Marketplace or your own online store: one brings sales, the other brings customers back
On 11.11 a skincare shop packs orders until 3 am and spots a name buying the same serum for the third time. The shop sold to her three times and still doesn't know her. That's the real difference between a marketplace and your own store.
Key points
- Marketplaces are good at putting your products in front of people who have never heard of your shop, because many shoppers start in the app's search bar.
- Customers who buy on a marketplace often remember the app rather than the shop, and start a fresh search next time.
- Your own online store lets you see customers' purchase history, set your own prices and tell past customers about new products.
- Most shops should use both: marketplaces to find new customers, their own store for the ones who come back.
- Marketplace fees and rules change, so check them on each app's own pages from time to time.
It's the night of 11.11, and a small skincare shop on Shopee has been busy since midnight. The owner and one helper pack serum until 3 am. It's the biggest night the shop has ever had.
Printing shipping labels, she notices a name. This customer is buying the same serum for the third time, always waiting for a discount code. All the shop knows about her is a name and a delivery address. Not how she found the shop, not whether she uses anything else from it. And when the new sunscreen arrives next month, she'll only hear about it if she happens to scroll past it in the app.
The sale that night belongs to the shop. The customer, though, the shop hasn't really met.
That's the heart of a question online sellers ask all the time: should we sell on a marketplace or open our own store? Marketplaces bring you sales. Your own store brings you customers who come back. And most shops should have both.
Marketplaces are good at bringing strangers to your products
Lots of people start shopping in the app's search bar. They type "serum for sensitive skin" and pick from what comes up. A small shop nobody has heard of gets to sit on the same page as big brands, which is hard to arrange anywhere else.
Shoppers are also willing to buy from a shop they've never heard of, because they trust the app. There are reviews, a familiar way to pay and somewhere to complain if the parcel never arrives. That kind of trust takes a new shop a long time to build on its own.
Shipping is easy too. Many apps have couriers already connected. You pack, print the label and wait for pickup. For a shop just starting out, it's the quickest way from nothing to a first order.
But marketplace customers tend to remember the app, not the shop
Ask someone where they bought the thing that just arrived and plenty will say "on Shopee" and can't recall the shop's name. It's not that the product was bad. Everything about that purchase looked like the app, not like the shop.
Next time they need it, they go back to the search bar and find someone selling something similar for ten baht less. The shop has to buy ads in the app or join another discount campaign to win the same customer all over again.
You're also playing by rules you didn't write. Selling fees, campaign conditions and how products get ranked can all change, and the shop has to adjust. These numbers vary by app and over time, so check the fee pages in your own seller account now and then rather than relying on what you heard once.
Your own store is where past customers come back to buy
Your own online store doesn't get the passing traffic of a marketplace. Most people who arrive already know the shop. They come from your page, from LINE, from a friend's recommendation, or by searching your name. But those are exactly the people who meant to buy from you, not just whoever was cheapest.
On your own site you get to know your customers. You see who bought what and how often. You can send news about new products, or a coupon, to people who have bought before. You can tell your brand's story on a whole page, and set prices without sitting next to someone ten baht cheaper.
Some imaginary maths: a customer buys a 590-baht serum every two months. That's 6 orders and 3,540 baht a year. If she buys directly, you don't pay to win her back each time, and the money you don't spend adds up to real profit over the year. That's one customer.
Marketplace and your own store, side by side
Put them next to each other and each is clearly better at different things. Neither wins everywhere.
| What matters | Marketplace | Your own store |
|---|---|---|
| Finding new customers | Easy, people already search in the app | You bring people in from your page, LINE or Google |
| Trust from people who don't know you | Borrowed from the app's name | Built by you, through reviews and your store |
| Knowing your customers | Only what the app shows you | Their purchase history is yours to see |
| Prices and promotions | Up against other shops on the same page, following the app's campaigns | Set by you |
| Costs | Fees per order, plus in-app ads if you want to be seen first | A monthly or yearly site fee that doesn't rise with sales |
| Rules | Set by the app, and they change | Set by you |
Most shops should use both, with a clear job for each
Shops that do well usually don't pick a side. They let each place do what it's good at. The marketplace is where new people try you for the first time. Your own store is home for the customers who liked you and want to come back.
Point the channels you own at your store. The link on your page, your Instagram bio, the LINE welcome message and the link in every new product post. People who know you from those places don't need to detour through an app.
Give people a reason to buy direct. A bundle you only sell on your site, a coupon for returning customers, or first access to a new batch. You don't need painful price cuts, just make buying direct a little better.
Read each app's rules first. Marketplaces have terms about what shops may do with customers who came through the app, such as what goes in the box or what you say in chat. If you're not sure, start by bringing customers from your own channels to your site. It's the safer route.
And don't forget stock. The same product sold in two places has to be counted from one pile, or one day you'll sell more than you have. How to handle that is in keeping stock straight across channels.
When it's time to open your own store
If you're just starting and don't yet know what sells, a marketplace is a good place to test. But once you see the same names on your labels again and again, people message your page asking if they can buy direct, or your margin gets thinner with every campaign, it's time for a place of your own. How to start is in starting your own online store.
The online stores the woowey team builds come with a cart, coupons, stock and a customer list, so you can see who keeps coming back. It's a monthly plan, and you can see the options on our pricing page. Or tell us what you sell and where, and we'll help you work out where to start.
Next 11.11, that skincare shop may still be packing until 3 am. But fewer names will repeat on the labels, because some of the regulars now order straight from the shop's own site. The shop knows who she is and what she bought when, and the day the new sunscreen arrives, it can tell her.
Frequently asked questions
Is it better to sell on Shopee and Lazada or on my own website?
They're good at different things. Marketplaces help you reach new customers who don't know you yet, while your own store suits customers who come back. That's why most shops use both.
When should a small shop open its own online store?
When you have repeat customers, people ask if they can buy from you directly, or ads and campaigns keep thinning your marketplace margins. If you don't know what sells yet, test on a marketplace first.
Do I pay a fee per order on my own online store?
If customers pay by bank transfer into your account, no middleman takes a cut of each order. Your main cost is the monthly or yearly site fee. Card payments through a payment provider carry fees set by that provider.
Can I invite marketplace customers to buy on my own site?
Each app has its own rules on this, so read the terms of the marketplace you use first. The safe approach is to bring people who know you through your own channels, such as your Facebook page, Instagram or LINE, to your site.
The woowey team
We build websites and systems for businesses
We build websites, booking systems, online stores and back offices for Thai businesses, then look after them every month. What we write here comes from what we see working with real shops.
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