The Shopify And Their Competitor Problem. And...How They Can Move Ahead

Nice thought provoking title and no disrespect to Shopify :) But this also goes for Clickbank, Gumroad, Squarespace...maybe Amazon.

These companies all offer a really good experience to sell your digital products. They offer a simple way to access code and ecommerce tool without having to know any code. It makes your site look professional and that you are a big company- regardless if you are in a bedroom somewhere.

But, they all offer the same weakness because they are constantly comparing themselves to each other. And this is where Amazon is a little different.

If I placed my digital product on a Shopify storefront (we are going to use Shopify from now on but this also means exactly the same for other companies as mentioned above), what happens next?

Nothing.

The problem with Shopify is that they give you a storefront (and other things)

Nothing happens because these companies offer a storefront. Sure you can get into Walmart etc through Shopify. You can get affiliates to sell your digital products through Clickbank. But you have to do something to move the sales needle.

Getting an affiliate to buy into your product and then managing them is difficult.

We see this all the time.

Someone has created a storefront on Shopify and expect a ton of sales. It might be the MrBeast effect where people want to sell their product on the same platform as someone successful. But they never see the time and energy that went in behind the scenes to create those sales figures.

You need people to get to the front of your store. You either spend time with them, nurture them and then show them a product that fulfills their needs. Or, you pay people to go to your store and hopefully you have found a product that they like and buy.

The storefronts are just a simple way to sell your products online. Some are better than others depending upon what product your would like to sell.

Amazon is different

Amazon on the other hand is different. it is not really a store front, it is a Mall with its own audience who goes there to shop.

The more shoppers Amazon has the better. The more stores and products the better as it generates more customers. If Amazon can keep the customer happy then Amazon is OK.

But Amazon also has loops that once your product this helps your placement, people see more of it. Customers leave reviews. You also have Amazon Associates where people can earn by promoting your products. So Amazon is its own ecosystem. Sure generating traffic to your Amazon product is super helpful and a great accelerator (and wise), you don't really have to.

This is where the other storefronts can benefit from an Amazon model. Which one of the storefronts help us actually sell with a generated audience?

Not too many.

It is hard work and costs money, but if Clickbank could start to regulate their products. To make them a shop within their own storefront- selling digital goods then where would you go to sell your digital goods? Clickbank. If you wanting to buy a digital good then you would first think of Clickbank rather than a lonely website. Also, why doesn't Clickbank give you a template to set up your webpage? You have to have XY and Z on your page before you sell anything. Why not just knock up 20 templates of different styles. You might change the style to fit your brand but keep the text?

If you want to promote being an site of tons of affiliates then help us engage with affiliates. Maybe ones that promote certain niches. Clickbank needs to ramp up their difference- affiliates.

But alas it doesn't happen. Sure you can go and run through Clickbank and directly so, but it is not really set up like that on it's front page.

Shopify integrates to some of the largest stores online including Amazon, Etsy and eBay (also offline including Walmart and Target). Which is awesome. It also integrates with social sites, which is doubly awesome. But. You still have to get the audience to those places. Walmart shelf space is amazingly competitive and they will give you space if you prove that you have sales and there is a demand.

Shopify needs to hammer home the amount of integration that is waiting for you once you plug in your traffic sources. This is what accelerates business growth.

So now you have to pick which storefront is better for your digital product...and also drive traffic to it as well.