In 2022, the global clothing market was worth 1.5 trillion USD, and by the end of 2026, it is expected to be worth 2 trillion USD. This shows that the market for shoes and clothes is growing all the time and has a lot of potential for both new and old business owners. The luxury clothing market is worth 71.90 billion USD in 2022, and it is expected to grow by 5.41 percent each year until 2027. When you look at these numbers, it’s clear that any business owner, no matter how big or small, can benefit from becoming a luxury apparel dropshipper.
As a business owner who wants to get into dropshipping clothing, one of the most important things you can do is choose the best dropshipping supplier, like Dropship Corporation, with whom you can work in the long run. After choosing a supplier, the next most important choice is the eCommerce platform you will use. It is suggested that you choose one that is one of the biggest and most trusted in the world, so it is likely that you will have to choose between Shopify and Amazon.
Even though both have pros and cons, your choice should be based on what your business needs and how it works. This article will show you the biggest difference between Shopify and Amazon, as well as the pros and cons of selling on each platform.
What are the biggest differences between dropshipping on Amazon and Shopify?
The first and biggest difference may be clear to most people, but it’s important to get that out of the way before we go into more specifics. Amazon is an online marketplace that is used by more than 6.4 million sellers, of which 1.5 million are currently selling. It also gets a lot of visitors every month. In July 2022, over 2.7 billion people looked at the market. But it’s also important to remember that almost 80% of this traffic came from the United States, and China came in second with 1.9%. But if you are a clothing dropshipper, you might not be able to handle the high cost of this much traffic.
On the other hand, Shopify is a platform that lets you build your own store from scratch. You have to figure out how to get people to your store on your own, though. But when you use this eCommerce platform for dropshipping, you can keep more of the money you make. This is why, as of September 2022, over 1.7 million eCommerce businesses in 175 countries around the world use Shopify as their main platform to sell their goods.
Because of this big difference, it’s hard to compare these platforms to each other. But if you compare Shopify and Amazon, you can find out which platform is best for your business. So keep reading to find out the pros and cons of both Shopify and Amazon so you can make a better choice.
Pros of a dropshipping store set up on Shopify
Shopify is a powerful Content Management System (CMS) that runs in the cloud and lets dropshippers make their own websites without needing to know much about technology or coding. Shopify is easy to use, but that doesn’t mean it’s only good for small businesses because it’s scalable. This makes it a great option for people who are just starting out in the dropshipping clothing business but want to start small and grow their businesses over time.
Because Shopify is easy to use and has simple features, clothing dropshipping store owners can choose from a wide range of professionally made web designs and store templates that are easy to change. This can be done with the help of the thousands of apps that make up Shopify Appstore. You can pretty much find an app to customise and help with any part of your business, like SEO, customer service, and so on.
If you’re still not sure if you can build the perfect website on your own, you can always contact a turnkey dropshipping website provider like Dropship Corporation’s partner LemonDev, which will set everything up for you. Installing Dropship Corporation’s Shopify App is another option. This app will help you with everything related to the launch of your store.
Once you have your store, you will be the only owner, and you will have full control over how it runs. This is also a good way to make sure you can show off the brands and products you dropship in the best way possible. In the future, this will help you market yourself better and give your customers value not only through your products but also through your brand.
All Shopify websites are mobile-friendly, which is a must in today’s world, where mCommerce is a big part of how people buy things.
There are two main things to look at when figuring out how much it costs to run a Shopify dropshipping store and dropship high-fashion items. That is, the cost of the store itself and the fee that Shopify takes out of every sale. Depending on the monthly plan you choose, the cost of owning and running your dropshipping website could range from $29 to $299 per month. The commission charged per transaction can range from 2.9% to 2.4%, depending on your monthly plan.
Also, when you work with a top dropshipping provider like Dropship Corporation and run your own website on Shopify instead of using a marketplace to sell, there are many benefits. Dropship Corporation, for example, offers premium dropshipping services and a plugin that lets you automate a lot of dropshipping tasks, like adding new products, keeping inventory levels up to date, fulfilling orders, and keeping track of what your customers buy. This will give you more time to market your business and products, since your supplier will take care of everything else.
Cons of a dropshipping store set up on Shopify
Even though this sounds easy, the hard part of having a standalone Shopify dropshipping store will come when you need to find ways to get people to visit your website. This means that you would have to rely heavily on your eCommerce marketing tools and ideas if you want your dropshipping store to stand out and help you make more money online. To stay competitive, you will also need to know what the best SEO practises are and have content marketing ideas.
When you own a dropshipping store on Shopify, the monthly payments you make to Shopify won’t be the only thing you need to think about. You will also need to buy a unique domain name if you want to have a website that works and looks professional. Also, you will have to pay a monthly fee for the apps if you want a lot of customization and extra apps to help your business and make your life easier.
Pros of being an Amazon dropshipper
Amazon is a great place to start if you are just starting out and aren’t sure if you want to run your own store. If you dropship on Amazon, you won’t have to worry about making your own website. This can be a big plus if you run a dropshipping business but aren’t very good with technology, aren’t sure you can set up your own store’s website, and can’t afford a turnkey solution. Amazon is easy to use, as shown by the fact that a lot of dropshippers use it to sell clothes and accessories. You will only need to make a seller’s profile and ask your dropshipping supplier for CSV files so that you can add their products to your store.
For example, if you choose to work with Dropship Corporation, you will get CSV files that are updated every 3 hours. This will make it easy for you to list items quickly and always know how many you have in stock.
Amazon will give your store access to millions of visitors every day and show your products to people all over the world, so you don’t have to bring people to your dropshipping store’s website yourself. This is likely to be a big help for dropshippers who don’t know much about online marketing yet. Also, your store’s reputation will automatically be backed by the reputation of one of the largest marketplaces. That is, it’s easy to ride on Amazon’s success, and you don’t have to build your own brand and credibility before you can sell.
Amazon also has built-in customer service that you can use to help customers who aren’t happy. This help with customer service will not only save you time, but it will also help you make sure that your customers are as happy as possible. This will make it easier to turn them into loyal customers.
Cons of being an Amazon dropshipper
All of the above benefits make Amazon a very popular place for clothing dropshippers, which makes it harder for you to stand out as a seller. Here, you can’t brand your store like you could on a separate website, so you might end up in a price war with your competitors.
Also, you don’t own or have control over your store’s page, so you are more vulnerable to outside events and changes in Amazon’s rules. Because of this, you must follow Amazon’s current rules or risk having your account suspended, which could mean the end of your dropshipping career on Amazon.
Even though it doesn’t cost as much to run and market an Amazon dropshipping store as a Shopify one, it does have some downsides, such as the commission you have to pay after each sale. As a pro seller, which means you sell more than 40 items per month, you will have to pay a flat fee of 39.99 USD per month to use Amazon’s platform. Also, Amazon’s commission fees are based on the total price of the sale, which includes shipping costs and any fees for gift wrapping. These fees can be as low as 5% or as high as 45%, depending on the type of product you are selling. Then, these fees can add up quickly, and you’ll need to figure out if it’s still worth it for your business to use Amazon as a middleman.
Also, Amazon’s rules and policies don’t let dropshipping suppliers offer fully automated sales through the platform. The only thing they can do is send their dropshippers CSV files so that they can upload all of their products at once and change their stock levels. But if you do it this way, you won’t be able to use automated order forwarding or stock updates. In this case, you will have to do these steps by hand, which could take a lot of time.
Conclusion
When comparing Shopify and Amazon, it’s not easy to come to a clear conclusion. As was mentioned above, they are very different platforms that require different skills from their users and have very different pricing structures. But it’s important to remember that they don’t compete with each other and that they can work together to help your dropshipping business. You can reach a lot of people on Amazon, which can be a great way to get people to visit your Shopify store. This will help you reach your sales goals and show who you are in a way that is unique to you. But, as we’ve already said, the most important thing is for you to understand your business and set your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) ahead of time. Then, you can make the best decision for your business.
