Beyond Amazon: Independent E-commerce Growth – Real-World SEO and Non-Marketplace Strategies
Amazon accounts for roughly 37% of global e-commerce sales, but that leaves a massive share of the market where independent stores can compete – and win. The challenge is knowing where to invest your time.
In this IMIA Points of Interest webinar, Christian Baudchon (Cartovia, a European specialist in maps and travel guides) shared lessons from 15 years of running a specialist map and travel e-commerce business, with real data and real order examples.
The opportunity beyond marketplaces
57% of shoppers buy directly from brand websites. Discovery often starts outside marketplaces, and customer journeys are unpredictable – orders come from Google organic, paid search, ChatGPT referrals, DuckDuckGo, email campaigns, and direct visits. The key is being present across multiple channels rather than relying on any single platform.
Where growth actually comes from
Using Cartovia’s own traffic data from the last million sessions, the session showed how organic search (61%), direct traffic (31.5%), and smaller but valuable contributions from email, paid, and referrals combine to drive orders. Each channel plays a distinct role: SEO captures intent, email drives the highest value per session, partnerships bring qualified traffic, and paid search accelerates – but shouldn’t be the foundation.
SEO in 2026: harder, but the fundamentals still win
Search is changing fast with more SERP features, AI-generated answers, and declining click-through rates. But as Search Engine Journal put it: “AI has changed the pressure, not the fundamentals.” Intent, structure, authority, and technical hygiene remain the core of what works.
Five common SEO killers for map e-commerce
The session identified five issues that frequently undermine visibility for catalog-heavy sites: duplicate content, splitting authority across URLs, cannibalization where multiple pages compete for the same query, thin content offering low unique value, weak E-E-A-T signals and reputation, and technical debt affecting site speed and user experience.
A practical checklist
The webinar concluded with a weekly and monthly action plan: reviewing top queries and landing pages, fixing broken links, improving category pages one at a time, hunting for duplicate content and cannibalization, monitoring Core Web Vitals, and growing email lists and partner referrals to reduce platform dependency.
Independent e-commerce growth requires stamina and regular updates – not hacks. The playbook still works for publishers willing to invest in brand, systems, and technical hygiene.
Christian Baudchon is co-founder and CEO of Cartovia, a European e-commerce specialist in maps, travel guides, and outdoor gear serving 160,000+ customers. A former digital director at Authentik Canada and Avenza Maps, he has 20+ years of experience in e-commerce and digital marketing.
You can view clips from Christian’s portion of the Points of Interest: E-commerce session here.
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