Neither Amazon nor Shopify need any introductions.
With both of them having so many features, it can be difficult to navigate
the many variables to consider when starting your eCommerce store.
He everyone this is Ashleigh with IWD Agency - The eCommerce Experts. We help online
merchants reach their online goals through
marketing optimizations and store enhancements if you're new
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e-commerce game both amazon and shopify are e-commerce
giants that often pit against each other with intense rivalry
keep watching this video to understand their major differences
so that you can make a decision about which if any
is the right e-commerce platform for you shopify is a hosted e-commerce platform
that allows you to connect to millions of customers worldwide
what drives its popularity is the ability to set up and market your store
the way you want without purchasing additional software or upgrades then we
have amazon the most popular online marketplace
which is continuously evolving it now has multiple sites support
systems and feedback centers across the globe it gets 2.5 billion
visitors every month and third-party sellers make up more
than half of all the units sold amazon's biggest advantage is how easy
it is to find products and services as of 2018
54 of people started their search on amazon
compared to 46 on google both amazon and shopify have major
strategic differences so let's look at some of the most
important ones usability shopify is not only easy to
use but it can also be integrated with other store building platforms like
wordpress or woocommerce and yes even with amazon it needs no
technical expertise and it has a mobile and user-friendly interface with amazon
you'll get access to a world of resources
discounts third-party sellers and shipping and fulfillment services
and you can set up and sell worldwide immediately with zero technical
knowledge it also offers great e-commerce tools
for taxing refunds and reviews among others
but listing and image descriptions can become time intensive because there are
lots of regulations fees and back-end logistics you need to
familiarize yourself with notable features shopify has great
built-in features with 70 themes with a free domain to get your store up
and running with the thousands of apps you can use from its app market
you'll end up with a super customized store another popular feature is its
e-commerce university with tons of guides and training
resources it takes care of any technical hurdles you might run into
with amazon you can sell anything even services
and you can add images but the overall design remains notably amazon's
on the plus side it offers great shipping options and discounts
amazon's most notable feature is fba and the vast range of products you can list
on the site it provides great protection for customers with easy refunds
so you don't have to worry as much about establishing trust or loyalty with your
customers ownership and branding listing your
products is only half the job the real work involves making customers
aware of your products and services this is another major difference between
the two you should weigh in on your brand identity
growth strategy and business plan to understand which works best
amazon gives you a lot of exposure because it is already a well-known brand
in some ways while you can have a custom amazon domain and display a store name
there is little control on making your store stand out
if you favor having a unique individual brand you will find amazon very
restricted but while you forego branding to some
extent it is very easy to start selling on amazon with much less marketing
efforts like logistics customization or seo although still
important it does offer advertising options
however to increase visibility for your products if you are an
inexperienced retailer or have fewer resources for marketing your brand
amazon seems much more convenient shopify is the complete opposite
a big thumbs up to shopify in that it keeps you entirely in control of your
shop you not only design your store from
scratch but also have access to great marketing tools on shopify's app market
which you can use with google ads facebook ads or email campaigns shopify
lets you be in the market on your own terms
although it offers useful recommendations for different marketing
tactics prepare to do a lot of leg work for your
brand awareness customer engagement and keeping your
customers loyal but if you are a self-motivated seller
who prefers individual brand identity shopify becomes a clear winner
pricing sets these two apart considerably
shopify has a three-tiered plan ranging from 29
to 299 dollars a month lots of features differ between each tier
including access to report staff accounts and transaction fees
one of its drawbacks is that the basic plan does not include user reports or
third-party payment providers but shopify also offers flexible plans
you can choose shopify plus a customized plan for enterprises that
can make your monthly fees a lot more expensive
or shopify lite which comes with no storefront but lets you sell on facebook
for only nine dollars a month the icing on the cake shopify's 90 day
free trial coupled with shopify payments which has no transaction fees becomes a
perfect recipe for testing an idea for a new store
amazon's professional plan costs 39.99 a month
if you sell less than 40 products monthly you can go for individual plans
which have no monthly fee but sellers pay 99 cents per item
but transaction fees can quickly add to the actual operating costs
based on the plan you choose shopify charges anywhere between 0.5
and 2 for transaction fees for sales not using shopify payments plus credit
card fees amazon's per item transaction fees
depend on the categories your products fall under
you'll also have to pay referral fees that are dramatically different
they can be as low as eight percent for electronics for instance
or as high as 17 for clothing for amazon device accessories
expect to pay 45 referral fees both platforms allow you to store the
product off site if you choose amazon's fulfillment
services you'll have to pay per unit shipping fee
on every order plus warehouse fees per cubic foot of product stored
so far fulfillment by amazon has been a popular option for both platforms
but it can be costly and it gives you less control over storage and shipping
preferences both offer a lot of services for the
plans you choose but shopify has better transparency when it comes to actual
costs of running your store and lets you earn higher profits
security both shopify and amazon operate on a
worldwide scale which means both deal with speed and security very well
shopify gives you an ssl certificate ensures smooth browsing
and offers great customer service amazon also offers a secure environment with a
host of solutions like secure cloud solutions
encryption backup services and risk management services
on the customer's end it's also very reliable with refunds and payments
but you still have to look out for scams and fraudulent seller accounts
which can happen quite often scalability shopify appears to not only small
businesses or independent sellers but also to giant organizations like nestle
and tesla because it's a fully hosted platform with great customization and
support it becomes a hassle-free solution for
growing your business amazon 2 is very appealing for both
small and large sellers small businesses who can't afford
selling on large platforms are drawn to amazon's reputation
its international market and millions of potential customers
just a few clicks away it takes a no-brainer to know that amazon enables
you to reach different locations worldwide
the cataloging system makes searching for products super easy
and a great thing about such retailers is that they increase the potential of
exposure for new unknown brands customers are
there to find a specific product not necessarily a brand name which means
chances of connecting to a new seller are very high
but ironically this is also amazon's drawback
because it highlights products and not dealers or brands
it has specific restrictions on what and how you can sell your product
if you don't abide by their rules which includes a lot of competition oriented
policies you can easily risk suspension growing
your business with amazon means overcoming negative reviews undercutting
tactics by competition and price fluctuations of course you
don't have to choose one over the other you can connect your amazon's account
with shopify to drive traffic or use amazon's fulfillment services
this way you get the best of both worlds regardless of whether you choose to
integrate your decision to go with one or the
other depends on how much control you like to have on your store's design and
profits your timeline for success whether you're
hands-on or hands-off with marketing and even your personality you should
strategize wisely to be successful in either platform we hope you found
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until next time
you