Where do we invest first? That's the question we hear from manufacturers in every corner of the country, not just the usual suspects like California, Texas, or Florida, but brands in Idaho, Maine, Washington, Minnesota. The geography changes. The question never does.
From our experience, the mistake is trying to do everything at once. The better move is to build in stages.
1. Start with Amazon to validate demand
If you want the lowest-hanging fruit, start with Amazon Marketplace. Amazon already has the traffic. You do not have to build the audience from scratch. You have to prove that your product can convert. Put some money into ads, put some money into reviews, and see if you can sell consistently.
That matters because Amazon is still the biggest demand engine in the country. In 2025, Amazon accounted for about 35.7% of all U.S. ecommerce sales, and more than 75,000 independent sellers cleared $1 million in annual sales. That does not mean success is easy. It means the market is there if the product, pricing, and offer are right.
2. Move to Shopify once the product is working
Once Amazon shows you that people want the product, and you are doing over $100,000 a month consistently, the next move is Shopify.
I look at Shopify like renting your own retail space. On Amazon, the foot traffic is already in the building. On Shopify, now you need the storefront, the fixtures, the design, the offer, the email flows, the landing pages, and the marketing engine to bring people in. It is a real business asset, but it also takes more work and more money.
The upside is huge. Shopify merchants processed more than $100 billion in GMV in Q1 2026 alone, and Shopify now represents roughly 14% of U.S. ecommerce. So yes, the opportunity is real. Just do not build the store first and hope demand shows up later.
3. Add Walmart after your operations are stable
After Amazon and Shopify are both working, then you look at Walmart Marketplace. For most brands, this is not day one. This is the next layer once your inventory, fulfillment, and order flow are stable month over month.
Walmart can be a strong expansion channel, but it exposes operational weakness fast. If you are inconsistent, Walmart will make that obvious. If you are solid, it can add real volume. Walmart says sellers using Walmart Fulfillment Services see an average 50% GMV lift on Walmart-fulfilled items, with fulfillment rates around 15% lower than competitors. That is meaningful, but only if the foundation is already there.
4. Treat TikTok Shop like a creator machine, not just another marketplace
This is where a lot of brands get it wrong. TikTok Shop is not Amazon, Shopify, or Walmart with a different logo. It requires a completely different mindset.
By the time you get here, you should already know how to manage inventory, creative, and fulfillment. More importantly, you should already have some affiliate or creator experience. If you have never built that muscle, TikTok Shop will humble you for three or four months while you figure it out.
Yes, the upside is real. Industry estimates put TikTok Shop U.S. GMV at roughly $15.1 billion in 2025. But it is also a brutally concentrated platform: the top 1% of sellers drive 60% of GMV. In other words, content, creators, and execution matter more than almost anything else. You will need samples, relationships, and a lot of testing.
5. Expansion is the final stage, not the starting point
After that, you can think bigger: more marketplaces, more retail partners, more wholesale, more complexity. Maybe that means Target Plus, Nordstrom Rack, TJ Maxx, or category-specific channels.
But here is the part a lot of manufacturers underestimate: to become truly retail-ready and multichannel-ready, it can take anywhere from one to four years. That timeline usually comes down to two things: the brand awareness you already have in the market and the advertising budget you are willing to invest. If you are working with anything under $10,000, getting there can easily take a couple of years. If you can invest $30,000 to $80,000, you can move a lot faster. For manufacturers especially, awareness and advertising budget go hand in hand.
The big point is simple: do not chase every channel at once. Start with validation. Then build your owned store. Then add operationally smart expansion. Then go after creator-led growth.
And in 2026, none of this works well without strong marketing assets. Your product presentation, your video, your creative, and your funnel are not optional anymore. They are part of the infrastructure.
If you are a manufacturer trying to figure out what stage you are in, or what your next move should be, reach out to David Ricardo. We will help you map it out and avoid spending money in the wrong order.