is it common to invest in funds / etfs directly?

I know that its common for people to buy $VOO as an alternative to $SPY due to the fees being reduced, but I also saw that you can buy $VOO directly through vanguard as opposed to via your brokerage on the market. They do have some investment minimums (like $3000 IIRC), but it got me wondering, is it really that common for people to purchase ETFs / mfunds / indexes directly through the companies that offer them? I understand it makes zero difference in terms of performance as they all do the same thing, but this post is more to ask if anybody actually uses these companies directly as opposed to just buying $VOO in Schwab / ibkr / whatever. Do people actually make blackrock accounts to buy IVV instead of buying it on the open market? I find it hard to believe that people open SSGA accounts to purchase $SPY. I guess the main reason to do this would be either the equivalent of data hiding, or splitting up your investments across different platforms, but at the end of the day theres no real difference unless im missing something. Obviously the reason that these companies exist and offer services is for institutional investors, but they do still offer individual investor accounts. Id love to know the benefits or reasoning behind using these companies offerings directly from anybody who actually uses them. Im always looking to learn :) for some context, here are the main options I could find with SP500 equivalents: SSGA, SPY https://www.ssga.com/us/en/individual/etfs/funds/spdr-sp-500-etf-trust-spy Fidelity; FXAIX https://fundresearch.fidelity.com/mutual-funds/ratings/315911750 Vanguard; VOO https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/etfs/profile/voo BlackRock; IVV https://www.blackrock.com/us/individual/products/239726/ishares-core-sp-500-etf JPM; OGEAX https://am.jpmorgan.com/us/en/asset-management/adv/products/jpmorgan-equity-index-fund-a-4812c1520

FXAIX - Fidelity ® 500 Index Fund | Fidelity Investments

Fidelity Investments

iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | IVV

BlackRock

JPMorgan Equity Index Fund-A | OGEAX | J.P. Morgan Asset Management

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