Are you an entrepreneur? Do you sell your own products or distribute branded goods? If you want to appear on a sales platform popular with customers, you should decide which one is better for you – Allegro or Amazon. Both platforms
have their advantages, so before you make a decision, analyse your needs and expectations. It is important to prepare properly and plan your strategy, analyse your logistic background and establish procedures in terms of customer service and support. Only such an approach will allow you to choose the right platform that will open you up to new customers and thus increase sales. What should you pay attention to above all? Let’s consider three important aspects.
Costs
What encourages sellers to enter Allegro are the relatively low costs. For those selling small amounts of goods, publishing an offer on Allegro is free, however, at the time of sale you have to pay a commission. If you are interested in subscriptions with facilities for the seller, e.g., sales statistics or campaign plan, you can choose one of three variants: Basic, Professional or Expert. The variants differ in price and scope of support.
On Amazon, the cost structure is a little different, namely when you sign up for an account you can choose either the Basic or Professional plan – depending on how many items you want to sell per month. The plans differ in their access to sales tools and can be changed at any time. There are quite a few management tools on Amazon, most often related to calculating product prices according to selected criteria, inventory management or sales analysis.
Size and reach of the market
As we all know Allegro is well established and is the most recognisable auction site and online sales platform for Polish e-consumers. However, through Allegro you will not reach foreign customers. Therefore, it can be said that Allegro will be a good solution for companies that are taking their first steps on the Internet or want to focus on the Polish customer.
Amazon is, above all, a globally recognised brand with a warehouse base, own transport and many years of experience in selling. This international marketplace allows you to reach hundreds of millions of customers. In Europe alone, there are approx. 150 million potential e-consumers in Europe alone. Amazon is for you if you have already dealt with any sales platform, thanks to which you managed to achieve first sales on the Polish market, and you want to go one step further. While Amazon’s reach is definitely an advantage, you need to take into account that the foreign market is slightly different to the Polish one and it’s worth knowing the shopping habits of the countries in question. Before you start selling abroad
Before selling abroad it is worth checking what the country’s terms and conditions are
Logistics
On Allegro, the seller takes care of the logistics of products and returns on their own. On Amazon, there are two options: you can either ship directly to your customers (FBM) or to Amazon’s logistics centres (FBA). They take care of the transport of the goods on your behalf.
They transport the goods on your behalf. This is an attractive solution because Amazon takes care of the shipment of the goods and ensures that it is carried out on time. Importantly, Amazon also handles returns. It is worth knowing that one of Amazon’s strongest points is precisely the speed of delivery. If the Polish Amazon reaches a similar level of logistics to e.g. the UK, the customer will be able to receive the parcel even on the same day. This means quite possible sales success for Amazon in Poland!