One of the toughest decisions for brands is whether to sell their products on their own website or through Amazon. As the world’s largest online marketplace, Amazon’s success is truly impressive. It’s no wonder brands are considering tapping into its potential. With billions of products sold on Amazon each year, there’s a lot of money flowing through the platform. But with intense competition and various seller fees to consider, should your brand sell on Amazon or create its own website?
Having Your Own Website – Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Full control over website layout, design, branding, and the shopping process
- No distractions from competitors on your own website
- You can showcase your brand image on a wide scale, which is especially important for building trust with repeat customers
- Better margins & better control of customer service
Cons:
- While Amazon is competitive, Google is even more so. If you can’t achieve and maintain top rankings in organic search results, your products won’t be seen
- Running a website smoothly and providing excellent customer service requires a team of staff, which can be costly
- Customers may be frustrated if you can’t keep up with Amazon’s offerings, such as free returns and fast delivery
Selling on Amazon – Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Access to millions of shoppers on Amazon without the need for extensive marketing efforts
- Amazon’s product cataloguing system allows you to optimise and categorize your products, ensuring targeted traffic from customers actively searching for what you offer
- Amazon offers various advertising options to boost the visibility of your product listings, increasing your Amazon ROI
- Customers trust Amazon, which means they also trust the sellers on the platform
- Well-optimised product listings can also appear in Google search results
- Amazon can handle inventory management, packing, and shipping for you
Cons:
- High competition due to Amazon’s immense success
- Sellers must adhere to Amazon’s guidelines or risk having their product listings removed
- Amazon may impose limits on the number of customer reviews you can receive at a time
- Various fees are associated with selling on Amazon
Every brand has different business goals and needs, so what’s right for one may not be right for another. However, selling on Amazon can streamline the buying process and grant you access to millions of customers ready to make a purchase. Unless you already have a substantial number of loyal customers who prefer buying from your website, selling on Amazon is an excellent way to boost sales.
