How to Drive Growth with Digital D2C

Meta: With e-commerce surging, the D2C model has never been more robust. This article shall detail the present state of D2C and provide recommendations on how businesses can leverage it successfully.

Over the past decade, we have witnessed fierce development in the e-commerce sector, which was further amplified by the global shutdown in the wake of Covid-19. According to certain estimates, the pandemic boosted e-commerce sales by 44% in 2020 alone.

The world has gone fully digital since, and e-commerce has helped our businesses adapt to it, just as it continues in the post-Covid-19 era. This eventually gave way to direct-to-consumer (D2C) e-commerce where manufacturers sell their products directly to consumers. Businesses can utilize this disruption by integrating modern digital platforms with their D2C strategy and building more resilient relationships with their customers.

How You Can Leverage the D2C Model for Profitable Growth

D2C businesses have no intermediaries and can easily manage the distribution costs even with higher control over their profit margins. By eliminating intermediaries, in some scenarios, the consumer pays less while the producer maintains their profit margins to improve their customer relationships — everybody wins.

The D2C model enables businesses to control their brand's story as they are directly in charge of the marketing 4Ps — product, price, promotion, and placement. To that effect, D2C brands must find new channels to connect with their consumers. This will disrupt each link across the value chain all the way from the business model to product, from go-to-market to media strategies, and from experience to service.

With D2C, businesses have the power to offer unique experiences to their customers that set their brand apart as well as capitalize on the opportunity. While the present state of D2C is nothing short of remarkable, various SME brands still need to evolve across the value chain to future-proof their business and operations. Here are a few ways how we can achieve this.

A Mobile-First Strategy

D2C brands need to focus on improving user experience optimization as they adopt a mobile-first strategy to become more customer-centric.

Logistics Optimization

The rapid adoption of e-commerce has made logistics look easy to consumers as they expect quick, hassle-free deliveries for their purchases. Hence, D2C brands need to opt for long-term engagements with third-party logistics or develop their own in-house logistics channels for seamless operations management and efficient last-mile delivery.

Prioritize a Subscription-Based Model

The modern shopper demands a simple and direct buying experience, and what's simpler than receiving a package every month like clockwork without putting in any effort? Giants like Spotify, Netflix, and Amazon have seen stellar results with the help of a subscription model, and so can SMEs that are expanding in D2C.

Adopting an Omnichannel Approach

Manufacturers adopting the D2C norms don't have to remain confined to the digital space even though it serves as a great starting point. This model parallels the omnichannel approach, and manufacturers can expand to physical stores l to let consumers toggle between the two mediums for making purchases.

Environmental Sustainability

Consumers care deeply about the brands they interact with and whether that brand cares about the environment. Therefore, a step towards minimizing the use of plastic or using recyclable materials in manufacturing and packaging for reducing product waste can reduce their carbon footprint. Moreover, it can help brands gain wider acceptance in their target audience apart from the good that comes from contributing to the green initiative.

How can TTBS Help you Drive Growth in D2C

For a successful D2C go-to-market approach, businesses need to make active technology integration considerations to improve user experience and automate their operations. Once they have decided on a suitable operating model and business strategy, a comprehensive and scalable technology strategy can complement and streamline their D2C vision.

TTBS offers a suite of digital solutions that can help you achieve this vision. Smartflo, our cloud-based communications solution ensures high agent productivity and offers various features such as CRM-integrated contact management and smart assistants. It has an intelligent suite of communication solutions including an IVR system and dedicated call-centre operations management. This comes along with on-demand scalability options that help a D2C business remain better connected to its customers and stakeholders. Click here to learn more about Smartflo.