In Retail, Direct To Consumer Is The New Black...

There's a new trend in retail - and it isn't a fashion trend. Brands are starting to implement a new Direct to Consumer approach, where they don't sell through traditional retailers. E-Commerce is a huge part of the retail landscape today and by selling online, brands are finding a new path to interact with their customers.

By relying on retailers to sell their products, brands have little to no say in how their products are sold. With the rise of new digital tools and data analytics, brands are becoming more self-sufficient. More and more brands are taking a Direct to Consumer approach. Here are a few reasons why:

1.    Engagement

With a DTC approach, brands can now directly engage with their end consumer. In order to increase their brand loyalty, brands can create meaningful relationships with their consumers. In the past, consumers developed relationships with brick and mortar retailers, because they had no real interaction with the brand.

2.    Better Branding

With DTC, brands can ensure that their product is representing their brand in the best way possible from the beginning to the end of the transaction. This creates a more seamless experience for consumers and ensures that all brand communication is uniform. Retail is all about the customer experience now, and now brands have full control over their customer experience.

3.    More Simple

Although starting a DTC system requires a lot of time, money and effort, once it is implemented, brands can immediately see the benefits. They can sell directly to their end consumer without any major real estate investments and without the hassle of vendor agreements. In addition, they have a completely new revenue channel!

4.    Valuable Data

Big data is a huge buzzword right now and every company wants to tap into their data and analyze it to improve their company. However, brands don’t have much data on their customers, because they work B2B. By shifting to B2C, they can gain valuable data through the transactions and use that data to create better products, forecast demand and improve their brand.

Will traditional retailers suffer from this new DTC trend? Time will tell!