Direct-to-Consumer success stories

We Analyzed 14 Of The Biggest Direct-to-Consumer Success Stories To Figure Out The Secrets To Their Growth — Here’s What We Learned

 
Today, a new generation of disruptive brands are shaking up retail — direct-to-consumer e-commerce companies that build, market, sell, and ship their products themselves, without middlemen.

An explosion of new direct-to-consumer companies is transforming how people shop. In the process, these brands, spanning everything from detergent to sneakers, are radically changing consumer preferences and expectations.

The 14 companies we’ll look at were born on platforms that have dominated the post-dot-com internet — Amazon, Facebook, Google, Instagram, and Kickstarter.

Direct-to-consumer brands have used that infrastructure to grow fast and connect directly to their customers.

They’ve built dominant presences in Google’s search results, turned their Instagram followers into micro-influencers, and used highly targeted Facebook ads to grow their audiences.

But what sets these brands apart from traditional retailers?

 
What is Direct To Consumer Retail?

Direct-to-consumer (or D2C) companies manufacture and ship their products directly to buyers without relying on traditional stores or other middlemen. This allows D2C companies to sell their products at lower costs than traditional consumer brands, and to maintain end-to-end control over the making, marketing, and distribution of products.

Unlike their traditional retail competitors, D2C brands can experiment with distribution models, from shipping directly to consumers, to partnerships with physical retailers, to opening pop-up shops. They don’t need to rely on traditional retail stores for exposure.

These well-positioned startups are not just competing with some of the biggest retail brands in mattresses, razors, shoes, and more. They’re competing by rethinking not just the product, but also the retail model.

Casper is taking on the mattress industry; Dollar Shave Club and Harry’s are taking on the razor industry; and The Honest Company is upending the cleaning and baby products segment. Some of these D2C companies, like Soylent, are building entirely new categories of product.

Of course, in this space, no e-commerce company stands taller than Amazon, and every e-commerce company must factor the company into their growth strategy. These companies have figured out how to use Amazon for (partial) distribution of their products or carved out niches away from Amazon’s marketplace.

In this analysis, we examine how these once-tiny startups have made it big. We identified four broad areas where these companies set themselves apart — in design, how they launch, the customer experience they build, and how they market themselves.

Below, we’ll show you how the best D2C companies:

Συνέχεια ανάγνωσης εδώ: www.cbinsights.com