The short answer to, “Can I sell on Amazon without a store?” is yes. But what does it mean to sell on Amazon if you don’t already have a store?
Let’s clarify what we mean by a store. In this post, I’m talking about either a:
- Digital store on the Amazon website
- Physical brick-and-mortar store
Here’s a quick answer that applies to both types of stores, then we’ll get into more details.
You can sell on Amazon without either kind of store, but that doesn’t take into account other factors. If you’re only selling products where you don’t own the brand online, then neither type of store makes sense. If, however, you’re adding Amazon as a sales channel to your existing brick and mortar store, then already having a store is fine, but not necessary, to start selling on Amazon. If you’ve created a new brand or product, not having an existing store is fine as well.
In other words, you don’t need any type of store if you want to sell on Amazon or use Amazon FBA.
Now, let’s dig into the details.
Do I Need a Physical Store to Sell on Amazon?
No, you don’t need to have a physical store to sell on Amazon. In the age of ecommerce, having a physical store could actually be an unnecessary cost you should avoid. This is especially true if you’re only going to be selling products online.
Ideally, if you’re just selling products online, you don’t even need to have a warehouse or storage space, since you can simply use the services of Amazon FBA, and have them handle all of the logistics (including storage) for you.
Also, if the product you’re going to resell already exists on Amazon, then you can list your product under the existing product pages that have the same UPC barcode or Amazon Serial Identification Number ASIN.
In this situation, since the work of creating a product listing is already done, all you need to do is ship your goods to Amazon, and monitor the sales of your products to ensure your pricing stays competitive and manage any communications from Amazon.
Why Sell on Amazon if I Already Have Either Kind of Store?
Selling on Amazon allows you access to Amazon FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon), which is a complete 3rd-party storage and fulfillment solution for anyone who is considering selling online.
I’ve covered exactly what Amazon FBA is in a lot more detail in my post here, but here’s a brief summary.
Benefits of Selling on Amazon with Amazon FBA
The primary benefit of selling on Amazon using FBA is that you’re selling your products on the most-recognized online storefront in the world. According to a recent Marketplace Pulse article:
“Twenty-five cents of every dollar spent shopping online goes to the Amazon third-party marketplace. Were Amazon’s marketplace an independent platform, it would be the largest online retailer in the U.S.”
Marketplace Pulse
By selling on Amazon using FBA, you’re putting your product in front of as many potential customers as possible.
Additionally, using Amazon FBA allows you to take advantage of Amazon’s delivery and warehousing network and order fulfilling services. This means Amazon will handle all the storing, picking, packing, delivery, and returns, of your products.
Utilizing FBA also allows you to focus on your business, creating new products, managing cash flow, and other non-operational tasks critical to growing your business.
You will also need to handle restocking your products with FBA, and Amazon’s inventory management tools allow you to see when is the best time to resupply.
Also, Amazon offers growth recommendations (Amazon Seller Central account required to follow link) to help guide how to properly promote your products and grow your brand.
Finally, financial-related aspects of selling, such as sales tax reporting, are handled by Amazon as well. You have more important tasks than worrying about properly remitting sales taxes to each different state!
Do I Need an Amazon Store if I Own a Brand?
While it’s not required, setting up an Amazon store is a smart move if you’ve created your own branded product(s). Here are the major steps.
Get a Website or eCommerce Store Up
If you’re creating a new product and/or brand, before you create an Amazon store, you should set up your own (non-Amazon) website. Creating a proper website to promote your products not only stakes your “digital claim” for your product online, but it also helps you later when you add Amazon as a sales channel.
Setting up your own website first means you’ll already have product photos, descriptions, and necessary barcode information to enter into an Amazon product page.
Setting up your own website also helps with your digital presence, and can be easily connected to social media sites to grow your overall brand awareness. You can also use your website to drive traffic to your Amazon product page as well.
Keep in mind setting up your own website is not a requirement of selling on Amazon, but it will help your brand grow and prepare you for dealing with Amazon when the time comes.
Register Your Brand with Amazon Brand Registry
After you set up your Amazon seller account, you want to then register your brand in the Amazon Brand Registry program. Getting approved for Brand Registry requires proof that you own the brand and that it’s also trademarked.
Brand Registered status offers a number of benefits, such as:
- Creating your own multi-page Amazon store
- Use of brand analytics tools to review search term data and customer behavior reports
- Amazon’s new email marketing tool to contact customers directly
- Protecting your customers from counterfeit products offered by unauthorized sellers
To see more benefits of Amazon’s Brand Registry program, see this page.
Create your Amazon Store
This is the final step and is a great idea for those that have their own brand. Here you are able to create a store within Amazon using their tools.
That means you get to have your own product page, built using a templated design Amazon calls A+ Content, to promote your products.
Creating an Amazon store adds another important sales channel for your product, and is an excellent way to promote your products and build your brand authority and authenticity.
Do I Need an Amazon Store at All?
Technically, you don’t have to set up an Amazon store to sell on Amazon. In fact, if you’re simply a reseller, it’s not even possible to set up your own store for products you’re just reselling.
However, if you built a product and brand from the ground up, then it’s smart to create an Amazon store. By doing so, you open up advanced features that can help make your products sell successfully online.
You’ll then begin to generate sales and start gaining positive reviews on your Amazon product page, which in turn generates even more Amazon sales.
For many people like me, Amazon is their primary sales channel for their products, so creating an Amazon store is a smart option to consider.
Next Steps
The more you can learn about Amazon FBA before starting, the better. But don’t wait too long, since I tell people the only thing I regret about selling on Amazon is that I wish I would have started sooner.
There are lots of valuable lessons to learn about selling on Amazon that you won’t necessarily get from books or courses. Check out my posts about finding the right tools to use in your business, determining how much you can make selling on Amazon, learning about Amazon’s fees, and even how to source products to sell.