Let's think about what it would take to truly take on Amazon. Marketing: This is actually a pretty even ground, in terms of paid advertising. However, for fr

Let's think about what it would take to truly take on Amazon. Marketing: This is actually a pretty even ground, in terms of paid advertising. However, for free advertising, you're at a disadvantage. Amazon has a domain authority of 98. You're not going to rank higher than them. Unfortunately, since marketing is one of the most constant, and highest costs of e-commerce. That puts you at a significant disadvantage. Pricing: Because Amazon can drive so much traffic to their site, and because they have an efficient website, they can drive sales. This is great leverage to negotiate lower prices from suppliers. This is a 2 part advantage. Now with lower prices, they are more attractive to consumers, and they have more money to drive other parts of their business. This puts you at a significant disadvantage. Detailed Data: Because Amazon can drive so much traffic to their site, and because they have an efficient website, they can drive sales. With this, they can collect data to help them target areas to make their business more efficient. Assuming no marketplace customers, they can make precise decisions on what to make investments in. Of course they've grown so big, that competing with them is impossible. So there are marketplace customers. This means they're not only collecting data from their own business but from your business too. They host the marketplace and have no qualms about competing with you if you're successful. This puts you at a significant disadvantage. Fulfillment: Because of their size, Amazon can afford to have multiple warehouses. This means they can strategically locate inventory across the world, combined with an efficient lead time they can make guarantees about delivery. That drives more sales. This puts you at a significant disadvantage. Delivery: Because of their size, Amazon can afford to buy whole truckloads with carriers. This means they pay less for delivery. With cheaper delivery, they can offer free delivery. That helps them drive more conversions. This puts you at a disadvantage.