#431 - Building an Amazon Brand and Building an E-Commerce Brand Are Not The Same

Selling on Amazon with Andy Isom

Andy Isom | Amazon FBA Seller & Agency Founder

Amazon, Business, Amazonfba, Selling, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Personalbusiness, Productbusiness, Ecommerce, Onlinebusiness

4.9 • 816 Ratings

🗓️ 27 May 2025

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Amazon is powerful—but it’s not the whole game.

In this episode, Andy breaks down the key differences between building an Amazon-first brand and building a true e-commerce brand. From platform dependency and customer ownership to exit multiples and long-term equity, this episode helps sellers see the bigger picture.

You’ll learn:

Amazon Brands Vs. E-Commerce Brands. What's the difference?
The temptation to stay on Amazon
Why this matters in 2025
How to evolve if you're Amazon first
Questions to ask yourself

If you’re serious about scaling your business beyond Amazon, this is a must-listen episode.

All my resources are right here to help! www.andyisom.com

Transcript

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0:00.0	A lot of sellers think they're building a brand, but really they're just building an Amazon
0:04.5	listing. If Amazon shut down tomorrow, would your brand survive?
0:12.1	In episode 426, we talked about how Amazon isn't the end goal.
0:22.0	It's the launch pad.
0:23.9	Today's episode goes a bit deeper.
0:28.6	What does it actually look like to build a real e-commerce brand instead of just an Amazon storefront?
0:29.6	If you're trying to build something sellable, scalable, and more defensible long-term,
0:34.8	this is a shift that needs to happen.
0:37.2	What's the main difference
0:38.3	between an Amazon brand and an e-commerce brand? Amazon brands live and die by Amazon SEO and
0:45.3	reviews, whereas e-commerce brands have owned traffic, customer retention, and community.
0:51.4	Amazon brands often depend on one to two hero skews to drive most of their
0:56.7	revenue and profit, whereas an e-commerce brand is built around product lines and a specific
1:02.2	customer avatar. Success for Amazon brands relies heavily on ranking, reviews, and conversion
1:09.1	rates, whereas success with e-commerce brands relies more on brand
1:13.0	equity, D-to-C sales, and lifetime customer value. With Amazon brands, it can be hard to build a moat.
1:20.5	You have a lot of copycats. There's a lot of black cat strategies out there. An e-commerce brand,
1:25.9	it might take longer and more capital to build your moat,
1:28.9	but once you do, you have an audience that likes and trusts you, you have brand assets, and
1:34.4	multiple channels to build your brand reputation and drive sales. The final big difference is
1:40.0	that Amazon brands are mostly cash flow driven. The purpose is to sell whatever is going to make
1:46.3	you profit, whereas e-commerce brands are built more for valuation and potential exits. Amazon can be a
	...

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