D2C is so much more than a sales channel.

There is a topic that keeps coming up time and time again in the discussions that I am having with founders, as I record the Sprowt-cast podcast. This is how D2C (Direct to customer) distribution offers so much opportunity beyond being a sales channel.

At a purely practical level, having a website that allows you to purchase directly to your customers is a win. It takes out the middleman and doesn’t eat up all your margins as often happens with wholesale. Yes, there are logistics and shipping costs to factor in, but it presents a legitimate way to sell your product and drive revenue.

But I believe that the most exciting element of D2C is the opportunity that it presents to get up close and personal with your customers. It allows you to see first hand who they are, how they buy, what they are buying and how often.

Credit: One Planet Pizza

D2C offers this beautifully fertile ground for testing and learning- trialling NPD, marketing concepts and price points. Unlike surveys whist are incredibly valuable are speculative, testing in a real-life sales environment demonstrates whether people will convert with their wallets. The data will enable you to see quickly and clearly if your assumptions and hypotheses are correct.

In this episode of Sprowt-cast, co-founder of One Planet Pizza, the world’s first frozen vegan pizza shares his experience of using their e-commerce website as a testbed for new product development.

Credit: Patch Plants

One of the most important benefits that a D2C channel affords is the opportunity to provide rich experiences for your customers that far extend the product and build a connection with the customer beyond the transaction. You have a captive audience that is actively seeking to spend time with and purchase from you, so to further cement the value of your product in their lives use this is an opportunity to add value to their lives. Smol does this brilliantly, they share cleaning tips and hacks, Patch Plants providing gardening and styling advice, Waterwipes use the platform to become associated with the go-to for newborn support.

I would love to know what your D2C channel has enabled you to do? Hit me up here.

Sprowt is a brand and marketing consultancy that helps purpose-driven brands stand out in a sea of sameness, win the hearts & minds of target customers to become the household names of tomorrow.