Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Amazon VS Shopify

Compare Amazon VS Shopify and see what are their differences

Amazon logo Amazon

Online shopping from the earth's biggest selection of books, magazines, music, DVDs, videos, electronics, computers, software, apparel & accessories, shoes, jewelry, tools & hardware, housewares, furniture, sporting goods, beauty & much more

Shopify logo Shopify

Shopify is a powerful ecommerce platform that includes everything you need to create an online store and sell online. Try it free for 14 days.
  • Amazon Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-20
  • Shopify Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-09-04

Amazon features and specs

  • Wide Product Variety
    Amazon offers a vast range of products, from electronics and books to clothing and household items, making it a one-stop-shop for many consumers.
  • Convenience
    Users can shop from the comfort of their homes at any time of the day, avoiding the need to visit physical stores.
  • Customer Reviews
    Amazon features extensive customer reviews, providing valuable insights and helping buyers make informed purchasing decisions.
  • Fast Shipping
    With services like Amazon Prime, customers can enjoy expedited shipping options, often receiving their orders within one or two days.
  • Reliable Return Policy
    Amazon's straightforward return process allows customers to return products if they are unsatisfied, enhancing the overall shopping experience.

Possible disadvantages of Amazon

  • Market Dominance
    Amazon's significant market presence can stifle competition, potentially harming small retailers and leading to a less diverse market.
  • Labor Practices
    Amazon has faced criticism over working conditions in its warehouses, raising ethical concerns about labor practices.
  • Data Privacy
    The vast amount of customer data Amazon collects can raise privacy concerns, especially if the data is misused or inadequately protected.
  • Counterfeit Products
    Despite efforts to combat this issue, counterfeit products can sometimes be found on Amazon, leading to dissatisfaction and loss of trust among consumers.
  • Environmental Impact
    The packaging waste and carbon footprint associated with Amazon's extensive delivery network can have negative environmental effects.

Shopify features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Shopify offers a very intuitive and easy-to-use interface, which makes it accessible even for those with minimal tech skills. Store setup and management can be performed with little technical knowledge.
  • Extensive App Ecosystem
    Shopify's App Store features thousands of apps and integrations, allowing users to extend the functionality of their online stores. From marketing tools to inventory management, there's likely an app for almost any need.
  • Customizable Themes
    Shopify offers a wide range of professionally designed themes that are easily customizable. This allows businesses to create unique and visually appealing online stores without needing a designer.
  • Secure and Reliable
    Shopify provides robust security features and ensures your website's uptime. This means you don't have to worry about your store's security or dealing with downtime issues.
  • Comprehensive Customer Support
    Shopify offers 24/7 customer support through various channels, including live chat, email, and phone. This ensures that help is available whenever you need it.
  • Mobile Responsiveness
    All of Shopify's themes are mobile-responsive, ensuring a seamless shopping experience for customers regardless of the device they use.
  • Built-in SEO Features
    Shopify provides built-in SEO features and analytics tools that help with search engine rankings and tracking the performance of your store.

Possible disadvantages of Shopify

  • Transaction Fees
    Although Shopify offers its own payment gateway, Shopify Payments, it charges additional transaction fees if you choose to use an external payment gateway.
  • Customization Limitations
    While Shopify does offer a lot of customization options, it can be restrictive for businesses with very specific needs or those that require deep customization capabilities. Advanced customizations often require knowledge of Shopify's proprietary coding language, Liquid.
  • Cost
    Shopify's monthly subscription fees can add up, especially for advanced plans or when additional paid apps are used. This can be a significant cost for small businesses.
  • Content Management Limitations
    Shopify is primarily an e-commerce platform, and it may lack some of the advanced content management features (like blogging capabilities) found in platforms specifically designed for content management such as WordPress.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While basic store setup is straightforward, mastering Shopify's more advanced features can take time and may require additional training or hiring a professional.
  • Limited Internationalization
    Shopify's multi-language and multi-currency capabilities are somewhat limited compared to other platforms dedicated to global e-commerce.

Analysis of Shopify

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Shopify is a highly regarded and reliable e-commerce platform, especially suited for users who prioritize ease of use and a comprehensive feature set for online storefronts.

Why this product is good

  • ["features", "It offers a wide range of features, including various payment gateways, customizable themes, and an app store with numerous plugins to extend functionality."]
  • ["community", "Shopify has a strong community and a wealth of online resources, including tutorials, forums, and user groups, which can be very helpful for new and experienced users alike."]
  • ["scalability", "Shopify provides scalability for businesses of all sizes, from small startups to large enterprises, with different pricing plans and advanced features available at higher tiers."]
  • ["user_friendly", "Shopify is known for its user-friendly interface, making it easy for store owners to set up and manage their online stores without needing technical expertise."]
  • ["customer_support", "The platform offers 24/7 customer support, ensuring that users can get help whenever they encounter issues or have questions."]

Recommended for

    {"entrepreneurs" => "With its flexibility and expanding app ecosystem, entrepreneurs can tailor their stores to meet unique business needs and test new ideas rapidly.", "growing_brands" => "Businesses experiencing growth can benefit from Shopify's robust infrastructure and scalability options, ensuring that the platform can grow alongside their business.", "small_businesses" => "Shopify is ideal for small to medium-sized businesses that need an easy and effective way to start selling online quickly."}

Amazon videos

10 Best TOP-RATED Amazon Products YOU NEED!

More videos:

  • Review - I Bought 10 Products With The FUNNIEST Amazon Reviews!
  • Review - AMAZON REVIEWS
  • Review - The Disturbing Case of the Amazon Review Killer
  • Review - The Amazon Review Scandal
  • Review - The Wildest Amazon Reviews Ever Written

Shopify videos

Shopify Review 2020 - Is it still worth it in 2020?

More videos:

  • Review - SHOPIFY REVIEW MID 2019 - Is Shopify Worth It For The Money? Pros & Cons
  • Review - THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE USING SHOPIFY (IN 2019)
  • Review - Shopify Review 2025 - Is It Right For You? Pros And Cons
  • Review - Shopify Review: Is It the Best eCommerce Platform for Your Store?
  • Review - Shopify Review 2025 - Is It Right For You? All Features Explained!

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Amazon and Shopify)
eCommerce
42 42%
58% 58
eCommerce Platform
43 43%
57% 57
Online Marketplace
55 55%
45% 45
Online Shopping
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using Amazon and Shopify. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Amazon and Shopify

Amazon Reviews

  1. I will like it and I also recommend others to follow this platform. But there is no direct relationship with customers, high operating costs and no control over the refund policy

    🏁 Competitors: eBay
    πŸ‘ Pros:    Best customer support|best ui experience|easy to order and tracking
  2. Mohit Gupta
    Β· Small Business Owner at SmokeHub Β·
    Nice shopping experience with Amazon

    Amazon has best shopping experience with us. Everything in this platform is very nice. It provides best shopping experience in India, has provides biggest selections of products, books, software reach and shows best movies, latest podcasts music and everything is nice for us. I like Amazon and also refer others to follow that platform. But there is no direct customer relationship, has high operations cost and there is no control over return policies.

    🏁 Competitors: Flipkart, Myntra, Alibaba, eBay
    πŸ‘ Pros:    Best online shopping app in india|Best customer support|Best ui experience|Easy to order and tracking
    πŸ‘Ž Cons:    No control over return policies|No direct customer relationship|High operation costs|No opportunity for branding

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Being known as one of the world’s most visited websites, Amazon has massively expanded its products, from selling books only to providing millions of items across a wide range of product categories. Similar to eBay, Amazon has accumulated a massive customer base as the wide product range has attracted millions of visitors to this site every day. However, remember that this...
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One nice feature of Amazon cloud is that pictures that are taken with a phone can be saved there and can still be accessed once the picture is deleted from the phone. Amazon Cloud also has an automatic back-up feature that saves pictures in the cloud so they are safe even if the phone is lost or damaged.

Shopify Reviews

  1. Shopify - the best no code platform.

    Creating my online store for small dog products on Shopify was a remarkably smooth and rewarding experience. Shopify's user-friendly platform guided me through each step of the setup process, making it easy even for someone without prior experience. Their range of customizable templates gave my store a professional and appealing look, and the analytics tools provided have been invaluable for tracking my store's performance and customer trends. Additionally, Shopify's 24/7 customer support was always ready to assist whenever I encountered any roadblocks. Overall, launching my business on Shopify has been a positive experience, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to start their own online store.

    🏁 Competitors: Tilda, WooCommerce
  2. Lori Appleman
    Β· Founder at Redline Minds Β·
    Strong Option for New DIY Stores Serving Consumers

    Shopify is a powerful marketing machine that has driven incredible growth. It's an excellent choice for the store owner who needs to do it themselves, on a shoestring budget, who does not sell complex products and who does not plan to run a hybrid - a store that serves multiple customer bases such as retail and wholesale.

    Due to its sheer market share, there is a robust marketplace of apps that can be added to shape the store to fit most needs. There is an equally robust selection of themes and developers who can assist with any size project. They have a terrific knowledge base which I strongly recommend store owners use as it teaches the basics for e-commerce in general and online marketing. This learning should be done prior to developing a plan for your site. That will help root your project for success.

    Unfortunately, it's also oversold based on name recognition even when the platform is a poor choice for a specific business. There are both policy and technical limitations that impact suitability.

    Shopify stores require many apps, which adds monthly costs and can greatly slow your store down. While ALL online stores end up with some app use, because this allows you to choose the features you want and need, much of what is native in other carts like their most direct competitor, BigCommerce, is not. So you'll spend more money each month and it can be harder to get a fast site.

    Among the stores that should probably NOT use Shopify: - Sells items that are generally prohibited on the platform which includes weapons, weapon-related items, sex objects, tobacco (for some odd reason Vape is currently on the platform but for how long is anyone's guess), alcohol.
    - Sells items allowed but that don't qualify for Shopify Payments which expands the above list to include supplements, CBD, vape products and other items. - Just as above, any store that can't qualify for Shopify Payments or who has good reasons to use another payment gateway. Why? Because if you don't use their payment gateway which they profit from, they will take 1/2-2% of your gross revenues soley because you are using another gateway. For small merchants, this isn't much, for big ones it's a significant cost. - Stores with multiple price structures or catalogs - such as those who offer VIP tiers or wholesale clients. Why not? Because you can't create true customer groups which on other platforms let you segment the catalog and content for each customer group. Groups are really important for B2B. To accomplish multiple audiences on Shopify requires either a separate app (at an added cost) or multiple storefronts, or ShopifyPlus (which is still creating multiple sites). This can greatly increase your operational costs and work efforts. - Stores with complex products - these are items with many options, also known as configurable or customizable products. While Shopify does offer the ability to offer up to 3 options per product with a maximum of 100 skus per product, this limit is very easy to exceed. There is also no native path to add modifiers such as those one would use for personalized products (like custom embroidery. While these issues can be overcome with apps, that adds both load time and costs.

    🏁 Competitors: BigCommerce, Magento, Miva, WooCommerce, Workflow
    πŸ‘ Pros:    Easy to use|Low price|Flexible|Large developer base|Great documentation|Reliable|Low maintenance
    πŸ‘Ž Cons:    Limited features|No customer groups for wholesale|Some product types forbidden|Must use their gateway or pay extra fees|Limited api calls|Limited capabilities for products with options

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Shopify: Shopify does not natively offer a backup option for user data. Although product data, orders, and customer details are stored, full-site backups must be managed manually or with paid third-party apps. Restoration options are limited, requiring users to rely on Shopify support or third-party solutions if data is lost.
Comparing 9 WordPress alternatives & competitors in 2024
Shopify specializes in ecommerce sites, managing customer data, payments, and content without the need for plugins. Store themes allow you to customize pages and create a consistent branded look. Shopify lets brands focus on global, local, and B2B sales right from their website's dashboard, with metrics like total sales and average order value.
Source: webflow.com
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Source: www.pixpa.com
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Known for its stability and security, Shopify Plus provides businesses with a robust platform and extensive app store, along with complete control over design and functionality. With enterprise-level features and a flexible app-based system, Shopify Plus allows companies to expand their operations according to their unique needs. It enables API-driven experiences by smoothly...
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Source: www.attrac.io

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Amazon seems to be a lot more popular than Shopify. While we know about 2900 links to Amazon, we've tracked only 44 mentions of Shopify. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Amazon mentions (2900)

  • Show HN: I built Bazaari.io to make launching online stores simple and fast
    > Your logo is almost a 1:1 replica of https://ao.com. If this is true, then I think it's also true to say that the logo is almost a 1:1 replica of https://amazon.com (I don't think either is true). - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • AI user interface patterns
    In the wild: "Have a question?" feature on Hotels, "QnaBot" on Amazon. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • How to Rank on Amazon (Amazon SEO)
    Organically ranking your product for several keywords on Amazon search results is a great way to increase your sales, as more customers will find your products when searching the site. Amazon is one of the largest online marketplaces globally, and you can get your products to appear higher in search by making a lot of sales to get an Amazon Best Sellers Rank and also by earning customer reviews. Below is a... - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • How to setup Deep Links for Android applications
    Well, we could have added an intent filter for https://amazon.com/, but we obviously do not own this domain, and it would be really weird, and a major safety hazard, if the system would use our app to handle the link that points to the amazon.com domain. - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • Need a good decaf and regular tea in the US?
    The voltage of mains electricity in the USA is half that of the UK, which effectively caps the power of appliances (at least those not plugged into a separate high voltage circuit). Search for fast boil kettles on amazon.co.uk and you'll get a range of 3000W options to choose from, search for the same on amazon.com and you'll return 1500W results. Source: over 1 year ago
View more

Shopify mentions (44)

  • Material 3 Expressive: Better, Easier, Emotional UX
    I don’t think is ugly, it is just that it feels like every trendy company webpage copied and pasted the same design: http://shopify.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 15 days ago
  • 11 real-life PWA examples you can learn from in 2025
    Shopify is one of the easiest platforms for selling products online, and turning your store into a PWA with installation and push notifications takes just a click, thanks to the Shopify app store. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • shopify.com vs store.link, what do you think is better one?
    Shopify.com vs store.link which one is better? Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Forget Shopify Why MedusaJS Is the Future of Headless Ecommerce
    With a traditional e-commerce platform like Shopify, you're locked into their ecosystem. You have to use their templates, checkout, and backend. Headless platforms like MedusaJS give you the freedom to build the front end however you want, using any framework or library. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
  • Allow Rules not given priority over block?
    For example, if you want to load firewalla.com, just allowing "firewalla.com" will not work, you will have allow shopify.com and few other stuff ... You can see what sites loaded using chrome dev mode. Source: almost 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Amazon and Shopify, you can also consider the following products

eBay - Buy and sell electronics, cars, fashion apparel, collectibles, sporting goods, digital cameras, baby items, coupons, and everything else on eBay, the world's online marketplace

WooCommerce - A freely available eCommerce plugin that enables shop facilities on your WordPress website. Functionality enabling extensions & beautiful themes available.

Walmart - Find quality products at unbeatable prices at home, in our stores or on the go.

Magento - Magento is the eCommerce software and platform trusted by the world's leading brands. Grow your online business with Magento.

Etsy - Buy and sell handmade or vintage items, art and supplies on Etsy, the worlds most vibrant handmade...

BigCommerce - BigCommerce provides ecommerce software solutions and shopping cart software for online businesses. Try it free and start selling your products online today!