Amazon or TikTok Shop: which one to choose for your product?

Amazon, TikTok Shop or both? The answer depends less on the platform than on what your product needs: being found by someone who is already searching, or being noticed by someone who was not looking for anything.

One disclosure before going further: SKYVISION is an agency specialised in Amazon advertising, so our view is biased. Erwan, co-founder of SKYVISION, compares the two channels in a November 2025 video (16 minutes 28, in French with English subtitles). It follows two example sellers: Camille, who launches a €19 mascara, and Thomas, who sells a €149 blender. The video introduces them to make the comparison concrete: it does not present them as SKYVISION clients and announces no result.

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We do not repeat the market figures or the TikTok Shop fees quoted in the video: they go out of date quickly. Before deciding, check its fees, access conditions and availability on its official pages.

Capturing demand or creating it

Erwan sums up the gap in one sentence: Amazon captures demand, TikTok creates it. On Amazon, the buyer already types "blender" into the search bar and arrives ready to buy. For Erwan, TikTok's audience is very large but mostly in discovery mode, not looking to buy. Camille wants her mascara to be seen: TikTok can give her that visibility. Thomas wants to sell his blender to someone who is already looking for one: Amazon brings him that customer.

The scorecard: five criteria to place your product

Tick the boxes, add them up, see which way it leans. These are Erwan's benchmarks, not measured thresholds.

• Average basket. Under €40, TikTok Shop has the edge (impulse buying). Between €40 and €120, both can work. Above €120, Amazon takes over: buyers compare, read reviews and want reassurance.
• How easily the product shows on video. A before/after effect or a visual demonstration is TikTok territory. A technical, unglamorous product will be more effective on Amazon.
• Repeat purchase. For consumables and refills, Erwan considers Amazon very well placed, with its subscriptions and automatic replenishment.
• Logistics and returns. For a fragile, heavy or hard-to-return product, Amazon offers turnkey logistics with Prime and Fulfilment by Amazon.
• Social proof. On Amazon, customer reviews are decisive. On TikTok, the emotion of the video and the creator's credibility make the sale.

If most boxes lean towards Amazon, start with Amazon. If they lean towards TikTok Shop, test TikTok Shop. If it is balanced, using both together is often the strongest strategy, according to Erwan. The €19 mascara, visual and impulsive, ticks the TikTok boxes. The €149 blender is more natural on Amazon: the buyer compares before buying.

Costs and logistics: what decides real ROAS

For Erwan, hidden costs and logistics decide profitability, not just CPC or ROAS.

On Amazon.fr, according to Amazon's pricing page (read on 21 October 2026), the Professional plan costs €39 excl. VAT per month, the Individual plan €0.99 excl. VAT per unit sold, and most referral fees sit between 8 and 15%, depending on the category. With Fulfilment by Amazon, storage and shipping fees come on top. In return, Erwan points to the Prime badge, fast delivery and simplified returns, which support conversion.

For TikTok Shop, check the current fee schedule on its official pages. Whatever it is, budget for content creation (videos, creators) and for return and shipping costs. For Erwan, Amazon is more expensive on paper but secures conversion and repeat purchase; TikTok requires a constant flow of creative.

Advertising: two logics

On Amazon, you capture a customer who is already ready to buy. Sponsored Products, the main lever, appears in search results. Sponsored Brands showcases your range, Sponsored Display retargets people who saw the product without buying, and the DSP and Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) come in with volume. The goals: protect your brand keywords, look for profitable non-brand queries, and track ACOS and TACOS every week.

On TikTok Shop, you have to create demand. Erwan mentions videos that show the product in real situations, regular lives to build urgency and trust, then campaigns optimised for sales. In his view, advertising alone is not enough: without credible creators it does not break through, and video quality weighs more than campaign settings.

Measurement: do not judge on the last click

Believing that sales come from the last click is one of the biggest traps, according to Erwan. Attribution differs between Amazon and TikTok, and a sale started on one can close on the other.

According to Amazon Ads' page (read on 21 October 2026), Amazon Attribution measures the performance of campaigns outside Amazon (search, social, display, video, email) on products sold on Amazon. It is useful if you send TikTok traffic to Amazon. Erwan also presents AMC as a tool to follow the customer journey: how many times a buyer saw the product before buying, through which campaign, and with what delay. On the TikTok side, look at the attribution window of its tool. The trap: concluding that TikTok does not work, when it may have triggered a sale that closed on Amazon.

Where to start: three profiles

• Brand born on social media. With a community already on TikTok or Instagram, TikTok Shop is the natural ground: best-sellers launched with creators, lives every week. In parallel, put your products on Amazon for the reviews and Prime logistics, and measure the effect with Amazon Attribution. That is Camille's case.
• Brand already established on Amazon. Consolidate your Amazon campaigns first. TikTok comes next as an extra acquisition channel that sends traffic to Amazon. For Thomas, the real lever remains Amazon.
• Beginner. The worst choice is launching everything at once. Speaking personally, Erwan advises Amazon first: a limited catalogue (5 to 10 products at most), careful listings and first reviews, Sponsored Products to validate demand and price. Only then, one or two products that show well on video on TikTok Shop. For him, TikTok is an accelerator, not a foundation. He says he is open to debate.

Common beliefs and costly mistakes

Erwan keeps hearing the same objections. The one about attribution being too blurry is answered above. Here are the other four.

1. "TikTok costs nothing and goes viral." A video can take off by luck, but without a creative budget or promotion it does not last.
2. "Amazon fees are too high." Commission and logistics fees exist, but you get back trust, conversion and simple returns. Compare with the cost of acquiring every customer on your own.
3. "A premium product will never sell on TikTok." Not necessarily: it depends on the angle. Tell the story of the product rather than its features.
4. "I have to choose one or the other." This is the most common mistake, according to Erwan: Amazon captures purchase intent, TikTok creates demand.

On mistakes, Erwan picks five that cost more than the choice of platform: launching ads without a solid base (incomplete listings, badly positioned price, fragile stock); ignoring reviews; believing a single video is enough, when you need to test continuously; tracking views and likes rather than sales, ROAS and TACOS; changing everything at once, which teaches you nothing. Change one variable at a time.

Frequently asked questions

Amazon or TikTok Shop to get started?

Speaking personally, Erwan advises Amazon first, then TikTok Shop as an accelerator, with one or two products that show well on video.

Can you sell on both?

Yes, and when the scorecard boxes are balanced, it is often what Erwan recommends.

To choose your ad formats on Amazon, read Sponsored Products, Brands or Display: which to choose. If you are weighing it against a site of your own, see Amazon or Shopify. With volume, the complete guide to Amazon DSP takes over.