Direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands are revolutionizing retail by bypassing traditional intermediaries, leveraging digital platforms, and offering personalized experiences, transforming how businesses connect with and understand their customers.

Currently, India boasts a presence of more than 800 D2C companies with the market expected to be worth $100 billion in 2025.

In the last couple of years, several aspects of the business have been changing rapidly, like research and development, products and customers, manufacturing and marketing, and so on.

D2C brands get the advantage to showcase their story directly to the customers and can achieve the center platform as it directly delivers products and services to the end customers.

India has 190 million online consumers and around 700 million internet users, making it the third-largest digital retail market after China and the United States.

In India, direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands could be looking at a $100 billion addressable consumer opportunity by 2025, according to estimates by Avendus Capital.

For a D2C brand, the content on the website, app, and social media act as a discovery destination, educating consumers, engaging them, and intuitively guiding them through the journey of making a purchase.

The backbone of any D2C brand is being able to advertise digitally and to a very focused and customized target audience and this has made us reach out to customers in corners of the world, unlike in traditional media.

Mamaearth which is the first unicorn of 2022 with an operating profit of Rs 461 crore has had the most humble beginnings when no retail store wanted to keep its products.

Vivek Gupta, Co-Founder of meat delivery start-up and India's first D2C unicorn Licious stated, “The Indian consumer is evolving very fast. So a lot of problem statements in India need Indian solutions and that is where D2C plays a very important role."

India's influencer market is expected to reach Rs 2,200 crore by 2025.

The brands are seeing a healthy increase in positive consumer sentiments over the last few months, making this festive season one of the most anticipated periods for the D2C industry.

The digital age makes it easy to burn money and it simultaneously makes it difficult to build and sustain a profitable brand.

While the success and scalability of the D2C route might vary for brands depending upon their category, D2C e-commerce still holds its ground strong enough for any business that wants to strengthen and control its sales and customer relationships.

As competition gets fierce, D2C brands will be required to strategically play their cards in an ever-evolving and competing an online marketplace.

D2C scaling requires a nuanced and integrated understanding of consumer channels and deep-diving over a period of time into the metrics to fuel growth and expansion.

Product innovation, technology, and customer-centricity to be growth pillars of the sector.

The current wave of D2C growth will continue as long as there are investors to fund the growth.

Direct-to-consumer (D2C) business model or strategy eliminates middlemen/ intermediaries between producers and consumers. It gives producers/ manufacturers larger control over pricing, consumer data, direct relationship building, and higher margins.

Marico is one of the first few traditional FMCG companies to invest in the D2C domain through the acquisition of Beardo and Just Herbs.

With more and more people accepting these nutrient-rich supplements as an add-on in their daily lives, it is soon expected that the average consumer to switch to consuming gummies for their nutritional requirements.

D2C business model witnessed an impressive growth trajectory in the past year with D2C brands registering a whopping 88% rise in demand in 2020 when compared to the previous year.

With the onset of the pandemic, it has become more apparent for beauty brands to hold a strong digital presence, especially in commerce operations.

D2C brands are the disruptors as they have gained huge attention and reached a large customer base through social media.

D2C allows manufacturers to test new products with certain demographics and receive feedback on a smaller scale

The global consumer electronics industry is projected to show considerable growth over the forecast period 2019-2025, courtesy a surging demand for products such as televisions, smartphones, and wearable devices.

Have we suddenly become more conscious about our consumer choices? Do you think more consumers think about the environment while making purchase decisions?

Reduced access to stores has prompted rise in cross-border ecommerce, with 46% of global shoppers buying direct from international brands online, rising to 52% among 25-34 year olds.

Fuelled by over 47 million internet users in India, e-commerce is at an all-time high, with more brands seizing the opportunity to reach users through D2C.

There have been quite a few such companies/ brands that rebranded itself to become D2C since the business model has been attracting both consumers and investors alike.

According to Euromonitor, the global healthy snacks market is forecast to reach US $ 98 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 5.8% between 2020 and 2025.

According to a recent report, India?s D2C market is estimated to reach a whopping $100 billion by 2025.

D2C model is bringing many changes in this new landscape, creating a more engaging experience, improving retailer?s customer relationships, keeping transparent transactions, producing better products with better pricing.

Investors pumped in US $ 1.4 billion into the D2C brands between 2014 and 2020, of which 54% went into the beauty and fashion segment.

The broader meat market has been largely unorganised with brands like Licious, Meatigo, FreshToFarm, etc., quickly gaining prominence courtesy their vertically integrated supply chains with high bars on quality.

How has the D2C Platform Accelerated E-commerce Business?

Let?s look at a few key drivers that can help in building a long term sustainable D2C business model.

Effective marketing for D2C brands involves studying different social commerce platforms separately, build content, visual imagery, and rich video assets that connect with consumers.

D2C will no longer be limited to niche brand offerings but will emerge as a powerful sales medium owing to its stability against disruptions because of digital infrastructure and internal supply chain value.

The consumer inclination towards D2C brands has proved true for the furniture category as well with even investors backing brands catering to this space.

A report by PGA Labs and Knowledge Capital suggested that the D2C start-up segment saw an investment of close to US $ 417 million in 2020.

Millennials in India are at the forefront of the newly established coffee culture and are very enthusiastic to try alternative coffee brewing methods at home.

Having the retail fulfillment infrastructure and technology in place can help you better manage logistics.

With a value of over Rs 10,000 crore, the Indian mattress industry is growing rapidly thanks to the pandemic and an increasing awareness of sleep health benefits among consumers.

Evolution in technology and the onset of the pandemic have shifted commerce from brick-and-mortar to online.

The market for Ayurvedic and herbal wellness products in India is expected to grow from around US $ 4 billion in 2018 to over US $ 9.5 billion by 2024.

The reinvention of the D2C business is all about building an intimate understanding of your customers in much the same way as the neighborhood store but through technology and digital experience.?

The evolving eCommerce ecosystem and consumer needs have given rise to D2C (Direct to Consumer) brands.