Shopee vs Lazada vs FB shop vs your own website?

The best solution is the solution that fulfills your business goals so let’s examine what some of them could be:

1. Are you a new or existing business?
2. Branding and differentiation of your product
3. Access to a large customer base
4. Fulfillment solutions
5. Ability to collect customer data
6. Marketing strategies
7. Control
   

Now that you have them in mind, remember that the best solution could be one or a mix of the above selling platforms to give you the best possible outcome for your business.

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‍Verdict

As a brand owner, there is value in having a website to:

• Show your brand message
• explain more about your product and company
• encourage trust in your brand
• be able to collect customer data
• track customer behavior for marketing strategies
• improve your google ranking through SEO efforts
• more control over how you sell as other platforms have rules and regulations you need to abide to
  

Yes, now you have a store but you need more traffic.

Besides SEO, you can leverage on other platforms to draw eyeballs to your products and brand. 

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Link to other platforms!

There are lots of people on Social Media and connecting your website to a Facebook store or a Instagram store might be a good idea.

It’s easy to setup and integrate to Messenger.

It also works as another avenue for you to promote your brand and engage with your audience.

Would I still want to list on Lazada or Shopee?

Why not? Especially if your competitors are there, you might want to have a presence there too.

The numbers don’t lie, Lazada and Shopee command a massive audience that are focused on buying items they need- they discover new options easily and are able to compare options easily too.

You want to put your product in front of all those eyeballs and for people to recognize your product and your brand as an option to be considered.

And while some may make a decision on price or value derived and the ratings your product has on the platform, your website is an asset to indicate trustworthiness and reliability to your potential customer.

Some sellers have websites purely for branding purposes but have verified shops through Shopee Mall or LazMall which are essentially “premium upgrades” on the Shopee and Lazada marketplaces which are reserved for brand owners and authorised distributors.

However, this does come at a price; the commission.

However, if you are a manufacturer or a small business owner that doesn’t prioritise branding, you may want to forego the set-up costs of a website and list on Lazada or Shopee giving you access to a wider audience.

However, there can be a lot of competition if you aren’t differentiating yourself, so be prepared to invest in marketing and in discounts and promos to leverage on their sales events and other programs to get noticed.

Further, there isn’t much more shipping convenience gained from selling through Lazada or Shopee as Parcel Daily does make it easy for independent ecommerce stores in terms of comparing shipping rates (or locking in discounted rates by becoming a Parcel Daily member) and users of Parcel Daily’s service are also entitled to free parcel pick ups.

While Lazada and Shopee offer a very wide range of payment options, the same can be achieved with ecommerce stores by choosing a flexible payment gateway as well as using Parcel Daily’s Cash On Delivery service.

With these points listed out, it should make it easier for you to decide on what would be the best option for your business.