Why Shopify vs Amazon Won’t Happen
The media continues to setup a false narrative between Shopify and Amazon.
They are strikingly similar companies that are almost mirror images of each other - as a result, direct competition is almost out of the question.
AMAZON:
Obsesses over: Consumers
Secret Sauce: Innovation and Operational Excellence
Threatened by Amazon: Its seller ecosystem
Critical Weakness: Product and Seller Trust Amazon is older; the book is written. You can just open your eyes and see it.
SHOPIFY:
Obsesses over: Up-and-coming brands
Secret Sauce: Continuous Low-End Disruption of the eCommerce Platform Market
Threatened by Shopify: Its partner ecosystem
Critical Weakness: ?
John Peterson offered his take on that “Critical Weakness” question mark with the following: “Shopify isn't a customer facing brand. So one seller's success doesn't help raise the tide of other Shopify sellers (minimal network effects/not a marketplace). On Amazon, if I find useful thing from seller A, I can come back to Amazon to find item from seller B.” Interesting point. I mean critical weakness in the business / business model itself. Issues that if left unchecked could threaten the whole operation. Not that it will or won't, but every business has these.
Shopify is newer, the story is still being written. When I say "threatened", I don't mean that Shopify's partner ecosystem is not great. It is. However, Shopify cares about you as a partner to a point. You are replaceable by the next vendor, or Shopify. Similar to the Amazon seller.
And by "care" I mean the Shopify business model, not its employees. Big difference.
I submit a few potential critical weaknesses:
Their product data model is under-developed generally.
Uptime needs to be a continual focus. Could be improved.
Its "single-source" partner strategy for critical system components.
Dylan Whitman raised a really interesting comparison - he said he sees “Shopify as much more like Apple than Amazon…If companies want to challenge Shopify they should look at and be inspired by Android.” Really interesting idea.
Ashesh Patel adds that “another major difference that Amazon is B2C brand, recognizable by all, Shopify is a B2B platform, not known by consumers as they are in the background of the brands providing plumbing for eCommerce!” - For sure. It’s why I say they are more mirror images than direct competitors. Indirectly, Shopify gets a lot of mileage out of "arming the rebels" messaging. It sets up a great story, and Amazon is the king. Being compared to the king is a great comparable. Arming the rebels is quite different than storming the gate yourself, though.
