Selling On Amazon vs Selling from Your Own App - What's Right for You?

The eCommerce market is marching ahead at an incredible pace. If you are a retail business owner with no digital presence, this is the right time for you to take that leap of faith. But as you are about to start your digital journey, you are going to face a dilemma – Which is the best place to start selling?

Is it the world’s largest online marketplace Amazon

or

Is it your own app?

Choosing a platform to display your products to the target audience is a big decision. Amazon is arguably the biggest online marketplaces in the world. It is used by thousands of digital consumers every day and has a huge reach.

With your own app, you might not have the selling power of the juggernaut Amazon, but you will have total control of your operations.

Did we just complicate it even further for you?

Don’t fret as we will analyze in detail how these two channels work and try to understand which is best for your business.

Why should you sell through your app?

Many sellers start migrating to Amazon just because their competitors do the same. Instead of just jumping on the bandwagon, you must seriously consider which is the right option for the type of business that you are running and the direction that you want to take in the long run. Let’s look at some of the pros of selling through your own app rather than relying on Amazon.

It’s Easy

The year is 2022, and app building has moved on from hard coding, expensive hosting, or outsourcing your data. With platforms like Vajro, you have plenty of options for creating your own app with all the latest features included in it. The best part - you can build your own app instantly. Most app-building platforms also offer in-depth tutorials, a library of pre-designed templates to choose from, 24/7 support, and social media connectivity.

You Get the Spotlight

Another huge benefit of selling through your own app is the lack of competing entities. In popular marketplaces like Amazon, there are high chances for your potential customers to get distracted and poached away by your competitors. The algorithm for Amazon is set up in such a way that, the user will be exposed to buttons, ads, and funnels prompting them to shop for products that are suggested by it. On your own app, you have the spotlight and the customers for yourself, and more importantly, you don’t have to worry about product suggestions like “Others viewed this” or “Today’s Deal”, which might push your products to the backend of the queue.

You Own the Customer

When a customer purchases your product by using an online marketplace like Amazon, whose customer is that?

They are definitely not yours! We will tell you why…

These customers are using the Amazon platform, site features, and most likely fulfillment centers, making them Amazon customers. From an overall business point of view, what it does is that you are losing out on opportunities to increase your brand awareness and retarget the customers who bought your product.

When customers buy through your own app, you have full control over targeting, remarketing, and increasing your brand presence. If you are thinking about scaling your business, it is extremely important.

Why should you sell through Amazon?

As we touched upon earlier in this blog post, Amazon is a huge market. Meaning, it has some inherent advantages to it. If you are a new business owner in search of a head start, Amazon can provide that to you. Momentum is hard to come by for new business owners, and if visibility, convenience, and instant growth are your priorities, then Amazon is the right partner for you.

Immense Traffic & Reach

In the eCommerce world, traffic and reach are two words that dictate success. With an ever-growing user base, Amazon has unmatchable online traffic and reach when compared to the other marketplaces. If we look at it statistically, the numbers are far greater, something which you can only dream of with your independent app. Even if you dedicate a significant amount of time and money to your digital marketing campaigns, chances are that you will fall short if you are going head to head with Amazon.

Simply put, you will not get access to these many potential shoppers in one place anywhere else on the internet. With a paid subscription plan like Amazon Prime membership and a product selection second to none, Amazon is truly a mecca for high-volume traffic and organic reach.

Integrated Advertising

Amazon PPC (pay per click) enables new sellers to promote their products without any prior advertising knowledge. When shopping on Amazon you might have noticed “sponsored” on the product listing. It indicates that the seller is using the Amazon sponsored Ad platform to promote their products. As the name indicates the sellers only have to pay when a shopper clicks on the ad. You can also choose your advertising budget range way ahead of time, giving you leeway to plan your investment efforts for advertising. Amazon PPC is one of the best tools to increase product visibility and boost sales almost instantly, making it an exciting proposition for new sellers.

And The Winner Is?

It is hard to pick a clear winner out of these two extremely different sales channels. Both Amazon and an independent app have certain advantages that the other simply cannot emulate. So, how about we synergize both? Yes, you heard it right, in this highly-competitive eCommerce domain, it would not hurt if you had the selling power of Amazon along with the freedom and control of your own app. Or you could even start out at Amazon, and later shift to your own mCommerce store as your products become more popular. At the end of the day, it is all about picking the right approach to achieve long-term success.

Vajro is also here to help you make that crucial decision. We have aided numerous brands in their digital transition journey. Our instant mobile app factory will deliver your dream mobile app within a short span of time. Click here to book a demo now.