according to Shopify.
To scale your business, you’ll likely want your shop to come fitted with a number of ecommerce tools and other integrations that can help you grow efficiently and effectively.
The Amazon sales tools are decent but not as powerful as Shopify’s. But its large, built-in audience means you may still be able to scale quickly.
Shopify offers a variety of ecommerce tools such as CRM software and tools for automation to help your business. These features are much more advanced than those offered by Amazon. But using them, and building your brand identity on the platform, take more time and effort.
Book a demo with Triple Whale today to learn how you can increase your ecommerce profits.
So, should you choose Shopify or Amazon?
It depends on your business and the goals you have. You’ll need to carefully analyze the Amazon and Shopify pros and cons above to determine which solution will work best for your business.
While every brand is different, generally speaking, there are some broad use cases where one platform may outrank the other.
Choose Amazon if:
Choose Shopify if:
Diversifying your portfolio and selling on both Amazon and Shopify isn’t a bad idea. In fact, lots of businesses are already on both platforms.
Shopify’s sales channel offers many benefits to businesses looking to expand to Amazon, including:
In fact, at Triple Whale, we believe a successful ecommerce campaign should have an official website and a visible presence on Amazon to expand reach. Combining these approaches can improve your results across more relevant and high-volume searches, resulting in higher conversions.
So when does it make sense to use both Amazon and Shopify? Here are some examples and how to get the most out of this lucrative pairing:
Amazon and Shopify are two of the most popular and best ecommerce platforms. Amazon is considered an online marketplace, while Shopify is a platform that allows you to build and operate your own ecommerce store.
There are pros and cons of using either platform. Whether Amazon vs. Shopify is “best” for you really depends on your brand, your business model, and your goals. Generally, Shopify can be more profitable for small brands that value more control over their identity and risk dwindling profit in the face of stiff Amazon competition. Amazon can be best for brands that value access to the marketplace’s large audience and can stand up to the competition.
That said, you can use both platforms to your advantage. Triple Whale can help guide you through the process of scaling to success. Book a demo today!
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