Marketplaces bring demand
Amazon and Flipkart have buyers already searching. You do not have to generate that demand, which is genuinely valuable and the main reason to be there.
India
Own store or marketplace? for an Indian brand.
Marketplaces bring discovery and take a share of it. Your own store keeps the margin and brings nobody. Most brands need both, for different jobs.
Overview
What each channel actually gives you
Marketplaces give you demand you cannot generate yourself and take a substantial commission plus the customer relationship. Your own store keeps the margin and the data and requires you to bring the traffic. For most Indian brands the answer is both: marketplaces for discovery, your own store for repeat customers.
And take commission plus the customer
Category commissions plus fulfilment and advertising costs add up substantially. More importantly the customer is theirs: you cannot email them, you do not own the relationship, and you cannot bring them back without paying again.
Your own store keeps the margin
No marketplace commission, full control of presentation, and the customer data is yours. You can email them, run retention, and build a brand rather than a listing.
And brings no traffic by itself
This is the part brands underestimate. A store with no traffic sells nothing, and acquiring that traffic through ads or SEO has its own cost that has to be compared against the commission you avoided.
The usual answer is both
Marketplaces for discovery and new customers, your own store for repeat purchase where the margin is. The website's job is to convert the customer a marketplace introduced into a direct one.
Control over your brand
On a marketplace you compete on a page full of alternatives, with your listing shaped by their template. On your own store you control the whole experience, which matters more for considered purchases.
What to avoid
Comparing the two honestly
| Marketplace | Own store | |
|---|---|---|
| Traffic | Provided | You bring it |
| Commission | Substantial, by category | None, gateway fee only |
| Customer data | Theirs | Yours |
| Repeat purchase | Hard to drive | Email and retention available |
| Brand control | Their template | Yours |
| Setup effort | Lower | Higher |
| Best for | Discovery, new customers | Margin, repeats, brand |
The honest comparison is not commission against zero. It is commission against your cost of acquiring the same customer yourself, which for a new brand is frequently higher.
Detail
What to ask before you hire
| Ask them | Good answer | Walk away if |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the site and accounts? | You do, in your own name | Accounts in the agency's name |
| Can I open three live examples? | URLs you can check yourself | Screenshots and a PDF |
| What is explicitly not included? | A written list with change pricing | Everything is included |
| How will we know it worked? | A metric agreed before work starts | Activity reports |
The exclusions question decides whether the final invoice matches the quote.
FAQ
Common questions
Should I sell on Amazon or build my own store?
Most Indian brands need both. Marketplaces provide demand you cannot generate yourself; your own store keeps the margin and the customer relationship. Using each for what it is good at beats choosing one.
How much do marketplaces actually cost?
Category commission plus fulfilment, storage and advertising, which together are substantially more than the headline commission suggests. Calculate the total against your cost of acquiring the same customer directly before assuming direct is cheaper.
Why does customer ownership matter?
Because repeat purchase is where the profit is. On a marketplace you cannot email a past customer or run retention, so every sale is acquisition again. On your own store the second sale costs a fraction of the first.
Will building a store reduce marketplace sales?
Not usually. They reach different moments: marketplace for discovery and comparison, direct for customers who already know you. The point is converting marketplace-introduced customers into direct repeat customers over time.
How do I move marketplace customers to my own store?
Package inserts, a genuine reason to buy direct such as bundles or early access, and building brand recognition so people search for you by name rather than the category. It is slow and it compounds.
What does an own store need to work?
Traffic, which means paid media or SEO or both, plus the operational pieces marketplaces handle for you: payments, shipping, returns and support. Budget for all of it before assuming the avoided commission is profit.
Next step
Tell us what you need.
Send us what you are trying to fix and we will tell you what it takes, what it costs, and whether we are the right people for it. If we are not, we will say so.