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Choosing the right platform for your online store can make or break your eCommerce business. Compare Shopify vs Amazon and understand their differences and advantages, from shipping fees and selling fees to marketing tools and scalability.
We’ll go over the key factors between selling on Shopify vs Amazon to help you determine which platform best suits your business needs in 2025.
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Key takeaways
- Product focus: Shopify offers complete flexibility to create your own online store, while Amazon is a massive online marketplace and retailer with various product categories.
- Ease of setup: Shopify provides more customization for online stores, but Amazon is simpler to set up and start selling quickly.
- SEO and marketing: Shopify has more robust SEO tools, whereas Amazon offers built-in traffic from its marketplace.
- Pricing: Both platforms have different fee structures that cater to various business sizes and needs.
- Scalability: Shopify is better for scaling businesses due to its extensive range of tools and customization options.
Shopify vs Amazon: An overview
Shopify and Amazon serve different types of sellers and cater to distinct market needs.
Shopify empowers you to create a standalone online store tailored to your unique brand identity. You control the design, product listings, marketing strategies, and even fulfillment options.
This platform is well-suited for businesses of all sizes, from startups to established enterprises. Shopify’s robust toolkit is perfect for growth, offering features for managing inventory, marketing campaigns, and customer data.
All this power comes at a price. Shopify’s monthly subscription fees vary depending on the plan, with higher tiers offering more features and greater scalability.
Extensive apps can significantly enhance your Shopify store, but many require additional monthly subscriptions. These costs can add up quickly, so carefully evaluate your needs and budget before diving in.
Amazon, on the other hand, is the world’s largest online retailer with millions of merchants selling their products alongside Amazon’s own offerings. The platform has a massive customer base, making it easier to reach a vast audience.
On Amazon, you’re essentially a vendor within a larger ecosystem. Branding and marketing capabilities are limited since you need to create Amazon listings in a standardized format.
Standing out from the crowd requires strategic marketing efforts within the online marketplace itself.
Amazon offers a Storefront option that allows for additional customization compared to a standard seller account. It lets you create a branded, multi-page shopping experience within Amazon’s ecosystem.
However, setting up and managing an Amazon Storefront requires additional effort. It’s also not as user-friendly as Shopify’s store builder, which may reduce the appeal of Amazon’s simplified selling setup for beginners.
In a nutshell:
- Choose Shopify if: Building a strong brand identity, having complete control over your own eCommerce business, and long-term scalability are your top priorities. Note the potentially higher costs due to subscription fees and third-party apps.
- Choose Amazon if: Reaching a massive audience of online shoppers quickly with lower upfront costs is your primary goal. However, be aware of branding limitations and the additional effort for a more customized Amazon Storefront.
Shopify vs Amazon: Which is better in 2025?
To help you decide which eCommerce platform is best for your online business, let’s compare Shopify and Amazon across several aspects.
| Feature | Shopify | Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Product focus | Any product type | Extensive marketplace with various dedicated categories |
| Ease of store setup | More involved but highly customizable | Easy to start, less customization |
| Design and layout | Extensive customization with free and paid themes and apps | Limited customization, standardized Amazon listings |
| eCommerce tools | Comprehensive tools for inventory, shipping, and more | Basic seller tools |
| SEO | Advanced SEO features like custom meta tags and URLs | Built-in traffic, limited advanced SEO |
| Pricing | Monthly subscription and transaction fees | Selling plans, a referral fee, and various selling fees |
| Analytics | Advanced analytics and reporting | Basic analytics within the Amazon Seller Dashboard |
| Marketing tools | Email marketing, social media integration, and other extensions | Limited to Amazon ads |
| Customer support | 24/7 support on various channels | Email and chat support |
| Scalability | Highly scalable with an extensive app ecosystem | Limited scalability, suitable for small to mid-sized shops |
Let’s delve into the key aspects to learn the strengths and weaknesses of both Amazon and Shopify.
1. Shopify vs Amazon: Product focus
The type of products you sell determines which platform is a better fit. Here’s how Shopify and Amazon differ in their product focus.
Shopify: Niche and customizable products
Shopify empowers merchants to sell unique products, including handcrafted goods like jewelry or soaps, private label items, and print-on-demand products.
It’s perfect for selling niche or customizable products because you have complete control over branding and product offerings. This helps you establish a unique selling point (USP) and stand out from competitors.
Amazon: Established brands and proven sellers
Amazon is ideal for businesses looking to tap into a large customer base with commercially available products with a proven sales history. It caters to established brands across various categories like electronics (Sony, Samsung) and clothing.
While Amazon allows handmade items, the highly competitive environment with established brands makes it harder for them to gain visibility.
Looking for what to sell on Shopify and Amazon? Check out our articles and stay ahead of the competition.
2. Shopify vs Amazon: Ease of store setup
The core difference between Shopify and Amazon in terms of setup boils down to your priorities – building a distinct brand experience or reaching a large audience quickly.
Shopify: Craft your very own brand
The platform offers a user-friendly interface with a drag-and-drop builder, helping you create a fully customized storefront that reflects your unique brand identity.
Choose from Shopify’s mobile-friendly themes and personalize the colors, fonts, and layouts. For advanced customization, apply custom code or apps.
Our tip? Take advantage of Shopify’s free trial and explore its tutorials and courses on Shopify Academy to guide you through the setup process.
Amazon: Leverage a marketplace giant
With streamlined seller registration, Amazon is perfect for quickly listing and selling products.
Product restrictions or account approval may apply depending on the category, so make sure your products comply with Amazon’s guidelines to avoid delays.
Though not as extensive as Shopify’s store builder, there’s an option for a more branded experience through an Amazon Storefront. This program requires sellers to enroll in Amazon’s Brand Registry.
Check our blog for a detailed guide on setting up an Amazon Storefront.
3. Shopify vs Amazon: Design and layout options
The way you present products online significantly impacts customer perception. Here’s a breakdown of the design and layout options on both eCommerce platforms:
Shopify: Unlocking design freedom for your brand
Create a unique brand experience using Shopify’s themes. With free and paid options, they offer responsive and mobile-friendly layouts and design elements to match your brand aesthetic.
Additionally, there’s a Shopify App Store with numerous design-focused extensions for further customization.
For users comfortable with code, Shopify allows edits using HTML and CSS for a truly tailored storefront.
Amazon: Maintaining brand identity with a standardized design
While Amazon offers limited design control for product listings, you can still build a strong brand presence.
Focus on high-quality product images and utilize descriptive and keyword-rich product titles and descriptions to stand out in search results.
The platform also lets eligible Amazon sellers upload brand logos and enhanced brand content (A+ Content). Rich visuals, product benefits, and comparison charts create a more recognizable presence within the marketplace.
4. Shopify vs Amazon: eCommerce tools
The right resources can streamline your online business operations and improve sales. Here’s a comparison of Shopify and Amazon’s functionalities:
Shopify: All-in-one toolkit for growth
Shopify boasts robust built-in eCommerce tools for inventory management, shipping calculators, and abandoned cart recovery. They help you manage your online store efficiently and recover lost sales opportunities.
But Shopify’s true power lies in its extensive App Store. You’ll find many additional integrations for marketing automation, advanced analytics, and customer loyalty programs.
While these apps may require additional monthly subscriptions, they help you tailor your store’s functionality to specific growth goals.
Amazon: Streamlined tools within the marketplace
Amazon offers basic seller tools integrated within the marketplace to manage product listings, orders, and fulfillment.
While sufficient for basic selling, they lack the variety and customizability available on Shopify. At the same time, integrations with external tools on Amazon are limited.
5. Shopify vs Amazon: SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) drives organic traffic to your online store. This is a major difference between Amazon and Shopify.
Shopify: Taking control of SEO
The platform’s SEO features let you optimize your entire Shopify store for search engines. Aside from targeting relevant keywords to improve organic traffic, you can implement advanced SEO strategies.
Unlike Amazon, sellers practically get full control over product page titles, meta descriptions, URLs, store pages, and image alt text.
This enhances your store’s discoverability in search engines, though it might take some time to yield results without a built-in audience.
Amazon: Leveraging the marketplace’s search engine
Amazon has a powerful internal search engine that buyers use to find products.
While Amazon sellers can optimize product listings with relevant keywords, they have limited control over broader SEO practices.
Amazon optimizes its entire platform for search engines, which can benefit your product visibility to some extent. If your priority is reaching a large audience quickly using internal tools, the limited SEO flexibility shouldn’t be a concern.
Deep dive into Amazon SEO on our blog.
6. Shopify vs Amazon: Fees and pricing
Here’s a breakdown of Shopify and Amazon’s pricing structures that impact your online store.
- Subscription monthly fee:
- Basic Shopify: $39/month (limited features, suitable for small stores).
- Shopify: $105/month (most popular plan, includes abandoned cart recovery, discount codes).
- Advanced Shopify: $399/month (advanced reporting, high volume sales capabilities).
- Processing fees: 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction when using Shopify Payments on the cheapest subscription plan.
- Additional costs: Apps and payment gateway fees may apply depending on the chosen provider (separate from Shopify Payments).
Learn more about Shopify pricing plans on our blog.
- Seller plan options:
- Individual: $0.99 per item sold + closing fees (generally lower for cheaper items). Free to sign up, but may not be suitable for high-volume sellers.
- Professional: $39.99/month + closing fees (often lower than Individual plan fees). Ideal for businesses with a high product volume.
- Referral fees: Vary depending on the product category, typically 8% to 15% of the selling price.
- Fulfillment costs: If you’re not using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), you’ll be responsible for packing and shipping, incurring additional costs. FBA fees vary based on product size and weight.
To determine the best option, evaluate your product cost, projected sales volume, and potential growth.
For low-volume small business owners with low-cost products, Amazon’s Individual selling plan might be suitable. However, consider the per-item fee and potential for higher referral fees depending on your product category.
Shopify’s monthly plans can be a good investment for small businesses planning to scale. The platform offers a wider range of features, but be sure to factor in potential app costs and payment gateway fees.
7. Shopify vs Amazon: Analytics
Understanding your customers and store performance is crucial for growth. Here’s a comparison of Shopify and Amazon’s analytics capabilities.
Shopify: Dive into customer behavior and sales trends
Access analytics and reporting tools, including detailed sales reports, customer data, and traffic insights.
Shopify analytics help you understand your audience’s purchasing behavior and campaign effectiveness. That way, you can make data-driven decisions about product offerings, marketing strategies, and overall store optimization.
Amazon: Marketplace-focused seller insights
You’ll get basic shop analytics within the seller dashboard. Find data on views, visits, sales, and conversion rates.
Compared to Shopify, Amazon’s performance metrics are less comprehensive. Seller insights primarily focus on product performance within the Amazon marketplace, with limited availability on customer behavior data.
8. Shopify vs Amazon: Marketing tools
Effective marketing is essential for driving traffic to your online store and getting more sales. Here’s how Shopify and Amazon differ in their digital marketing toolsets.
Shopify: Leverage multi-channel marketing
There’s an array of marketing tools built directly into the platform. This includes email marketing features, integrations with social media channels for easy content publishing, and SEO capabilities.
Plus, with a vast array of free and paid marketing apps available, you can explore additional functionalities like influencer marketing and loyalty programs to refine your marketing strategies.
Read more about Shopify marketing on our blog.
Amazon: Get views with targeted ads
Utilize Amazon Advertising like sponsored product ads to target specific audiences within the marketplace and promote your listings.
Amazon’s marketing focus is primarily on attracting customers to the marketplace itself, not individual sellers’ stores. While you benefit from the platform’s massive audience, there’s a limited selection of built-in marketing features compared to Shopify.
As such, Amazon sellers would benefit from implementing off-platform marketing solutions like backlinking from an existing website for higher traffic.
9. Shopify vs Amazon: Customer support
Timely and effective customer support is crucial, especially when selling online. Here’s a comparison of Shopify and Amazon’s support options.
Shopify: 24/7 Assistance across multiple channels
The website builder offers round-the-clock support through various channels – connect via phone, live chat, or email. This flexibility is particularly valuable for time-sensitive issues or troubleshooting technical problems.
Shopify also has self-support resources like a Help Center, detailed guides, community forums, and video tutorials to help you resolve common issues.
Amazon: Limited email and chat support
Amazon provides email and chat assistance for online sellers, but these channels are not available 24/7. Response times might vary depending on issue complexity and support agent availability.
While Amazon has a Seller Forum where you can connect with other businesses and professional sellers to find solutions, it’s not the most efficient way to resolve urgent issues.
10. Shopify vs Amazon: Scalability
As your business grows, your eCommerce platform needs to keep pace. Here’s how Shopify and Amazon differ in terms of scalability.
Shopify: Scale as you go
The platform’s core strength lies in its flexibility and extensive app ecosystem, making Shopify a highly scalable solution suitable for businesses of all sizes.
As your Shopify store grows, easily add new features and functionalities, from marketing automation and advanced analytics to inventory management and fulfillment solutions.
Additionally, Shopify is extremely customizable, letting you tailor your store’s design and user experience to match your brand and evolving customer needs.
While Shopify’s App Store offers a wealth of functionalities, adding unnecessary apps can impact your store’s loading speed. A slower website harms SEO, as search engines prioritize fast-loading pages.
Amazon: Reach a large audience from the start
As a well-established marketplace, Amazon lets you immediately tap into a vast customer base. This is a significant advantage for smaller businesses looking to gain initial traction.
While there aren’t scalability limitations in terms of sales volume, very large or rapidly growing businesses might outgrow the platform’s branding restrictions or want more control over customer analytics.
The standardized marketplace structure limits your ability to fully customize the buyer experience. Attracting audiences within the platform may also require off-platform marketing efforts to stand out from other sellers.
See more tips and strategies for making money on Amazon.
FAQ
The better platform depends on your specific business goals.
Choose Shopify if:
- You want a standalone online store with control over your brand identity.
- You don’t mind paying a monthly subscription.
- You prioritize SEO and plan to scale your business significantly in the future.
Choose Amazon if:
- You want a fast and convenient way to reach a vast audience.
- You sell competitively priced, mass-produced products.
- You prioritize ease of fulfillment, inventory storage, and leveraging Amazon’s FBA service.
Shopify requires more time and effort to set up and manage than Amazon. Monthly subscription fees can also add up as your business grows.
Additional app fees, credit card fees, and payment gateway charges may contribute to your overall costs. It also requires more effort to drive traffic compared to a marketplace like Amazon.
Read more: Compare Shopify vs Etsy.
Yes, it is legal to sell Amazon products on Shopify. Many sellers use Shopify to create branded online stores and list their Amazon products, connecting the two platforms through Shopify apps or third-party solutions like Merch Informer.
However, make sure that you have the proper authorization and rights to sell the products you list. If you’re reselling products from Amazon, you must comply with Amazon’s policies and any agreements you have with suppliers or manufacturers to avoid legal issues.
Shopify is suitable for entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes looking for a customizable and scalable eCommerce platform. It’s ideal if you want control over your online store’s functionality and customer experience.
Is Shopify better than Amazon? It depends on your business. Shopify is a powerful platform for businesses with unique or private-label products, a focus on building a loyal customer base, and long-term growth plans.
Conclusion
Deciding between Shopify versus Amazon comes down to what drives your business.
If you’re looking for a customizable platform with robust eCommerce tools and scalability, Shopify is the way to go. Looking to tap into a massive customer base with minimal setup? Amazon might be the better option.
Whether you choose Shopify or Amazon, partner with Printify for easy product sourcing through Print on Demand. Focus on design and marketing while we handle inventory, fulfill orders, and take care of shipping.
Ready to start your eCommerce journey? Sign up now and start selling.
