The Maze: A brand can own its website without owning the first sale. Among US adults, 44% typically buy a new brand through an online marketplace, versus 21% on the brand’s own site. That is a 23 percentage point gap before the debate about direct customer relationships even begins. The lesson for brands entering the US is practical: the channel that introduces a buyer to your product may also be the one that collects the order. But this measures purchase destinations, so it cannot tell you where the customer first heard your name.
Marketplaces lead the first purchase by more than two to one. The 44% share covers a channel including Amazon and Walmart; it is not Amazon’s individual result. Brand websites rank second at 21%. For operators, that supports treating marketplace listings as a serious place to acquire buyers. Product information, availability and the delivery promise deserve the same attention as the homepage. The survey does not identify which of these factors causes the gap, and it supplies no comparison of advertising costs or profits.
The remaining channels make an owned-site-only plan look narrow. In-person buying accounts for 17%, with online retail websites at 10%. Stores remain a meaningful route into a new brand. The distinction between marketplaces and retailer websites also matters: these are separate response categories, even when familiar retail companies operate both models. A brand needs to understand how its product is sold in each channel before deciding which commercial terms, inventory commitments and service responsibilities it can support.
Social and AI have small purchase shares, with a big measurement caveat. Search tools account for 4%, social shopping channels for 3%, and AI platforms for 1%. Those figures do not establish that social content or AI recommendations have little influence. Someone can encounter a product on Instagram, research it elsewhere and buy it on a marketplace. This survey does not trace that journey. Using the 3% to dismiss social discovery would confuse where an order happens with what persuaded the buyer. Teams should measure those questions separately.
The website still matters; the survey does not prove a retention funnel. A 21% first-purchase share makes brand websites the second-largest category, ahead of stores. It does not show that marketplace buyers later migrate there, or that direct orders always earn more. The evidence comes from 1,000 US adults surveyed by Dynata in March 2026 for Radial, a fulfillment provider. It is stated typical behavior, not a transaction ledger. Channel costs and repeat orders require separate measurement; neither can be inferred from the ranking alone.
Why it matters: For a brand planning US expansion, distribution belongs in the customer-acquisition discussion alongside creative and media. Make the first purchase easy in the channels buyers already use, then assess whether those orders produce a viable relationship. Track contribution after fees, advertising, fulfillment and returns, plus repeat buying where measurable. A marketplace order can be a valuable introduction. Calling it an automatic path to cheaper direct sales turns a useful finding into an unsupported business plan.
Sources: Radial research | EMARKETER exhibit
