In this article
The reach difference is real
Amazon has hundreds of millions of active buyers with credit cards already saved. A well-optimised listing can be doing 100 sales a day within 90 days of launch. A Shopify store from zero, without paid traffic, will do zero sales for weeks. Reach is where Amazon crushes Shopify.
The margin difference is also real
On Amazon you pay a 15 percent referral fee plus FBA storage and fulfilment. Ads land another 10 to 25 percent as ACoS. Net margin on a private-label product is often 20 to 25 percent. On Shopify with owned traffic your fees are payment processing (about 3 percent) and platform fees. Net margin on the same product sold DTC often clears 40 percent. But you have to earn the traffic.
Data ownership is a compounding asset
On Amazon you never see customer emails. You cannot email past buyers to launch a new product. On Shopify every email, phone number, and purchase history is yours. Two years in, your Shopify buyer list is often worth more than the business itself.
Where each wins by business type
Impulse-buy items under 30 dollars: start on Amazon. Higher-consideration products with a real brand story: start on Shopify or launch parallel. Category with heavy loyalty (skincare, supplements, coffee): Shopify first because repeat purchase economics dominate. Category with low differentiation (basic accessories, generic tools): Amazon first because ranking is the whole game.
The right sequence for most brands
Launch on Amazon to prove the product with paid demand and generate cashflow. Move to Shopify in month six once you have the reviews, ratings and product-market fit signals. Run both together from month nine, using Amazon for reach and Shopify for margin and retention. The brands that hit eight figures almost always end up on both.
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