D2C eCommerce

What Is A D2C Sales Model?

Look at D2C as a special type of business where brands sell their merchandise straightforwardly to consumers, usually through their online or physical outlets. The buyer places the order and the manufacturer ships the same straight to their address.

Typically, the business style requires producers to perform the duties of supply chain middlemen, which might include researching and building a target audience, marketing, selling, and finally order fulfillment.

D2C eCommerce VS Traditional Retailer Business Model

The difference between D2C and the usual retailer business styles is in the process of getting the product or service to the end user. A D2C organization will allow buyers to purchase products directly from its web store or physical outlet.

On the other hand, a regular retailer business style goes through a typical sales process where the producer sells their commodity to a wholesaler, who engages distributors to reach various target audiences through retailers. Retailers then sell the product directly to the end users.

D2C vs B2C

B2C represents businesses that sell commodities to the consumer, but various intermediaries, such as retailers are involved. Conversely, a D2C business style undergoes the same process but now without the intervention of the middlemen.

Here are the differences between B2C and D2C.

B2C

• Sells from businesses to users;
• Focuses on lowering operational costs;
• Doesn’t collect buyer’s data;
• Longer sales cycle;
• Multiple sales stages are involved.

D2C

• Sells directly to the end-users;
• Focuses on solving buyers’ problems;
• Greater access to buyer’s data for insights;
• Shorter sales cycle;
• Fewer sales stages are involved.

Benefits Of D2C eCommerce

Whenever possible, 88% of buyers will readily buy from a D2C company, as opposed to a traditional retailer, thanks to an intuitive and more direct shopper journey. From the company perspective, businesses choose this style because it allows them to:

• Offer omnichannel experiences, thanks to greater control of all marketing and selling activities;
• Truly understand their customers to save the costs of in-depth target audience research;
• Have greater control over the brand in terms of reputation and customer experiences.

Challenges Of D2C eCommerce

As simple as this business style sounds, it comes with various challenges that make many companies shy away from embracing it. For instance, retailers are well-established with a better understanding of clients and the consumer market, which makes it challenging to topple their position.

Other challenges of a D2C business style include:

• Order fulfillment challenges, especially in regions where nearly all 3LP players have partnerships with retailers;
• Increased operating costs for marketing and customer service.