Why You Need a Strategy for Shopify AND Amazon
In an ever-changing e-commerce scene, keeping up with every new development can be tedious, frustrating, and time consuming. Multi-channel selling, as important as we all know it is, is overwhelming. And while there are cases when it makes sense to forgo jumping on every new channel and optimizing for it, there are some platforms your brands just can’t afford to miss out on.
Right now, those are Amazon and Shopify.
It is vital for brands to have an optimized strategy for both platforms in order to achieve maximum growth.
Amazon can be both a blessing and a curse, and the latter especially when used alone. To start, brands are made available to millions of shoppers world-wide. They are placed right in the midst of the whole world’s largest shopping center. This can be a wonderful thing for exposure, but it can also easily leave your brand obscured by tons of others and unnoticed by its true market. Even those who do find you will not be given the same opportunity to form a direct and lasting relationship. Not to mention that in such a large marketplace, a small slip-up can land you in obscurity. Just like anything in business, it helps to diversify your risk, so sticking with just Amazon is a path to trouble.
Most business owners understand the importance of having a direct-to-consumer store in addition to an Amazon presence. Shopify is an ideal candidate for this type of diversification because of its integration with Amazon. This channel allows businesses to create their own “stores” with quite a bit of customization. With this opportunity, they can provide a shopping experience that reflects their brand and values and build lasting, direct relationships..
Shopify also has a host of other benefits that make it easier for shoppers to buy and easier for you to manage your store. It allows buyers to pay through Amazon, removing a barrier to buying that makes shoppers much more likely to seal the deal. Shopify makes setting up your site easy by pulling reviews from Amazon, synching product content and prices, and even outsourcing fulfillment to Amazon.
It won’t serve you to try to fit a round peg in a square hole by applying Amazon strategy to Shopify or vice versa. On Shopify instead of trying to stand out with limited control on Amazon, you’ll need to put a lot of time and effort into marketing and branding. With more control over your image and sales on Shopify, you’ll find that you may have to work harder to get customers, but they’ll be more likely to be return customers who truly value your products. Shopify also has a feature that sends viewers to your product on Amazon if they do not buy on your Shopify store, so you get yet another chance to win them over.
Ultimately, Amazon and Shopify have complementary features which, when used individually, can leave holes in your marketing strategy. When used together, however, the complementary features cover all the bases for your business and maximize your chances for success.