Today, e-commerce and affiliate websites are very profitable if done well. Both of them have pros and cons. If you want to earn online through e-commerce or affiliate marketing, then this article can help you choose one of them to get the most out of your business.
Difference
The main difference between affiliate marketing and e-commerce business is e-commerce websites sell directly while affiliate sites refer the visitors to another site. E-commerce site owners own the product or do drop shipping. E-commerce sites have to take care of a lot of things including reliable customer support service.
Pros
Full Control: E-commerce site owners have control over the products availability. On the other hand, affiliate sites can’t control the availability, so if a product becomes unavailable, then all affiliates have to face loss. The loss could be huge if someone depends on the product entirely for his income, though a successful affiliate marketer must predict the future of the product he is going to promote.
100% Profit: Website owners receive all profit. If they have affiliates, then they have to pay to them otherwise they get 100% profit.
Vendor Affiliate Marketing: This is another benefit. You get free advertisement for your website.
Better Customer Service: You can ensure better customer service than the affiliate sites. In fact, if customer service is not good of a product, then the affiliates might not get profit if the visitors don’t convert into customers. On the other hand, e-commerce sites have always room to improve.
Cons
Pressure: You have to deal with a lot of things, so the pressure is more than the affiliate site owners. They have to deal with returned products, complaints, etc.
Marketing Cost: Marketing is of paramount importance for any business. If your site or product is new, then you may have to spend a lot of time and money marketing your site.
Start up Cost: Start up cost is much more in building an e-commerce site. On the other hand, affiliate sites are easy to set up. You don’t have to spend money like an e-commerce site.

These are the main pros and cons of e-commerce sites and affiliate marketing. Initially, starting an e-commerce site may not be a good idea for most people. So, if you are interested to earn money online, then at first go with affiliate marketing, then choose e-commerce business when you have enough confidence. Good luck!