MULTICHANNEL
Does the future of DTC exist beyond the realms of digital?
By Suzin Wold, SVP Marketing, Bazaarvoice T
he rise of direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands shook the entire ecommerce industry to its core. However, with the
demise of Brandless, once a DTC darling brand, it seems we are entering a new era, where even the most innovative brands will need to determine how to sustain their success.
Now that launching a new DTC product is increasingly becoming the easy part, it seems that the development of a strategic foundation which enables a brand to grow and compete in an ever-crowded space is proving to be the challenge.
What has become clear is it’s simply no longer enough for DTC brands to just sell goods online, customers crave (and demand) more than that. DTC brands need to innovate, create experiences and harness the power of customer feedback in order to tap into the potential lurking beyond the secure realms of the digital world.
The power of tangible experiences We’ve seen many an imitator DTC brand enter the market in recent years. From Emma, Casper and Simba battling it out in the mattress market to InTheStyle competing with Missguided and Boohoo, these brands typically look strikingly similar, with copycat strategies and more or less the same USP.
As the market becomes further saturated, managing expansion and developing long- term brand building strategies becomes increasingly difficult – but remains the key to success. At some point, the question for DTC brands becomes how to scale and reach a broader audience, specifically one that still makes a vast majority of their purchasing decisions in the aisle.
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In a bid to offer tangible experiences in a typically intangible market, DTC brands are now utilising physical bricks and mortar locations, creating innovative pop-ups that build on their online excitement and selling their stores as ‘destinations’ for consumers.
Ultimately, regardless of price, customers want to feel connected to the brands they choose to support and crave great experiences both on and off line. By working together, brands and retailers will get ahead of the competition by bringing the online experience off line to increase shopper loyalty.
Taking a strategic approach to data DTC brands need to incorporate performance- based insight into the plans they formulate. As digital native businesses, direct-to-consumer brands have the luxury of access to an abundance of consumer data, which provides invaluable insights into the reasons behind each and every purchase.
Online, this data can power product recommendations or curated homepages, whilst in-store, it can take the shape of digital fitting rooms, product customisation, or store associates that can pull up information on previous customer purchases and reviews. One particularly strong example is Glossier’s recent London pop-up, which attracted over 100,000 people in just over two months, with shoppers greeted by the brand’s ‘off line editors’ in-store, using handheld tablet devices to process orders.
Word of mouth matters – a lot Direct-to-consumer beauty brands have been a catalyst for expansive growth in the beauty sector, with social media playing a huge part in this.
Direct Commerce |
www.directcommercemagazine.com
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