Nowadays, brand business owners are looking at ways to expand their reach beyond Amazon or platforms alike. This is known as multichannel retailing which refers to the process selling products across different platforms and marketplaces for example selling on Amazon, Target, Walmart, Shopify, etc.
Years ago, it used to be enough to just sell on one platform such as Amazon and expand your product line. Competition was low, fees were less and PPC was cheaper. However, nowadays, as online retailing is becoming more and more popular, having all your eggs in one basket might be a pretty bad idea.
Suspension of Amazon FBA accounts for pushing the boundaries, international brands popping up every day competing for the first page of Amazon with lower prices, and many other challenges and headaches are making brands reconsider their current strategy.
The online retailing acceleration boom can be credited to different factors such as the pandemic, however the convenience of online retailing, for both sellers and buyers, was already peaking even before the pandemic.
So it makes sense, when your market share is shrinking in one platform to consider expanding your reach. Perhaps one of the most in-demand trends right now is selling through your own website. The e-commerce platform, Shopify, happens to be one of the most popular and user-friendly.
Unfortunately there are many challenges when brands try to expand their reach and go on their own. For a brand to survive they need:
1. A solid marketing strategy
2. A substantial customer list
3. A robust social media presence
4. Brand awareness in their market
5. Brand loyalty from customers
Amazon has spoiled consumers with their store prices, shipping velocity and easy returns. So competing with giant e-commerce marketplaces like them and generating enough trust from consumers to buy from your online store requires a very thorough and in-depth brand strategy.
But it is not impossible. In fact it is very doable. All you have to do is to get into your target audience’s head and figure out why they should care about you. And then figure out how you can align your brand to them.
The other day, I was watching YouTube and I was targeted with a health product that I though was very beneficial. Their messaging was very much aligned with my beliefs and it felt as if they were speaking directly to me. Their brand colors were not randomly chosen by their CEO. They were integrated into their brand to generate trust (from their target audience). The way they positioned themselves made me feel they were part of my cultural views. So I decided to give it a shot, accept slower shipping and pay extra for something I felt aligned to.
So while Amazon has spoiled everyone, consumers every day are looking to join brands they feel are aligned to them. Therefore believing that selling on Amazon alone is the only way to generate millions of sales is not true.
Two of my favorite examples of brands who started off of Amazon or any marketplace alike and have created their empires are:
Dyper: targeting environmental-conscious families, Dyper offers diapers that are free of toxins and bio-degradable.
MUD\WTR™: a company that created a drink that is a substitute for coffee, and already has a big loyal following.
If you carefully study the above brands you will find a very key aspect around their success. They both revolted against the status quo and became “unique” or “more unique than others”.
They worked with culture to magnetize and attract a target segment.
So when looking at what you can do to reach out beyond marketplaces such as Amazon or Walmart and succeed, the first question you have to ask yourself is:
Why should your target audience care about you? Why should they buy from you instead of your competitors?
Principium Studio is a brand strategy design studio specialized in e-commerce brands that what to connect with their target audience, expand their reach and create a loyal customer base.
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