Selling on E-Commerce Websites vs. Social Media Marketplace

There are multiple ways to grow an e-commerce business. Sellers can sell their products in many ways, nowadays selling through e-commerce sites and social media marketplace is very familiar to everyone. Each has its unique approaches and selling facilities.

E-Commerce Websites

E-commerce websites are powered by the internet, where customers can access an online store to browse through, and place orders for products or services via their own devices. In the last decade, the widespread use of e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, AliExpress, Walmart, Shopify, and eBay have contributed to substantial growth in online retail. Through e-commerce websites sellers can sell products across any category. Any E-Commerce Seller can start selling through websites even if they are not a big brand.

Social Media Marketplace

Social media marketplace is an online destination where thousands of sellers build their own brand and direct contact with the customers. Social media marketplace lets shoppers buy from the ease and comfort of their homes through social media like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. This is the easier way of products getting viral. Through social media marketing sellers can sell to any part of the world now.

Which One is Better?

For product marketing and selling, both social media marketplace and e-commerce sites carry their own weights. Sellers should be used both for building a healthy business strategy. E-commerce websites on the market help online merchants take advantage of the marketplace distribution. Marketplace distribution is a great way to help grow your business. Social media marketing through social networks like Facebook are more than happy to help you reach a larger audience, for a price, of course. Consumers are 71% more likely to buy something based on social media referrals because social media posts directly influenced their purchase decisions. Social selling poses a big challenge for e-commerce marketers.

So, sellers should start out with a website that allows people to buy what they are selling on their own site. Then, as part of a big strategy, if it makes sense to their target audience, they can use social media marketplace to increase the size of their audiences. Because social media marketplace and e-commerce websites both play an important role to increase target audience and also helps to increase sales. If sellers are selling their products or services on an e-commerce website, they can use a combo of SEO, content marketing, and paid ads to drive traffic to their products or services. In this case, sellers can use their branding and content to their advantage, this can offer a more authentic experience to their customers. If sellers use social media marketplace it’s less time-consuming.  It may be easier for some small business owners to engage with their audience on a site like Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

So, it’s totally up to you some retailers prefer to develop an e-commerce website, while others prefer an online marketplace. Selling in both an e-commerce website and social media marketplace can be profitable. Both of them provide attractive benefits, and you need to choose the attributes that are important for your business.