Over the past few years, the global market has been affected at a very high rate because of the COVID pandemic. Buyers were unable to go out for purchasing goods and services, so they started buying online and this is how the growth of the online market escalated.
This change in the behavior of customers toward online shopping has poked the brands to choose the D2C route. Direct to a customer, helps in directly selling their products to the customers instead of involving other marketplaces. They sell their products from stores, channels, eCommerce platforms, etc.
D2C enables eCommerce businesses to grow to market needs as users now prefer online shopping rather than physical shopping.
It became increasingly popular in past recent years, due to the benefits it provides such as reduced costs, and improved customer experience. Let’s have a look at the benefits of D2C eCommerce.
Benefits of D2C in eCommerce
Control over value: D2C provides brands control over the value chain by cutting down the middleman. Therefore, can build a great relationship with customers without relying on the retailers.
Cost cut down: It provides the brands with a great ability to cut down costs. Without involving middlemen, there are better margins. Sellers sell their products through different channels like social media platforms and get profit at a lesser price.
Market Entry: It helps in reducing the market entry which creates a barrier reaching to potential customers.
Feedback: D2C allows various brands to get feedback from the customers directly so that they can come to know about the customer’s preferences for their services and products.
Omnichannel: It also provides an Omnichannel experience. Customers nowadays expect to connect and order from different channels.
Difference between Traditional Retailers and Direct to Consumers
Customer Relationship: In Traditional retailing, there is no direct contact with customers and there is an involvement of other parties too whereas, in D2C, there is no middleman and direct approach to customers.
Brand Control: Due to the involvement of various parties, there is no direct contact with customers therefore there is no control of brands although in D2C there is no middleman, so there is direct contact with the brand and brands have direct control over marketing.
Price: The revenue is inconsistent in traditional retailing because it doesn’t provide any subscription to customers on the other hand, D2C sometimes works with subscription-based pricing.
Digital Marketing: Traditional retailers don’t rely on digital marketing as most of the sales took place through retail stores however D2C models fully rely on digital traffic and advertising.
Personalization: In D2C, brands have a lot of access to the user data online and also allow personalization, though, in the traditional method, there is no option of collecting data and, has low personalization.
Profits: In D2C there is more profit as compared to traditional retailing because in traditional retails, there is involvement of the middleman whereas, in D2C there is no involvement of the middleman.
D2C Customer’s Experience
In D2C, brands have a lot of access to the user data since they have to function online and allow personalization although, in the traditional method, there is no option for collecting data, therefore, has low personalization.
A D2C brand can also expect to do various things such as:
- Maximization in order value and sale opportunity
- Recommend products and increase traffic
- A better frequency of the repeated orders
- Increase in market share
- Create a special digital experience
- Deliver better customer services
Future of D2C eCommerce
With the help of the internet, D2C has created its base in the online market and seems to stay for a long time. The push by the pandemic has accelerated the growth of D2C, certainly.
Here’re some eCommerce Techniques for D2C Brands
Influencer Marketing: Nowadays, on every social media platform, there are a lot of influencers. They help in socializing unfamiliar brands with the customers. For small-budget D2C businesses, it is advised to work with micro-influencers (having followers of less than 50,000).
Content Marketing: As a part of SEO strategy, content is often added into the marketing mix and can help a website to be found easily. Great content attracts customers to the products with attractive descriptions.
Customer Experience: A direct approach to the customers also helps in the growth of the business.
CONCLUSION
D2C has made it easy for consumers to get their required products directly to them without any interference from a middleman. Even if you want to shift your business to D2C, it is not a difficult task. By using relevant resources and connections, you can have your own D2C business.
