I Sell on a Marketplace; Why Should I Build My Own Store as Well?

The platform. Contact details and purchase history are largely outside your reach, so the second sale is designed by them rather than you. Selling twice to the same customer is cheaper than winning a new one — and that opportunity is limited there. 🔑

In commissions, campaign participation and shipping terms. Add price competition and unit profit thins out. The arithmetic sits in the profitability article. 💸

It stops overnight. A dispute, an automated check or a rule change can close a store temporarily, and appeals take days. A business standing on one leg falls when that leg slips. 🦵

Because it’s built before the crisis rather than during it. Even a modest site opened with your ten best sellers keeps sales alive when a channel closes. Setup steps sit in the setup article. 🏗️

Because the customer list is yours: a thank-you after delivery, a usage tip, a timely reminder. Acquisition is paid once and the second sale arrives almost free. That’s the hidden profit engine. 🔁

Through compliant routes: a brand card in the parcel, useful content about the product, a genuine value offer for signing up. Direct redirection is banned on most platforms; the real force is being remembered. When customers search your name, they should find your store. 📦

A single stock source and a written price policy. Tracking the same product separately in two places leads to selling what’s already sold. The design sits in the channel article. 🔗

One selling standard products, with no brand ambition and full capacity already. But it should be a conscious choice: does your margin survive the commission, do you accept the single-channel risk? If the answers are clear, fine; if not, you need a second leg. All questions in the 18-questions hub. ⚖️

Three ways: search visibility, advertising and your existing customers. Early on the fastest is marketplace customers remembering your brand and searching for you. That’s why brand and packaging experience are the first source of site traffic.

Usually not; they serve different buying behaviours. Some customers only shop on marketplaces, others prefer buying from the brand directly. Together they grow total sales rather than splitting them.

Less than assumed; a simple setup with a few products is enough to start. The real cost sits in product data and traffic work rather than the platform. Starting small and growing with winning products is the sensible route.

Source: World Economic Forum