Opening the proverbial doors to a new e-commerce store is an exciting moment. But before you can do that, you need to decide if you want to build your storefront on Amazon’s marketplace or invest in Shopify’s e-commerce platform.
Amazon provides exposure to its marketplace of over 200 million Amazon Prime account holders worldwide, while Shopify allows you to create a dedicated website that’s fully under your control. Based on careful research and real user experience, we’ve weighed Shopify vs Amazon through the lens of the small-business owner to help you decide which is best for your e-commerce needs.
Shopify vs. Amazon snapshot
| | Shopify | Amazon |
|---|---|---|
Free trial | 3-day free trial, first month for $1 | No |
Starting price | Basic plan: $39 per month ($29 per month if paid annually) | Individual plan: No monthly fees, 99 cents each sale |
Transaction fees | 2.9% + 30 cents online | Referral fees start at 30 cents per item based on product categories |
Website builder | Yes; with prebuilt templates, users can fully build and customize their own e-commerce website | No; one format for sellers and three template options for a storefront for trademark-registered users |
Ease of use | Simple sign-up, prebuilt templates, no coding required | Simple sign-up, no design required, no coding required |
Integrations and apps | 8,000 apps | Free and paid tools and programs to boost sales, Selling Partner App Store available with over 2,500 apps |
Customer support | 24/7 live chat support for all plans, phone and email support for Plus plan members | Support ticket system, option to request a phone call |
Mobile app for shop management | Yes | Yes |
Pricing and fees
Pricing isn’t always as simple as a monthly fee. There are (often hidden) costs to consider as well as third-party expenses to factor in. Here’s what you can expect when it comes to the cost of Shopify vs. Amazon’s seller program.
Shopify
Shopify offers three small-business-friendly plans as well as an enterprise option:
- Basic plan: $39/month
- Shopify plan: $105/month
- Advanced plan: $399/month
If you choose to be billed annually, you will get 25% off of these prices. There is a 30 cent transaction fee per online sale (10 cents for in-person orders) across all plans. Depending on the plan, an additional “card fee” percentage is also taken, ranging from 2.4% to 2.9%.
Looking for a lite version of Shopify? There’s also a $5/month Starter plan for quickly creating a very basic online store. This plan is perfect for beginners selling on social media who don’t need a full website.
The Shopify App Store offers over 8,000 third-party integrations, many of which come at an additional cost, meaning overall Shopify costs may add up quickly if you opt for more expensive apps.
Amazon
Amazon offers two seller plans:
- Individual plan: no monthly fee, 99 cents per sale made
- Professional plan: $39.99 a month, no per-sale charge
There’s also a referral fee for every item sold — the percentage varies depending on your item’s category, starting at 5% and going up to 45%. The minimum fee is 30 cents.
There are a few other circumstances where fees may apply, including refund fees and closing fees. If you plan on using the Fulfillment by Amazon program (where Amazon automatically ships your items from a central warehouse on your behalf), you can expect fulfillment and storage fees, which are dependent on your item’s weight and size, the shipping speed and units per order.
Lynn Power, co-founder of haircare brand MASAMI, says Amazon helps her team keep marketing costs low. “Amazon is one of the best marketplaces small businesses can leverage to find new customers and grow efficiently. We are able to get sales without spending a ton by using Amazon posts (free), Amazon Live (also free) and coupons.”
Verdict: Shopify offers more price points and features
We like that Shopify offers more plans and price points than Amazon, giving sellers more flexibility. The ability to sell in person and on social media channels also adds value to Shopify’s plans.
While it’s tempting to choose Amazon with its free Individual plan, things can get costly fast with the 99 cent per-sale fee, especially if you’re selling less expensive items. On top of this, Amazon’s referral fees can be a bit confusing, with Amazon taking commissions ranging from 8% to 45%.
Shopify’s Starter plan is the cheapest monthly subscription, and if you sell more than five items each month, it beats out Amazon’s Individual plan. But even higher-tier plans offer value to small-business owners. For example, if you use Shopify Payments over third-party credit card processing companies, you won’t have to deal with transaction fees.
E-commerce setup and options
Marketplace storefronts and online stores created through e-commerce platforms have different setup processes. Let’s examine both to see which best suits your business.
Shopify
Shopify’s sleek, non-overwhelming design makes it easy for beginners to configure their first e-commerce store. First, users set up shop basics by adding a store name, currency type and time zone. You can use a free “.myshopify.com” domain, buy a custom domain directly from Shopify or transfer a domain from another provider.
Next you’ll select a theme for your online store. There are free and paid options with real store examples, feature lists and reviews to help you choose a theme that suits your shop.
The online store editor allows you to customize your theme, code-free. You can drag and drop elements, add images and videos, or adjust site colors and fonts in this section. A handy side-dash provides inventory, product insights and organization displays at a glance.
From here, Shopify can get much more complex, depending on your goals. You can add new pages, create and sort menus, start a blog and display store policies and legal information.
You can also add third-party apps. Jennifer Johnson, a Shopify user and owner of True Fashionistas, added apps to her site in order to increase functionality. “When we added the Postscript SMS app to our Shopify site we saw a massive increase in our sales. The ability for us to be able to text our customers was huge.”
We recommend starting with the native tools within Shopify before expanding to the third-party apps. You may be surprised by how much functionality is built into the base software.
Setting up an Amazon storefront is simple but less customizable than Shopify. Start by creating an Amazon Seller account and submitting personal information and proof of identity.
Once you’re approved by the Amazon associates team, you can configure your public seller profile. This is where you input your payment, business, shipping and tax information. You’ll also set up notification preferences, login settings and user permissions for your account.
If you have intellectual property such as a trademark, patent or copyright, you need to register with the Amazon Brand Registry, a free tool that protects your products and brand. A big bonus of this registration is that it lets sellers create a semi-customizable storefront with their brand. Sellers with storefronts can choose from three different templates, create sub-category pages and organize content elements with Amazon’s tile manager.
Sellers without intellectual property can skip this step and create searchable product listings without a dedicated storefront.
To list products, you’ll need the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) for each product, which will locate the item in Amazon’s system. Then you’ll price your products and choose your fulfillment method. You can opt to pay for Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), a service that selects, packs and ships your products automatically from a warehouse. You can also choose to fulfill your orders independently.
Like Shopify, Amazon offers third-party application integrations. In the Selling Partner Appstore, you’ll find over 2,500 apps. Amazon reports that using apps speeds up initial sales timelines by 57%, so it may be a profitable move to add them to your seller account.
Verdict: Amazon offers the most straightforward setup
Amazon’s seller program has a simple setup that doesn’t require design, code or additional plugins to get started. And even if you create an Amazon storefront, the options are less exhaustive than Shopify with just three templates to choose from. It’s the simpler option for small businesses that prioritize getting items listed for sale as soon as possible.
Customer support
A strong customer support team can feel like a suite of virtual assistants advocating for your e-commerce store, putting out fires and helping you learn the lay of the land. Here’s how Shopify and Amazon hold up in the customer service department:
Shopify
All Shopify sellers have access to 24/7 live chat support and the Plus plan (its enterprise plan) provides access to additional phone and email support. The Shopify community connects you with other sellers on the platform and has discussion categories such as feedback, design and Q&A.
Amazon
Amazon has a specialized support team to help sellers navigate the marketplace and manage their Amazon accounts. To contact the seller support team directly, navigate to the “Help” button on the seller support homepage. Then, scroll down to click the “Get Support” button.
You’ll be prompted with questions to help you resolve your issue without an agent. Eventually, you’ll be prompted to open a support ticket or request a call from a customer support agent. You won’t have access to direct phone, email or chat support. You can head to the seller forums for additional support from fellow users.
Verdict: Shopify wins with multi-channel support
Shopify is the clear winner in customer support, offering 24/7 real-time coverage for all plan levels. With a higher-tier plan, you can also access phone and email support. Amazon doesn’t offer any additional options when you choose its pricier Professional plan.
Ease of use
Let’s evaluate how easy these programs are to use for small-business owners without specialized technical skills, and what other users have to say about usability when it comes to Shopify vs. Amazon.
Shopify
Shopify is easy on the eyes with a clean and minimal dashboard. You’ll spend most of your time in the orders, products and customer service sections to perform day-to-day tasks on the platform. And 24/7 live chat access to customer service makes it extremely easy to reach out when you experience a block navigating the platform.
Users on GetApp often point out that it’s a great choice for small teams and solopreneurs, and it has a 4.5 out of 5-star rating for ease of use. It has a number of in-house features like Shopify Pay and the ability to purchase a URL directly in the platform.
Amazon
The Amazon seller program makes set up easy by limiting your options. Since you can’t customize your online payment methods or edit your store’s layout, you simply follow a “plug and play” solution where you add your shop’s details and begin uploading products.
Justinia Gardiner, founder and CEO of SunnyStik, points out that Amazon has made it easier to bridge the customer-seller gap without investing extra time or money. “As a small business, Amazon’s FBA (Fulfillment By Amazon) program has boosted our ranking and exposure, making it instrumental in driving sales and attracting customers we wouldn’t easily reach otherwise.”
Verdict: It’s a tie, depending on what your business values
Both Shopify and Amazon have created user-friendly options for sellers, and neither requires you to implement code or specialized knowledge during setup. To really decide which one is best, we need to dig deeper into each use case.
Amazon is the easiest option for those who don’t want to ship individual items, thanks to the FBA program. It’s also a great option for sellers who want quick exposure without the labor of driving visitors to a website.
Shopify is likely the better choice if you’re trying to establish a “home” for your business. This allows you to create a professional site quickly that can grow in complexity alongside your business.
Amazon will be challenging if you want to be able to scale, while Shopify will be challenging if you’re not familiar with generating and directing traffic to your site.
Summary: Shopify is the best option — most of the time
When it comes to Shopify vs Amazon, we think Shopify offers the most value overall and is one of the best e-commerce platforms out there. But the right selection essentially boils down to your business goals:
When should you choose Shopify?
Choose Shopify when looking for a full-service e-commerce store builder. It’s easy to use yet robust, featuring thousands of third-party add-ons that allow you to scale and integrate the programs you use to run your store. We also appreciate Shopify’s professional template options and an option for sellers to create a store from scratch.
When should you choose Amazon?
Amazon isn’t conducive to building a brand unless you sign up with their Brand Registry and create a semi-customized storefront. But it’s a great choice for those wanting to get their products in the hands of buyers without having to build their own audience, thanks to the exposure to Amazon’s many shoppers. It’s also a great platform for those wanting to work with the FBA program, which makes it easy to fulfill orders passively.