Why it's time to stop selling exclusively on Amazon

Selling products online can be a daunting prospect, particularly for new companies struggling to forge their own unique brand identity. 

For these neophytes, as well as for other established entrepreneurs, Amazon offers a trusted marketplace and out-of-the-box marketing and processing procedures that can make selling easier and, in many cases, more profitable. 

However, putting all of your ecommerce eggs into the Amazon basket is probably not the best recipe for success for your company.

Advantages of selling on Amazon.

Advantages of selling on  Amazon include access to millions of shoppers across 13 countries, enhanced brand visibility, simplified operations, and fulfillment centers that manage inventory and shipping seamlessly.

Listing your products on this site gives you immediate access to the millions of shoppers who visit it on a regular basis. Connecting your store affords you instant recognition and credibility and can bring new buyers who would never have encountered your business otherwise.

Amazon’s reach extends beyond the U.S. The platform has expanded to embrace customers from 13 other countries, allowing you to spread the word about your brand with relative simplicity around the globe.

Amazon has its own search engine that customers almost reflexively consult when they are looking for products. With little or no extra effort from you, visitors can connect with your products and seamlessly make a purchase.

Finally, businesses that are just starting out appreciate the fact that they don’t need to keep inventory on hand in great quantities. That’s because Amazon can function as your one-stop inventory manager and shipper. 

Just send merchandise in bulk to one of their fulfillment centers, and they will take care of the rest. 

The advantages of ecommerce diversification beyond Amazon.

Clearly, Amazon is a commercial juggernaut for very good reasons. Companies gain tremendous profits and added exposure from making a strong connection with this powerful platform. However, expanding your strategies to potentially encompass Amazon as well as other sales options gives you the best of both worlds.

Partnering with Amazon has its share of downsides that you also need to factor into your marketing equation. For one thing, you are competing against thousands of other sellers, many of whom are trying to get people to buy products just like yours. 

You can also expect to pay for merchandise storage, as well as fees for selling and fulfillment.

Finally, Amazon limits your communications with customers, only allowing you to discuss specific fulfillment issues. This hampers your ability to cultivate a rich, personalized relationship between your shopper and your brand.

These limitations of Amazon underscore the value that you can gain from diversifying the way you market your products. The good news is that you don’t need to abandon your Amazon affiliation altogether; you just have to augment it.

The best ecommerce diversification methods.

As you look to build upon your existing Amazon partnership, there are two main viable strategies. The most obvious is to sell from your own website. 

This gives you the ultimate freedom to market your products and create exactly the customer buying experience you want, free of restrictions. 

Just partner with the right payment processing provider and design your website with mobile-friendliness, clarity, and ease of navigation in mind, and you can quickly begin to amplify your brand in your own special way.

Beyond creating your own home and ecommerce hub on a website, you can also pursue additional pre-established sales channels. Just as is the case with Amazon’s far-flung reach, alternative marketplaces such as eBay, Etsy, and Rakuten are extremely popular with diverse groups of potential customers.

The key is to understand who your audience is so that you can cater to their preferences when selling products online. For instance, eBay is an excellent option if you are looking to attract a more generalized group of buyers, whereas Etsy particularly appeals to lovers of hand-made, customized and artisan goods. 

As you look to augment your sales channels, be sure that the ones where you place your focus are in line with your signature merchandise. This way, the people who are interested in what you are selling will learn about your company when they search on their preferred marketplaces.

There is one cautionary note for any retailer looking to diversify beyond Amazon: Be sure that you have streamlined back-office and payment processing infrastructures in place. 

After all, you will now need to be accountable for all customer relationships management, reports generation, and inventory tracking tools that will work behind the scenes to facilitate any non-Amazon sales and buyer interactions that occur. 

As long as you have a network of strong and reliable internal systems up and running, you can effectively market your products while gaining long-term, loyal brand ambassadors.

There is no doubt that collaborating with Amazon provides sellers of all experience levels, types, and sizes with a powerful forum that can be leveraged to gain significant profits and success. At the same time, augmenting Amazon with additional ecommerce options helps to enhance the advantages while minimizing the downsides. 

Take some time to explore how you can branch out when it comes to your sales strategies, and you can experience greater brand recognition, enhanced client relationships, and even higher profits.