Shopify and Amazon are two of the leading eCommerce platforms in the UK. They both come with lots of features and tools to help you attract and convert customers. But they have very different offerings. And that makes it hard to know which platform to use to sell your goods online.
In this Shopify vs Amazon review, we will explain how these platforms operate and what tools and features they offer. We will also give you a detailed Shopify vs Amazon comparison to help you determine the ideal option for your needs. Sound good? Read on to learn more.
| Shopify | Amazon | |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | Easy to set up a store because of free hosting and themes included in the package | Easy to create your merchant account. The FBA Program eliminates the majority of the manual work |
| Pricing plans | Basic - £29 per month Shopify - £79 per month Shopify Advanced - £299 per month | The Individual Selling Plan: £0.99 per item sold The Professional Selling Plan: £39.99 per month. |
| Transaction fee | Zero with Shopify Payments, else: Basic: 2% Shopify: 1% Advanced: 0.5% | 8% & 15% referral fees depending on the type of product |
| Customer service | Multiple ways to contact support, including email, phone, live chat, social media, FAQs, and Community Forum | Limited options to contact customer support via Forum and Help Center |
| Payment options | Over 100 payment gateways plus Shopify Payments | Third-party payment gateways are not supported. Only Amazon Pay or credit and debit cards are allowed |
| Key features | Hosting Analytics integrations Exchange marketplace | Inventory storage, shipping, and packing Established customer base |
| Best for | Business owners of all sizes who want to own their website or brand | Small businesses and individual sellers who want a faster ramp-up to sales |
Overview of Shopify and Amazon platforms
Shopify is a specialised eCommerce platform founded in 2006 that gives users the tools required to build their online store. It is popular for its online sales features and flexibility. You can use Shopify’s built-in drag-and-drop editor to customise an existing Shopify theme or have a developer create one exclusively for your store.
Amazon is an online marketplace that allows you to sell alongside other merchants. It accepts both B2B and B2C sellers and provides incredible visibility for your products. However, Amazon does not offer the same customisation levels as Shopify. Now that you have had a general overview of the two platforms, let us see how they compare in different categories.
Design
Both Shopify and Amazon offer stunning designs. However, Shopify gives you more freedom than Amazon when it comes to design flexibility.
Shopify gives users loads of control over the design and layout of their online store. However, you do not have to design your store from scratch — instead, you can choose the design from over 100 different themes, including nine free themes and 80+ premium ones. Users can then easily edit, customise, and personalise the template directly on the front end using Shopify’s drag-and-drop theme editor.
Amazon’s design is more limited as it does not allow users to make much customisation on their storefront. You can upload your product descriptions and images but can not change the design. Amazon controls the overall design of your store pages and product displays. This limits your online business identity.
Features
Both Shopify and Amazon come with powerful and unique built-in features that help merchants manage their online business efficiently. Shopify edges Amazon by offering more selling features. Shopify offers the following features and tools:
- Logo maker to build logo designs
- Coupons to attract and convert customers
- Point of Sale (PoS) to take orders at flea markets and trade shows
- Inventory tracking systems to manage shipping and inventory effectively
- Abandoned cart recovery
It also allows you to add SMS marketing, email marketing, customer loyalty programs, live chats, and more tools designed to attract and retain customers.
Amazon also features many tools that make selling online easy. However, Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is its best feature. Although FBA charges a fee, it saves you the headache of shipping, inventory management, and returns. For instance, you only need to send the products to the Amazon warehouse; the rest will be taken care of by Amazon.
Plugins and Integrations
Both Shopify and Amazon offer a variety of plugins and integrations. Shopify edges Amazon as it has over 7000 free plugins that are easy to integrate.
Shopify allows you to integrate various tools, APIs, apps, and plugins with a simple drag-and-drop. It also has the Shopify App Store – home to over 7000 apps and tools for creating sales strategies, landing pages, and social media connections. It has native integration for Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. Better still, if you already have a successful or established Shopify store, you can integrate it with Amazon. Also, if you are a dropshipper, Shopify provides hundreds of apps that import products automatically from AliExpress into your Shopify store.
Amazon makes it easy to integrate a Shopify store into its online marketplace. However, the Amazon-Shopify integration is not free. You must pay for an Amazon Professional Seller (APS) account to use this feature.
Ease of Use
Both Shopify and Amazon are easy to use. Shopify makes it easier to create your online store. But Amazon entails less work than Shopify as you only need to set up a store and start selling.
Shopify has earned an excellent reputation for its simplicity and user-friendly UI. For instance, its drag-and-use design allows you to easily sign up, manage, and modify layouts and designs with only a few mouse clicks. Its ready-made templates need zero coding experience. The interface is intuitive, with clear visual cues, so you will never feel lost while designing your online store. Besides, Shopify’s back-end dashboard is easy to navigate, with everything required displayed on the left sidebar.
Amazon also has a straightforward and intuitive user interface. For instance, you only need to follow a simple sign-up process to get your merchant account up and running. You can then start listing your products and fulfilling orders to make money. Better still, if you do not want to go through the struggle of packaging and shipping, the Amazon FBA program will take care of you.
Payment Options
Both Shopify and Amazon support safe and secure payment options. Shopify edges Amazon by accepting third-party payment gateways.
Shopify supports over 100 payment methods, including Amazon Pay, Stripe, Square, and PayPal. All these payment gateways have transaction fees ranging from 0.5% – 2% depending on the pricing plan and payment method. It also has its own payment method, Shopify Payments, which does not charge users an additional transaction fee.
Amazon offers Amazon Pay as its primary payment option. It also supports credit and debit cards. There is no option for third-party payment methods like PayPal.
Security
Both Shopify and Amazon are secure and PCI-compliant. Shopify edges Amazon because of its safe and reliable hosting services.
Shopify includes an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificate on all its websites. It is certified Level 1 PCI-DSS compliant and uses a secure HTTP connection. It has been issued SOC 2 and SOC 3 Type II reports. It also offers account-level security by providing 2-factor authentication and hashing user passwords.
Amazon follows PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) when safeguarding the security and privacy of users’ data and transaction information. It also uses HTTP protocol and SSL encryption to curb website security disasters. It also provides the following standard security protection standards;
- Two-factor authentication
- Location data protection via Amazon Location
Pricing
Both Shopify and Amazon have relatively affordable pricing plans. However, Shopify is cheaper for selling in larger volumes because of Amazon’s high referral fees. Shopify allows users to try Shopify free for three (3) days, with no credit card needed. Once the trial expires, you can choose a plan that suits the stage and size of your business. There are three pricing plans you can choose from:
- Basic – £29 per month
- Shopify – £79 per month
- Shopify Advanced – £299 per month
Shopify is also running an exclusive, time-limited pricing offer during which a user pays only $1 per month for a three-month trial.
Amazon has two pricing plans:
- The Individual Selling Plan: It does not have a monthly subscription fee – instead, users pay £0.99 per item sold. It is ideal for individuals selling less than 40 items monthly.
- The Professional Selling Plan: It costs £39.99 per month.
It also charges a referral fee of between 8% & 15% on each sale. These vary significantly depending on the type of product you are selling.
Conclusion
Both Shopify and Amazon are heavyweight platforms in their sector, and deciding on the best platform depends on personal preference and your business goals. For instance, Shopify is the best option for anyone looking to set up their eCommerce business. It gives you more scalable pricing, a stronger brand identity, and greater control.
On the other hand, Amazon is ideal for small sellers who do not want to pay an upfront cost. Its variable additional fees make it hard to judge how fast those costs could rack up. However, you do not necessarily need to pick either Shopify or Amazon. You can get a combination of these two powerful platforms using Shopify Amazon integration. We hope this Shopify vs Amazon guide has the information you are looking for and somehow has contributed to your decision.