Shopify vs Amazon: What is Better? (2024)

Deciding between two ecommerce giants can be challenging, trust us. With over a decade of experience in drafting informative articles, one of the most common questions we receive is, “Shopify vs Amazon: What is Better?”

Based on our extensive research and practical knowledge, we believe Shopify is an outstanding e-commerce website builder. Shopify tops our rankings because it offers the best sales features we’ve ever tested and truly provides everything you need to create your own online store.

However, we also see the benefits of Amazon. Not having to build your own store can save time, and selling through the world’s largest online marketplace ensures a built-in audience.

Ultimately, the choice depends on whether you prefer a practical or indulgent selling experience. Both options are valid, so let’s dive deeper into the Shopify vs Amazon debate!

Shopify vs Amazon: Quick Assessment

Shopify is more suitable if you want the management and customization of creating your own online store. This is because Shopify allows you to create a personalized online store that mirrors your unique brand and identity. It stands out as one of the best ecommerce providers, offering extensive support and guidance, especially useful for beginners. 

Third-party apps and themes for your Shopify store can increase expenses, and the editor might not be as smooth as desired. However, Shopify is still perfect if you prefer to march to the beat of your own drum.

Amazon is better for small sellers who don’t want to pay upfront costs. Amazon’s key advantage is its massive daily customer base, enabling you to tap into a thriving marketplace and easily reach your audience. 

In the US alone, it attracts over 2.45 billion visitors per month! For small sellers, Amazon can be a more affordable option with no upfront costs, charging $0.99 per item sold. However, its monthly subscription fee of $39.99 is higher than Shopify’s basic plan, and you’ll face increased competition from other sellers. The upside is that you won’t need to build your own store.

Now, take a look at the quick assessment table:

Shopify vs Amazon: The comprehensive comparison

Pricing

The Winner 

Shopify stands out as the best value for money. Shopify clinches the victory! While Amazon’s Individual plan suits smaller-scale sellers, Shopify offers superior value overall. It’s not only cheaper than Amazon’s Professional plan but also boasts scalability and pricing transparency, simplifying budgeting.

Ultimately, your aim is to generate more revenue than expenditure. Opting for a platform that demands hundreds of dollars while only selling a few handmade items monthly isn’t pragmatic.

Both Amazon and Shopify offer solutions within reasonable pricing brackets to accommodate diverse budgets.

Amazon presents two selling plans:

• The Professional Selling plan at $39.99 per month, coupled with additional selling fees varying by product category.
• The Individual Selling plan, sans monthly fee, charges $0.99 per item sold, alongside variable selling fees by category.

The Individual plan caters to sellers moving fewer than 40 items monthly, albeit with fewer features. For instance, customization of shipping rates is unavailable on the Individual plan.

FBA incurs additional costs, subject to product specifics. Referral rates, potentially up to 45% of a sale, should also factor into your decision.

Shopify offers three pricing plans:

• Basic Shopify at $29 per month
• Shopify at $79 per month
• Advanced Shopify at $299 per month

Despite perceptions of Shopify as pricey, it delivers commensurate sales features. Our research rates its value for money at 3.6 out of 5, marking a 20% increase from prior assessments. Worried about costs? Shopify provides a 3-day free trial (followed by the first month at $1), enabling you to test the platform and potentially kickstart sales before committing to the main plans—an excellent option for startups or businesses with limited capital.

Features expand with each plan upgrade:

The Basic Shopify plan furnishes foundational tools for launching your ecommerce site, with room to expand through app integration. Displayed prices are yearly, offering potential savings of up to 25% compared to monthly payments. Opting for annual billing, the Basic plan reduces to $39 monthly.

For tighter budgets, Shopify offers the Shopify Starter Plan at $5 monthly, exclusively for social media sales. Though lacking a website, it provides a compact store linkable to social media pages.

While third-party apps may incur extra costs, they contribute to business scalability, aligning with increased customer engagement and profits.

Ease of Use

The Winner: It’s A Draw! Shopify and Amazon are both easy to use.

Both platforms have their own strengths in terms of usability. With Amazon, the process is simpler because you just need to set up an account and start selling. Shopify, on the other hand, makes it very easy to build your own online store, especially with recent updates like Shopify Magic, which we’ll explore further later on. Whether you’re selling one item or launching a grown ecommerce business, both platforms aim to make your online selling experience as smooth as possible.

Setting up an online store can seem hard, but Shopify simplifies the process. Unlike other website builders, Shopify opens directly in the dashboard, allowing you to immediately start adding products, setting up payment details, and handling other needs.

Initially, it might seem tedious to deal with the “boring” details before diving into the design and editing of your store, but Shopify prioritizes its sales features, which is a key strength of the platform. Built mainly for online stores, Shopify can be a bit tricky at first, as our testers noted:

To address this, Shopify introduced Shopify Magic, an AI text generation tool that creates product descriptions in multiple tones from brief descriptions, saving significant time when populating your store’s inventory. This tool can also generate FAQs and optimize emails, and as AI technology continues to evolve, these features will only become more efficient.

Since our last evaluation, Shopify’s ease of use has improved by 13%, rising from 3.5 to 4 out of 5 in our ranking. Despite some issues, it remains one of the best platforms for building an online store.

In contrast, Amazon’s setup is clear: create an account, follow the setup steps, list your products, sell them, ship them, and get paid. Amazon provides tools to facilitate this process, such as Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), which regulates shipping for you. This allows you to focus on selling while Amazon takes care of logistics. You can also offer exclusive Prime free shipping for your top-selling products, as free shipping affects 73% of online shoppers to make a purchase.

Both Shopify and Amazon are designed to streamline the selling process and provide useful tools and setups to make your life easier.

Design Flexibility

The Winner: Shopify has better design flexibility.

Shopify takes the lead when it comes to design flexibility. It shows you much more control over your store’s design than Amazon, allowing you to choose themes and customize colors and font sizes. This ability to personalize your store helps create a unique brand image, which can be a crucial factor in attracting customers. While Amazon’s design control is minimal and requires less effort, it severely limits your marketing potential.

There’s nothing more annoying than dealing with poor design while browsing online. Shopify grants you full control over your account layout and design. You don’t need to start from scrape; instead, you can select from over 140 themes and tailor them to fit your brand’s identity.

Shopify provides a range of modern and professional themes for building your store, including both free and premium options. It offers 12 free themes and over 120 premium themes priced between $170 and $380. 

You can edit, personalize, and even switch themes to create a distinctive brand image. All Shopify themes are optimized for online stores, ensuring they capture your customers’ attention effectively. This emphasis on design flexibility earned Shopify a 4.4 out of 5 in our research, outperforming even design-focused platforms like Squarespace.

Amazon, on the other hand, is much more restrictive in terms of design. All Amazon pages follow a uniform layout. You can upload your images and descriptions, but the overall appearance of your store page is unmistakably Amazon’s.

For example, on the homepage, products are displayed alongside competitors’ items under Amazon’s branding. This setup benefits the customer but can make it harder for you to guide visitors to your specific pages.

However, you can create a brand storefront on Amazon. By selecting from various templates, adding your images and videos, you can carve out a space where customers can focus solely on your brand. To build a storefront on Amazon, you must meet one of these three criteria:

– Be an Amazon seller enrolled in Brand Registry.

– Be a brand selling directly to Amazon via Vendor Central.

– Be an agency representing one of the above.

Brand Registry is available to any business with a valid registered brand in the same country as the Amazon marketplace they are selling.

Ecommerce Tools and Features

The Winner

Shopify wins! It empowers you with the tools to manage and grow your online store effectively. You can select the specific tools you need based on your product type. While Amazon offers a broad range of features and simplifies online selling, it provides the same features for all products, making it harder for your offerings to stand out.

Create a store that boasts both ecommerce power tools and great design. Opposite to popular belief, you don’t have to surrender sightliness for functionality.

Many people are unaware of the complexity of selling on Amazon. It offers a diverse marketplace for products ranging from electronics to toys and books, and even services. Through Amazon’s Seller Central App, you can create coupons, gather product reviews, and sign up for Enhanced Brand Content, which replaces standard product images with professionally shot videos to better represent your brand and boost conversions.

Amazon accommodates individual sellers and businesses alike, providing the necessary tools to support your online sales. Unique options like Amazon Handmade, global selling capabilities, and targeted advertising creation are available. The Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program, for example, allows you to get in touch with Amazon Prime customers while Amazon handles storage, packing, and shipping.

With FBA, Amazon takes care of the hard work of managing warehouses, packaging, shipping, and even customer support. You send your products to Amazon, and they hold the remains once the products are sold. There are fees involved, but it’s a convenient solution if you want to avoid shipping hassles.

In our research, Shopify highlights its comprehensive ecommerce capabilities, surpassing other providers like Wix, Square Online, and BigCommerce.

Here are some key ecommerce tools Shopify offers:

– Abandoned cart recovery

– Powerful inventory system

– Automatic tax calculation

– Logo maker

– Multichannel selling

– App integration

Shopify provides all the necessary tools to ensure your online store’s success. Additionally, Shopify has collaborated with dropshipping suppliers like DSers to support dropshipping businesses.

If you don’t find what you need in your Shopify dashboard, Shopify’s extensive app store is available. With over 6,000 apps, you can extend and enhance your e-commerce website’s functionality. However, this dependence on third-party apps can sometimes be a disadvantage. 

Payment Options and Fees

The Winner

Shopify takes the lead with superior payment options and fees.

Shopify emerges victorious! It offers a wider array of payment options compared to Amazon. By using Shopify Pay, you can avoid transaction fees altogether. Amazon’s fee structure, on the other hand, is highly variable depending on the seller and lacks transparency, making budgeting more challenging.

It’s crucial to delve beyond initial costs. Transaction fees and credit card rates can significantly impact your monthly expenses, so it’s always prudent to review these before making a commitment.

Amazon naturally prioritizes Amazon Pay as its main payment gateway, accepting credit and debit cards but not PayPal.

For ‘Professional Sellers’, Amazon imposes both selling fees and a monthly subscription. These fees vary by category and consist of referral fees and shipping fees. Referral fees start at a minimum of $0.30, typically ranging from 8% to 15% of the total sale. However, some categories, like Device Accessories, have a referral fee as high as 45%, potentially losing nearly half of the sale revenue to Amazon.

If you opt for FBA, fees range from $2.41 to $137.32 per unit for fulfillment, with monthly inventory storage fees between $0.69 and $2.40 per cubic foot. These charges depend on product size, volume, type, and even the season. Detailed prices can be checked here.

Individual sellers avoid the monthly subscription fee that Professional Sellers pay but acquire a $0.99 fee for each product sold.

Shopify features its own payment gateway, Shopify Payments. As many ecommerce platforms, Shopify promotes the use of its integral payment gateway to streamline transaction tracking. The significant advantage here is the lack of transaction fees when using Shopify Payments.

In addition to this, Shopify supports over 100 different payment gateways, including Amazon Pay and PayPal, each with transaction fees ranging from 0.5% to 2% based on the selected gateway and plan.

Credit card fees spread across all payment gateways, including Shopify Payments. Shopify’s standard credit card rate is 2.9% + 30¢, with lower rates available as you upgrade through Shopify’s pricing plans, falling from 2.9% + 30¢ to 2.4% + 30¢.

Marketing Options 

The Winner

Amazon leads in customer attraction.

Amazon takes the crown! While it’s not a passive process, Amazon’s colossal search volume means customers flock to your store, providing a significant advantage. Shopify equips you with essential tools like SEO options and marketing plugins such as omnichannel selling and automated emails, but it generally requires a more proactive approach.

In the online realm, capturing customer attention can be daunting. With competitors bombarding potential customers with ads on social media and distractions at every click, the race to stand out is intense.

This is where Amazon truly excels. With an average of 2.2 billion monthly visits in the US alone, the chances are overwhelmingly in your turn. You needn’t worry over Google rankings or extensive email campaigns—Amazon draws in eager consumers with wallets ready.

However, Amazon’s drawback emerges once users flood the platform; they must navigate to your products amidst stiff competition, including Amazon itself.

While you may sidestep Google SEO concerns, optimizing for Amazon SEO is imperative for securing high rankings. Fortunately, Amazon SEO closely mirrors Google’s principles, enabling you to apply similar strategies. To bolster your Amazon SEO, refrain from keyword stuffing in product titles, prioritize brand names and sizes in titles and descriptions, utilize clear and concise bullet points for essential product details, and highlight positive reviews to outshine rivals.

Contrary to Amazon’s vast search volume, Shopify relies on customers actively seeking your brand, necessitating robust marketing efforts to expand your reach.

Shopify boasts an array of effective marketing tools, from crafting ad campaigns to dispatching newsletters, ensuring your brand remains at the forefront of potential customers’ minds.

Email campaigns, multichannel selling, robust social media engagement, personalized shopping experiences, abandoned cart recovery, and SEO optimization—each plays a pivotal role in brand growth and customer acquisition. While Shopify integrates email newsletters and social media features, third-party apps from the Shopify App Market are indispensable for comprehensive email campaigns.

In our extensive evaluation, Shopify’s marketing tools receive top marks, earning a 5 out of 5 rating. However, Amazon’s vast audience provides a significant edge in the online selling landscape.

Help and Support

The Winner

Shopify emerges as the leader in help and support.

Shopify secures the victory! Its support system surpasses Amazon’s with greater accessibility and a wider array of assistance options. This includes round-the-clock phone and live chat support, complemented by a comprehensive Help Center stocked with articles catering to nearly every conceivable query. While Amazon does offer support, it pales in comparison to Shopify’s depth.

Amazon’s support structure lacks clarity. Phone support entails requesting a call back, while support forms and community forums serve as alternative avenues for assistance. However, Amazon’s support system is neither streamlined nor user-friendly.

Given Shopify’s diverse range of functions and tools, its support options are correspondingly extensive. Shopify boasts:

– 24/7 phone support

– Social media assistance

– Round-the-clock live chat

– Forum engagement

– Email correspondence

– Video tutorials

– Advanced specialist support

Moreover, Shopify’s Help Center is a treasure trove of articles and guides, easily navigable and replete with abundant resources. Featuring video tutorials and forums, it caters to various learning preferences. Notably, Shopify’s provision of 24/7 phone support sets it apart from other ecommerce website builders; competitors like Squarespace offer only 24/7 email support.

Recognizing the challenges inherent in managing an online store, Shopify introduced Shopify Sidekick to elevate support services. This AI chatbot addresses queries and automates select tasks, enabling users to focus on other priorities. In our latest research, Shopify’s overall help and support rating surged by 2.6% from last year, climbing from 3.8 to 3.9 out of 5. Consequently, it now ranks second in our overall assessment of the best builders on the market.

Shopify vs Amazon: Which is best for you?

Each of these ecommerce platforms presents its own distinct advantages and drawbacks. The better choice for your business ultimately hinges on the specific requirements of your store. However, we can certainly provide a balanced assessment of each.

Using Amazon with Shopify

Amazon and Shopify are quite corresponded, each offering unique features not found in the other. Integrating Amazon into your Shopify store allows you to seamlessly merge your ecommerce efforts. Yes, you read that right: you can develop your own online business while simultaneously showcasing your products on the world’s largest marketplace—all with just a few clicks. 

This integration enables you to create Amazon listings and offers directly from Shopify, synchronize inventory and product details, establish product links, and more! All you need to do is set up an Amazon Seller account and then incorporate the Amazon Sales Channel into your Shopify Store.

It’s essential to note that you still need to subscribe to the Amazon Professional Seller account, in addition to your monthly Shopify subscription. This means you’ll be paying nearly $80 per month at a minimum, plus any potential plugin costs associated with your Shopify store. While we don’t mean to dampen the mood, it’s crucial to clarify that operating a store on both platforms is a pricier option.

However, if your business is poised for increased exposure and growth, merging these two powerhouse platforms is a worthwhile investment.

Wrap up

Shopify and Amazon stand out as formidable sales platforms. Throughout this article, we’ve delved into their distinctions, exploring their features, pricing, design, and beyond.

In summary, our recommendation leans towards Shopify for those embarking on their e-commerce journey or aiming to expand their business and enhance scalability. It offers greater autonomy, reinforces brand identity, and presents more transparent pricing structures.

Amazon serves well for small-scale sellers seeking to avoid upfront costs. However, its fluctuating additional fees pose challenges in assessing potential expenses.

In the grand scheme, Shopify emerges as the superior long-term solution. Furthermore, with the option to seamlessly integrate Amazon into your Shopify store, you needn’t miss out—truly a win-win scenario!