Custom Shopify theme or template: how to decide
What changes between adapting an existing theme and building your own, and what to check before choosing for your Shopify store.
Read articleShopify vs Amazon: your own store, a marketplace or both
Decide the role of an owned Shopify store and Amazon using product margin, operational requirements and control of the customer experience.
Shopify builds and manages your own store; Amazon lets you sell within a marketplace with its rules and audience. The choice is not necessarily exclusive. A store can be the brand base while selected products go to Amazon where margin and operations justify it.
The important difference concerns how demand is acquired, which experience you control and the cost of serving each order. Selling where buyers already exist does not guarantee visibility or profit; owning a website does not generate visits by itself.
What a Shopify store provides
The store lets you organise catalogue, content, navigation and campaigns under your own identity. Customer relationships can be managed with appropriate tools and permissions, while acquisition channels need not depend on one marketplace.
In return, you must attract visitors and maintain an experience worth buying from: clear proposition, content, payments, delivery and support. Platform subscription is one budget item; include design, apps, marketing and operations as needed.
What selling on Amazon provides
Amazon offers an environment where people already search for products. You must compete within its categories, follow policies and maintain required service levels. Your offer may sit beside other sellers' offers for the same item.
The marketplace can suit products with sufficient demand and margin, but moving the whole catalogue without evaluation is unwise. Listing, pricing, communication and logistics rules shape the channel alongside its fees.
| Criterion | Shopify store | Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Demand | You develop it through your channels. | Internal searches exist, with competition for visibility. |
| Brand experience | Greater scope to design content and journeys. | Marketplace format and conditions. |
| Data and relationships | Direct management within applicable permissions and obligations. | Data use and communication follow Amazon's rules. |
| Logistics | You define operators and processes. | You can assess own fulfilment or Amazon services. |
| Cost | Platform, payments, tools, acquisition and operations. | Applicable account/category fees, logistics, tools and advertising. |
Comparing margin per order
Calculate the same product using final price, discounts, cost, packaging, shipping, fees and returns. Include attributable acquisition spend consistently. Counting website advertising while omitting marketplace advertising is not an equivalent comparison.
For Amazon, consult category and fulfilment rates. For Shopify, check the plan, payment processing and applicable extra fees. No universal percentage summarises each channel's profitability.
FBA and your own fulfilment
With your own fulfilment, your team or operator must meet marketplace processes and deadlines. With FBA, Amazon handles part of logistics under its conditions. Evaluate storage, preparation, returns and availability before choosing.
To use Amazon inventory for website orders, check the service and app supporting that journey in your country. It does not happen automatically when products are listed on Amazon.
When combining them may make sense
A combination can fit where each channel has a role: the website develops brand, content and relationships; Amazon addresses particular catalogue demand. The objective is a profitable additional operation, not uncontrolled duplication of inventory and work.
Decide which system owns products, prices and stock. Then define order entry, cancellations and returns. Two manually updated channels can oversell even when each works independently.
A small test before deciding
- Select products with clear margin, data and availability.
- Check account and category requirements.
- Calculate costs using the actual logistics scenario.
- Publish and test order and inventory flow in a controlled way.
- Measure margin, incidents and operating work.
- Expand only when connection and support are sustainable.
Choosing a channel is not choosing the whole architecture
If the main problem is inconsistent catalogue data or an ERP connection, correct it before adding channels. The right tool does not prevent different items sharing a SKU or one sale being recorded twice.
Shopify and integration consultancy can define each channel's role and the main data source. If the decision is made, the integration guide explains what to prepare to connect Shopify and Amazon.
Further reading for your store
- Integrating Shopify and Amazon step by step
- Managing marketplaces from Shopify
- Choosing a platform using a requirement matrix
Sources and review
- Shopify Marketplace Connect requirements
- Managing Amazon offers and listings
- Shopify plans and prices in Spain
Editorial review: the Migraciones.io team · 30 October 2026. Features, plans and availability are checked against the linked sources.