By Neil Patel

D2C companies, by definition, take out the middleman and sell their products “direct to consumers.”

In many ways, this seems like an obvious choice. You sell your product straight to them and cut out any fees required with wholesale and other sales platforms. Plus, you don’t have to charge markup fees to cover those additional costs, so you can keep the prices low for your customers.

The hiccup comes with marketing. Stores you could be selling wholesale to have the advantages of customer loyalty, brand recognition, a diverse inventory, and convenient locations.

With D2C, you have to find those customers and convince them to buy directly from you, rather than grabbing that item the next time they are out shopping.

It can be a challenge, but when done right, it can be worth it.

Examples of D2C Brands

We live in a world of disrupters. As a result, many of the most popular D2C brands tend to have a rebellious or revolutionary angle to their product or service.

1. Dollar Shave Club

Dollar Shave Club is the epitome of D2C brands because their product is often a last-minute purchase. Razors for shaving aren’t often something you search the internet for.

Dollar Shave Club found a way to directly sell in a way that also helps their customers avoid the inevitable: Forgetting to add it to their shopping list or not realizing they need it until it’s too late.

2. Warby Parker

Warby Parker isn’t the first D2C eyeglasses company, but they are one of the first to make it cool.

Eyeglasses are often sold wholesale in doctors’ offices after appointments. Offices have captive audiences, and eyeglass sellers can connect with and supply them with the latest styles.

The problem for consumers comes when the office doesn’t have a style they like or when all options are too pricey for them. They may feel pressured to settle for something so they have a pair in their new prescription.

Warby Parker took a D2C approach to bring some very stylish brands and let customers try them out. As a result, customers don’t have to feel that pressure to just choose something.

Through Warby Parker, customers can use an app to see how they look in lots of “rental” pairs of glasses. Between this and having time to show the styles off to their friends, they can take a few for a sort of test drive, then purchase the one(s) they love.

Warby Parker can offer competitive prices by selling directly and avoiding markups at the doctor’s office.

3. Peet’s Coffee Subscription

Most of us grab our coffee at the grocery store—sometimes only because we realize we’ve already run out. We don’t often think to buy directly from …read more

Source:: Kiss Metrics Blog

Author: Aaron