[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/03\/01\/dtc-business\/#Article","articleBody":"More and more brands are extending their go-to-market strategies with a DTC business. What started as a trend led by digital native e-commerce pioneers is increasingly being adopted by mainstream consumer brands. According to a study from eMarketer, US direct-to-consumer revenues were expected to grow by 24% in 2020. The pandemic altered the way we do business and dramatically accelerated consumer demand for online shopping and home delivery. This has fueled the DTC trend.\nIn some cases, where lockdowns forced the closure of retail channels, DTC business not only served as an additional channel & revenue stream \u2013 it became THE revenue stream.\nFor example, faced with a collapse of their Horeca (hotels, restaurants, caf\u00e9s) trade and steep drop in food service business, UK-based food delivery company Brakes launched their DTC Food Shop in just seven days by rapidly innovating and extending their existing commerce infrastructure.\n \nWholesale and direct to consumer: How DTC is driving growth\n   As e-commerce continues to boom, wholesale is going direct to consumer, with fantastic results. Learn how a leading food wholesaler went DTC in one week.  \nBrakes\u2019 established B2B customers \u2014 schools, bars, and restaurants \u2014 were severely affected by lockdown measures, so the company had to adapt.\nNot every brand can launch a DTC commerce storefront as fast as Brakes. The question remains, how do you set up a successful and sustainable DTC business? Market entry barriers are perceived low. However, for a long-term and profitable DTC strategy, brands need to go beyond opening an e-commerce shop and consider multiple components, including:\nCommunicating the brand\u2019s story\nMaking mobile e-commerce a priority\nLeveraging social media\nIncluding brick and mortar in the model\nManaging fulfillment\nDTC business: Combine commerce with storytelling\nSimply creating an e-commerce site with a catalog of your products isn\u2019t enough. To make the most of your direct-to-consumer brand investment, consider the whole customer journey with its multiple touch points, from the brand story and DTC product proposition to customer acquisition, sales, fulfillment, post-purchase experience, and re-engagement.\nGoing DTC puts all marketing and commerce levers into the brand\u2019s hands: Communicating the brand, its mission, the specific needs each product serves, plus integrating customer stories and content. All these elements are more difficult to communicate if your products sit on a (virtual or real) shelf with competitor products adjacent to them. There\u2019s a big opportunity for control, attention, and exclusivity with DTC when combining storytelling and commerce the right way.\n \nDirect to consumer brands and models that are killing it\n   Discover some of the best direct to consumer brands and how can you up your e-commerce game to compete in the digital landscape.  \nThink mobile first for DTC business success\nAccording to\u00a0Statista, mobile e-commerce accounts for more than 70% of retail e-commerce transactions. In your DTC business, make mobile the first priority; don\u2019t treat it as just an evolution of your web-based shop.\nE-commerce on mobile devices does not tolerate any friction:\nProduct discovery works different on small smartphone screens versus your laptop.\nProduct detail pages must be clean and scrollable on small screens.\nCheckout experiences should be frictionless, with mobile wallet-based one-tap buying and integration with most common payment services.\nAI-based merchandising and personalization helps to recommend the right products right off the bat, so customers don\u2019t have to do another search.\n \nMobile commerce trends: Mobile sales will dominate B2B, B2C, DTC\n   Mobile commerce trends in 2021 will drive a lion's share of all commerce revenue, including in B2B, B2C, DTC, and industries.  \nProgressive web apps have replaced the need for responsive screens or native mobile app development for most cases. Agencies and system integrators can facilitate creation of a unique mobile-first experience starting with vendor-provided templates.\nUse social media and marketplaces\nLaunching a DTC business will enable you to communicate across all channels that you own; and the ones that you have direct influence on. Third-party channels like your brand\u2019s social media accounts or a shop on a marketplace can help drive your message to your target customers.\nYou\u2019ll only get a restricted set of customer data, but these channels can help drive attention and subscriptions for your DTC initiative and attract an audience especially when starting your DTC operation.\nInclude brick and mortar in your DTC business\nWe have seen many traditional brick-and-mortar retailers go online. On the other hand, there are several brands that started online only and moved on to open their own permanent stores or pop-up locations already. The physical store remains a key part of a holistic consumer service infrastructure \u2013 for collection, returns, additional purchasing, and convenient access to the product range.\n \nDTC trends: Up your direct to consumer game with these killer moves\n   Don't ring the death knell for brick and mortar quite yet: Learn the DTC trends that are reviving retail and breaking barriers.  \nWith vaccination programs rolling out this year and reducing risks for the majority of shoppers, having well-chosen store locations can complete the brand, commerce, and service experience for DTC models.\nShops can help address all senses and allow a consumer to feel, smell and touch products. Stores can act as showrooms, decentralized fulfillment centers for online purchases, service centers, event locations, and much more. They can help to tighten a brand\u2019s relationship with a consumer.\nDon\u2019t forget fulfillment\nThe e-commerce experience does not end when the order confirmation is sent. It ends when the product is delivered to the customer, sometimes even after the customer unpacked it, was able to use it to his or her satisfaction, and provide a review of their product experience.\nDTC brands must manage fulfillment. Former B2B businesses will have to learn to not only deliver pallets but pick, pack, and last-mile deliver single products and bundles while keeping the customer informed about order status, from capture to delivery. Fulfillment is a unique opportunity to exceed a consumer\u2019s expectations of the brand experience. Setting clear expectations, providing re-assuring certainty of delivery, and even in-flight options for delivery changes can all help increase customer satisfaction.   \nFortunately, brands have a variety of options, from delivering via their own fulfillment centers to using third-party logistics- and last mile delivery providers or delivery from stores \u2013 if they\u2019re part of the mix.\nThere are many more aspects to creating, optimizing, and maximizing the profitability of operating a DTC business, but getting the basics right is the first step.\nAccording to McKinsey, only 60% of consumer goods companies feel even moderately ready to capture e-commerce growth opportunities. Those starting new DTC channels must to do so with a focused and appropriately bundled and deliverable assortment. That way, they reduce complexity and learn how to make the financials work over time.\nDon\u2019t just believe in the exceptional \u2013 create the exceptional. Fast, flexible, mobile-first e-commerce is just a few clicks away.","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/03\/01\/dtc-business\/#Article_Person","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/03\/01\/dtc-business\/#Article_Person_ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Screen-Shot-2020-04-17-at-12.03.26-PM-150x150.png"},"name":"Christian Schoenauer","sameAs":"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/christianschoenauer\/","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/christian-schoenauer\/"},"dateModified":"2021-11-17T18:02:05+00:00","datePublished":"2021-03-01T06:06:03+00:00","description":"When building a DTC business, brands need think beyond pure e-commerce. Make the most out of a DTC investment by taking a holistic view.","headline":"How to build a DTC business for maximum profitability","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/03\/01\/dtc-business\/#Article_ImageObject","height":"630","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/FCEE147_DTC_HB-1200x630.jpg","width":"1200"},"mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/03\/01\/dtc-business\/","name":"How to build a DTC business for maximum profitability","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/","additionalType":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q1193236","description":"Relevant, timely information & analysis on commerce trends, both consumer-facing and B2B.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","height":"96","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","width":"500"},"name":"The Future of Customer Engagement and Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/a-call-for-a-better-experience\/id1479742201","https:\/\/twitter.com\/FutureOfCEC","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/4844282","https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/feed\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/"},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/03\/01\/dtc-business\/#Article"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2021","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"03","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/\/03\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"01","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/\/03\/\/01\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"How to build a DTC business for maximum profitability","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/03\/01\/dtc-business\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]