this is why Shopify keeps growing even though Amazon has lower prices for almost everything

you will ask, what has paid acquisition go to do with Shopify growing against Amazon

well, Amazon does not let you own the customers’ info and this is the 1 thing which Bezos’s uber quant strategy is literally blind to 

merchants who are in for the long run, who identify as brand builders and are proud of their product, will deliberately choose to make less money in the beginning just so they can build a deeper connection with their customers 

and you know what, these people are the future Ralph Lauren, Chip Wilson (founder of Lululemon and inventor of athliesure) and… let me say it, Levi Strauss 

these future DTC legends understand the importance of owning their customers and 

so they prioritise on collecting email addresses of their customers so they can reach them again and again with minimum adspend, plus this immensely helps with retargeting