Amazon’s two distinct parts are working as one entity: Amazon.com and Amazon Marketplace, which few people notice while shopping. Amazon Retail and Amazon Marketplace as a manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, brand, or retailer.
Key Takeaways
- Amazon is a global e-commerce platform offering a wide range of products and services, including its own branded products and those of third-party sellers; Amazon Marketplace is a platform within Amazon that allows independent merchants to sell their products directly to customers.
- Amazon provides customer service and order fulfilment for its products and third-party sellers using the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program; Amazon Marketplace sellers handle their own customer service and shipping.
- Amazon offers Prime membership benefits, including free two-day shipping and streaming services, for products fulfilled by Amazon; Amazon Marketplace products may not be eligible for Prime benefits.
Amazon vs. Amazon Marketplace
Amazon is an online retailer that sells a wide variety of products directly to consumers. Amazon is the primary online store owned by Amazon Inc. Amazon Marketplace is a platform that allows third-party sellers or business owners small or large to sell their products alongside Amazon’s own offerings.
When shopping from Amazon.com, we buy directly from Amazon’s complete product inventory and individual sellers.
It offers its customers a wider product choice from many external sellers and enables price comparison to keep the platform competitive. Amazon Marketplace is so well integrated into Amazon.com that many customers don’t even realize they are purchasing from third-party sellers.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Amazon | Amazon Marketplace |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | It is a major website or e-commerce platform that sells everything to its customers. | It is the third-party retailer market that offers its customers a much wider product choice from several external sellers and enables price comparison to keep the platform competitive. |
| Service | It does not allow | It allows sellers to resell used and new items. |
| Connection | Amazon is an independent company. | Amazon Marketplace is an integrated section of Amazon. |
| Charges | There are no such charges on Amazon. | It charges a specific sum as a fee from its seller. |
| Branding | Goods that are bought directly from Amazon.com are Amazon’s own branded products. | In the Amazon Marketplace, all kinds of products are sold. |
What is Amazon?
Amazon.com is the world’s largest online retail platform and a prominent cloud services provider. In 1994, Jeff Bezos established Amazon as a bookseller platform.
The headquarter of Amazon is located in Seattle, Washington, the united states. The company provides services such as customer service centers, software development centers, individual websites, and fulfillment centers worldwide.
It is one of the big five companies in the U.S. information technology industry, along with Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Facebook.
Amazon has a display store website for over a dozen different countries, and it ships to nearly every country. It also hosts the retail websites of several brands, such as Marks & Spencer, Sears Canada, Lacoste, and many others.
What is Amazon Marketplace?
Amazon Marketplace is an e-commerce platform owned and operated by Amazon. It enables third-party sellers to sell used or new products at a fixed price with the help online marketplace alongside Amazon’s regular offerings.
Items purchased from third-party sellers on Amazon are either fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) or the merchant (FBM). FBM goods are kept with the third-party seller in their inventory, and the third-party merchant itself handles shipping and customer service.
Many suppliers use the Marketplace to introduce new products with greater price control. It is also a good way to sell slow-moving items like last year’s models or accessories.
There are four steps involved in the working of the Amazon marketplace:
- Create an account on Amazon Seller Central.
- Add your product sheets to Amazon’s marketplace.
- Manage your orders
- Dispatch your orders.
Main Differences Between Amazon and Amazon Marketplace
- Amazon is a massive online retail and cloud service provider; Amazon marketplace is a third-party retail market integrated into Amazon itself.
- Amazon is a customer service provider that offers its clients a large variety of goods worldwide. On the other hand, Amazon Marketplace is a selling service provider offering small individuals or groups of individuals/ businesses to display and sell their products at a fixed rate online.
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019850113002150
- https://academic.oup.com/jeclap/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jeclap/lpz061/5610029
- https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3606055
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Chara Yadav holds MBA in Finance. Her goal is to simplify finance-related topics. She has worked in finance for about 25 years. She has held multiple finance and banking classes for business schools and communities. Read more at her bio page.
