6 Ways Your eCommerce Website Can Compete With Amazon

Amazon is the ruler of the eCommerce world. It is leveraging an unprecedented amount of money, inventories, and even brand name. So how will an eCommerce brand compete with Amazon?

A small eCommerce store can’t even look for too many discounts. Everyone knows that Amazon spends hundreds of dollars to convert a single customer. A new player cannot defeat it in terms of customer acquisition costs. It’s just too high.

So how will your eCommerce brand grow? Is it just impossible now? Are you too late?

Amazon is too big to focus on smaller aspects that you can grab as an opportunity.

Compete With Amazon Using These 6 Factors

1] Micro Niche

Let’s ignore what Amazon became today but focus on how it started and grew to this level. 

The tech giant is selling everything available on the planet literally.

But did you know Amazon started with a single niche of books? Amazon just sold books in its initial days.

Even today, Kindle devices and ebooks are its specialities.

There’s a saying – don’t compare your chapter 1 with someone else’s chapter 20. This quote works well for the eCommerce business as well.

Narrowing down on the niche not only helps you establish your brand in that micro-niche but also benefits from the SEO point of view. Google and search engines understand that a particular website has E-A-T (Expertise, Authority, and Trust) in a specific niche.

Many eCommerce companies are implementing this strategy successfully.

Pier1 is an example that is just focusing on its niche – Furniture.

In case you are confused while picking up a niche then choose your eCommerce niche using these four steps.

2] Hyper-local Deliveries

Why will a consumer buy from a new website when he is getting the same thing from Amazon within a day?

Amazon and other large brands give a guaranteed next-day delivery. If you try to compete, you will be maintaining multiple inventories at different places to ensure fast deliveries. However, this becomes costly.

So, how will an eCommerce website compete with that speed? Going hyper-local in initial stages is a great option.

You can target a specific location and stock up your inventory in that radius. Hence, you can ensure the deliveries within a few hours and not even days. The whole point is to give better and quicker service than other eCommerce platforms.

Dunzo is another great example of a growing eCommerce company that targeted hyperlocal deliveries. It used to deliver medicines, food items, groceries, and everything related to your day-to-day requirements. Once it grew and raised some fundings, they started targeting more locations.

Once the business grows, you can target more locations by expanding the inventories.

3] Free Shipping

People hate to pay for shipping. Hence, most of the marketers and online sellers play with the psychology of consumers.

A product worth $50 with a shipping charge of $5 is simply unacceptable for most of the consumers. But if you set the price tag of $55 and highlight the free shipping in bold, then most of the people happily order the item.

The reason is simple yet effective. When the consumer looks at the price tag, and it fits exactly with his budget, then he is convinced to buy that product. But if such a customer finds an extra cost for delivery, he is forced to leave the deal.

This strategy works best if your product gives you a good amount of profit margin.

4] Subscription-based offers

Subscriptions work because you have already taken the customers into the loop and they are at the bottom of your sales funnel.

People love it when they get customized and special offers after becoming a family member. Leverage this emotional aspect. Think about why a customer would like to be a part of your email list. They should get value and feel cared for by joining you.

For instance, this pandemic of 2020 gave a strong blow to the travel industry. As a result, nobody is searching for hotels. Here’s what Oyo did – they sent customized emails to their subscribers with attractive offers.

This strategy was only possible because they made a strong connection with their email subscribers. 

These discounts are not visible to other people. This service is the result of personal touch and customized emails for subscribers.

Don’t just promote your products but give the exclusive products to test before launching in the market. At times, free samples can do well. You’re not only providing the value but also not giving any reason to leave your subscription. This simple thing also builds a high quality of relationships with customers. They feel valued.

5] Creating an Ecosystem

Creating an ecosystem of sellers and distributors can help to grow your business.

We all know that Amazon takes a sizeable chunk from the profits and affiliates & sellers remain helpless. That is because they have no other option. Smaller eCommerce websites can scale up here.

List more sellers with their products on your eCommerce website and take lesser commissions on listings or sales. If you have your products, then form a chain of affiliate marketers who will help you sell your products.

Amazon hardly gives a commission up to 10% and that too for the limited categories. For your business, provoke the affiliates to market your products for more margin, and they will happily do it for you.

Image Source: Amazon Advertising Rates

6] Focus on Consumer Experience

The biggest factor where Amazon lags is the consumer experience. The reason is that it is so vast that it simply cannot focus on the whereabouts and problems of individual consumers.

This gap is where you can stand out! If you have a limited and manageable size of customers, then it is easier for your eCommerce business. Creating a community where you solve the pain-points of your consumers helps you grow much faster. Not because you’re providing great products but because you listened to your customers. The word-of-mouth publicity is too good in the initial stages.

Summarizing:

No matter how big Amazon gets, there is always some space to compete with Amazon and improvements, and new eCommerce owners can grab those opportunities.

However, it is important to have the best product quality at the right price, and that becomes the deciding factor for buyers.

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