"We Sell Great on Rakuten and Amazon — So Why Can't We Sell on Shopify?" A 5-Step Growth Model for Marketplace-First Businesses to Succeed with Direct-to-Consumer E-Commerce

"We're doing great on Amazon and Rakuten, but for some reason our Shopify store just isn't selling at all..."

"We want to break free from marketplace dependency and grow our own direct-to-consumer store with higher profit margins, but we don't know where to start."

In this article, we explore the traps that marketplace-first businesses tend to fall into, and the strategies to break out of them.

We've also prepared a reference guide on the marketplace-first model. Feel free to use it. => Shopify Growth Model Guide: "Marketplace-First Model"

We also have a diagnostic checklist to help you identify which sales approach fits your business best. If you're unsure which model suits you, check it out. => Shopify Growth Model Diagnostic Checklist

Your Marketplace Track Record Is an Asset for Shopify Growth

Marketplaces like Amazon and Rakuten and the direct-to-consumer (DTC) stores built on Shopify may look similar on the surface, but they are fundamentally different ecosystems — entirely separate markets. In fact, success on a marketplace can sometimes become a hindrance to growing a DTC store.

But there's no need to be discouraged. Businesses that have already succeeded on marketplaces possess something that other companies would do anything to have: brand recognition and a proven sales track record.

In this article, we walk you through a systematic framework — a growth model — for leveraging those assets to maximize growth on your Shopify store, step by step.

5 Steps of the Growth Model: Leveraging Your Marketplace Track Record

In this section, we explain the "Marketplace-First Growth Model" that we have developed through supporting businesses using Shopify, along with the practical steps for implementing it.

The goal of this model is to help businesses that already have sales results on marketplaces like Amazon and Rakuten establish Shopify (DTC) as a second revenue pillar and maximize LTV (Lifetime Value — the total revenue generated from a single customer over the course of their relationship with your brand).

There are two key principles for driving continuous growth with this model:

1. Use your marketplace sales record across your DTC site, advertising, and social media to build trust and improve new customer acquisition efficiency.
2. On your DTC store, accumulate a customer list and aim to maximize LTV through CRM (Customer Relationship Management).

Let's look at the five concrete steps for running this growth model.

Step 1: Clarify Which Products to Sell — on the Marketplace vs. Shopify

The first thing to do is clearly define the "division of roles" between your DTC store (Shopify) and the marketplace. Many businesses end up selling exactly the same products on both channels, in the same way and at the same price.

The products that sell well on marketplaces differ from those that sell well on Shopify. Start by taking stock of your product lineup and figuring out which channel is the best fit for each item.

Products that tend to perform well on EC Marketplaces (Amazon, Rakuten, etc.)

• Price-competitive products and catalog/commodity items
• Daily necessities and consumables (comparison-shopping items)
• Products that are easy for first-time buyers to purchase

Products that tend to perform well on Shopify (DTC)

• Products with strong brand identity and a distinct world-view (products that customers seek out by name)
• Niche products and highly specialized items
• Repeat-purchase products
• Products that are easy for repeat buyers to purchase

Without this clarity, you'll run into situations like "we tried selling catalog items on Shopify but it didn't work" or "our niche products got buried on the marketplace and nobody could find them." Defining which product will be the "star" on Shopify is your starting line.

Step 2: Create a Reason to Buy on Shopify

Next, you need to answer the question: "Why should a customer go out of their way to buy from your Shopify store instead of the marketplace?"

To compete against the convenience of Amazon and Rakuten (powerful point rewards, fast logistics), your DTC store needs unique "added value." Because DTC stores have higher profit margins than marketplaces, you can reinvest those profits to offer unique reasons to buy, such as the following:

Examples of reasons to buy on Shopify

• DTC-exclusive products
• Premium support (repairs, consultations, etc.)
• Special campaigns and content
• Membership programs
• Special offers (bundle discounts, subscription discounts, etc.)

Design compelling "reasons to buy" so that customers want to purchase from your Shopify store even without reward points or free shipping.

On Shopify, live chat support can be implemented with Channel Talk or Gorgias, and membership programs with VIP. Shopify's native features can handle many types of special offers, but for more advanced configurations, apps like Rebuy are available.

Glamour Princess, a brand we featured in a previous interview article, sells on ZOZOTOWN while also offering an extensive set of services on their DTC store — including size and bone structure diagnostics, fitting events, coordinate content, and a membership program — to create compelling reasons to buy.

Step 3: Drive Traffic on Your Own and Build a Customer List

A major difference between marketplaces and DTC stores is how "customer data" is handled. On marketplaces, customer information from purchases essentially belongs to the platform. But on a DTC store, you can accumulate email addresses and LINE (a popular messaging app in Japan) lists as your own assets — whether or not a visitor has made a purchase.

This customer list is the foundation of stable future revenue.

However, unlike a marketplace, a Shopify store won't get visitors if you just sit and wait. Self-driven traffic acquisition is essential. If you're serious about reducing marketplace dependency, you need to build traffic-driving capabilities through Google Ads, Meta Ads, social media management, affiliate marketing, and more.

When building traffic and your customer list, the following tactics that leverage your marketplace track record are particularly effective:

• Include copy like "#1 Ranking on Rakuten in [Category]!" directly in your ad creatives.
• Feature "#1 Best Seller in [Category] on Amazon!" prominently at the top of your Shopify product pages (landing pages).

By showcasing your marketplace credentials, customers immediately think, "Oh, this is that popular store from Rakuten — it must be trustworthy," dramatically boosting trust. This trust dramatically improves traffic efficiency and conversion rates. However, please be aware that marketplace terms of service are strict — using screenshots of marketplace reviews on your DTC site, for example, is typically a violation.

Indirect Traffic Redirection from Marketplace to DTC

Amazon and Rakuten's terms of service strictly prohibit directly redirecting marketplace customers to your own site (e.g., including a URL on a product page or notifying customers of a DTC sale via email). Including a URL or QR code on package inserts or flyers to drive direct traffic is similarly prohibited.

So what can you do?

The answer is "indirect redirection." For example, instead of a simple insert with your site URL, create a "brand book" (a small booklet) and attractively communicate the value customers can experience on your DTC store — without linking to your site directly:

• Introduction to exclusive products available only on your DTC store
• Information about your premium support and membership program
• Your brand philosophy and story

The goal is to make customers think "I want to know more about this brand" or "I want those exclusive items" — and then search for your brand name. This is a smart, compliant approach to indirect traffic redirection.

AuB, a gut-health-focused lifestyle care brand we featured in a previous interview article, ships their products with richly packed inserts covering usage instructions, a gut health calendar, gut health knowledge, and more — content that goes far beyond product information alone. With inserts this compelling, customers will naturally find their way to the DTC store without any explicit redirection.

Keep investing in traffic acquisition, grow your email newsletter and LINE subscriber lists, and build up the customer list that will fuel your future revenue.

Step 4: Encourage Repeat Purchases

The customer list you built in Step 3 is worthless if you don't use it. The true power of a DTC store shows up in repeat purchases.

Unlike a marketplace, your DTC store lets you reach your customer list via email, LINE, membership programs, and more — at any time, with any message you choose.

• Early-access announcements for new products (especially Shopify-exclusive items)
• Secret sales exclusively for past buyers
• Birthday coupons and back-in-stock notifications for saved items
• Promotion of the premium support and membership program you designed in Step 2

Use these tactics to drive repeat purchases. On Shopify, segmented and scenario-based email campaigns can be run through Shopify Email or Klaviyo; LINE marketing can be implemented and managed with CRM Plus.

Repeat purchases require none of the advertising spend needed for new customer acquisition and none of the high commissions paid to marketplaces. As a result, they carry very high profit margins. When repeat revenue starts stacking up on a DTC store, the business as a whole becomes structurally more profitable.

In repeat-purchase emails, product promotion is of course important — but so is clearly communicating the unique added value available on Shopify (DTC). In the AuB emails we mentioned earlier, they do a great job of highlighting gut health tips and member-exclusive services.

Step 5: Monitor and Improve

This step is about monitoring whether the growth model is functioning correctly and continuously improving it. The key is to track KPIs (Key Performance Indicators — the metrics that measure whether your most important business goals are being met) separately for your marketplace and DTC store, based on their respective roles.

In the marketplace-first growth model, the roles of the marketplace and DTC store are as follows:

• Marketplace: New customer acquisition, brand awareness expansion
• DTC Store: LTV maximization, building customer relationships (CRM)

Regularly monitor KPIs aligned with each goal and check whether each channel is fulfilling its role.

Examples of KPIs to Monitor

• Sales by channel (Marketplace, DTC): Is the DTC share of revenue growing?
• DTC LTV: Are repeat purchase initiatives working, and is average customer value increasing?
• DTC service adoption: Are membership program and subscription numbers growing?
• Customer list size: Are email and LINE subscriber counts growing steadily?
• Branded search volume: Are indirect redirection and awareness campaigns working?
• Marketplace-to-DTC customer overlap (survey): Are more people saying "I found you on the marketplace but now buy from your DTC store"?

If any of these metrics are stagnating, you can pinpoint which step in the model needs attention. For example, "low LTV" suggests that Step 4 (repeat purchase initiatives) or Step 2 (reasons to buy) is weak; "customer list not growing" points to a gap in Step 3 (traffic acquisition). Identify the problem step and take corrective action.

Summary

In this article, we explained the "Marketplace-First Growth Model" — a framework for businesses that have already established sales on Rakuten, Amazon, and similar marketplaces to grow their Shopify (DTC) store as the next step.

Key Takeaways

1. Marketplaces and Shopify are "separate markets" — the same sales approach won't work on both.
2. The key to success is leveraging the "track record" and "brand recognition" earned on the marketplace to improve Shopify traffic acquisition and conversion rates.
3. Through the five steps — "product sorting," "creating reasons to buy," "traffic acquisition and customer list building," "repeat purchase initiatives," and "monitoring and improvement" — clearly define the roles of the marketplace and DTC, and pursue LTV maximization.

"Selling well on marketplaces but not on Shopify" is, when viewed from another angle, proof that you already have what it takes to succeed — the product quality and sales capability. All that's left is to channel that strength in the right direction.

Taking the Next Concrete Step

"I understand the theory, but I don't know where to start for my specific business."

"I don't have the resources to put this model into practice."

If that's how you feel, we'd love to hear from you. At StoreHero's "Free Shopify Store Diagnosis," our Shopify growth experts carefully analyze your store's current situation through a combination of interviews and data. We then propose the highest-priority challenges you should tackle and concrete action steps to address them.

Through this diagnosis, you'll gain a clear picture of your store's current challenges and a reliable roadmap for future growth. To dispel vague anxiety and take your next step with confidence, feel free to apply today — there's no commitment required.