How Locals Challenge Amazon And Win Share Of Market

To challenge Amazon is a daunting assignment. After all, it is a well-known brand that has grown into the world’s largest online retailer. Amazon has big data and its fulfillment program is quick, efficient, and obviously dominant in all parts of the USA. However, many people do consider buying from local merchants who are trying to build a relationship with customers. For example, Cherie Edilson launched “Shop Where I Live”, a network of city specific e-commerce platforms designed to offer the convenience of on-line ordering without relying on Amazon. “Shop Where I Live” is already in 18 urban centers including Ravenna, Nebraska, and Marion, Bethune, and DeWitt Iowa.

This close-to-home shopping alternative to Amazon is a vision that many on-line retailers have. Small businesses are trying to grow by tapping into a desire to shop locally in contrast to the national giants like Amazon or Walmart. Tracy Solomon runs Granola Company in Brooklyn, New York. She recently partnered with Cinch Market. (Cinch Market is a startup that aggregates inventory of local small businesses – anything from clothing shops to wine stores – for local customers who then get a single delivery of everything they want.). Cinch Market sends Tracy an email at night for orders to be ready by 11 am in the morning. A driver pulls up to pick up the orders and drops them off at customers’ doors.

Another platform (and one I wrote about in recent blogs) that helps small customers is Shopify. Through a variety of website services, it has enabled many small businesses to shift to e-commerce with relative ease during this pandemic period caused by COVID-19. All the businesses benefit from Shopify marketing strategies. Bookshop, headquartered in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania is another example of a company that has grown under Shopify’s tutelage and is working closely with local bookstores to help them sustain their business in these challenging times.

“Shop Where I Live” promoted its efforts though print, radio, and especially through social media. According to Michael Waters of Modern Retail, the company also tried to use Amazon, but found that the platform imposed too many rules that were insurmountable. The restrictions and fees were overwhelming.

Shopify’s alliance with TikTok is important to these local marketplaces. It allows Shopify’s 1 million merchants to have the opportunity to capitalize on viral content through short videos and connect with TikTok’s young audiences. Shoppers can see ads and products that they can buy since customers can see how certain items look when they are worn.

Bottom line, the TikTok channel allows Shopify merchants to connect with new audiences and new communities. It does not requite for them to have a strong following of their own and provides content that feels authentic and genuine. Social media is becoming more shoppable, and the pandemic environment is pushing more shoppers to social commerce. Partnerships like this – connecting local businesses and local marketplaces with the Shopify platform and its alliances with the likes of TikTok – are stitching together a network that collectively presents a growing, competitive threat to the Amazons of the world.

The young entrepreneur who wants to enter on-line retailing is best advised to choose partnerships that best serve their needs and business values. He must give customers the best impressions and the fast delivery they expect. The opportunities are immense and keep growing.