Companies that are resistant or slow to change face real threats from the emergence of a new group of DTC brands, boosted by technology, that can deliver a complete end-to-end customer experience. Laggards need to address their operations urgently, or risk being digitally leapfrogged and left behind by the pack of hungry DTCs.
To succeed in this new world of retail disruption and ever-shifting customer demands, smart brands are moving to a direct model. The benefits of DTC can be substantial but require a dramatic retooling of operations, from customer service to returns management, direct merchandising, direct delivery and warehousing and logistics.
Although Facebook Shops is being marketed to potentially distressed small businesses, large Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies should be paying attention as they think through their own strategies, especially given the shift in consumer shopping behavior caused by COVID-19.
Right now, there is a golden opportunity for direct to consumer brands to take the initiative and gain share, launch new products and increase their visibility at a time when many competitors are holding back due to various challenges related to COVID-19, experts from ChannelAdvisor said.
When DTC brands are able to understand and implement last mile technology providing greater visibility and transparency, they put themselves in a position where they can control the customers’ experience from start to finish, ultimately enhancing it in every way possible. Here are three ways to boost the last-mile experience.
ON DEMAND WEBINAR – Join us for this live panel discussion to learn about the rapid growth of DTC selling, and how increasing shipping and logistics demands are compelling brands to go direct.
Brand investment platform Go Global has closed its acquisition of women’s retro fashion brand Modcloth from Walmart, announced last fall, with financing from Tiger Capital Group. Go Global managing director Jeff Streader talks to Multichannel Merchant about Modcloth’s distinctiveness and the importance of listening to customers.
Luxury swimwear brand Andie, sports drink BodyArmor and cruelty-free cosmetics provider Wander Beauty are new additions on the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s 2020 edition of its 250 Brands to Watch list, recognizing the most disruptive and influential DTC brands in the U.S. IAB analyzed 3,500-plus brands and services.
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) retailer Brandless, which sold beauty products, non-GMO snacks and everyday items under its own non-brand austere label in a radical departure from the norm, is halting operations. Brandless is laying off 70 employees and retaining 10 to fulfill remaining orders, which stopped being accepted Feb. 10.
FREE ON DEMAND WEBINAR – Join Multichannel Merchant and Oracle Netsuite for this webinar to learn how the increasing influence of social channels, mobile tech, rapid delivery logistics and (needless to say) Amazon are compelling brands to go direct-to-consumer and more.