How Does D2C Become a Key Profit Driver?

Together with Swiss Post and the University of St. Gallen, Spryker analyzed the D2C market and asked 15 companies with end-customer stores about their views, experiences, goals and best practices regarding D2C.

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Study Overview

Direct supply of end customers by manufacturers is not a new trend. However, digitalization of retail has accelerated this development in recent years. The digitalization of private households is growing, and consumers are spending more time online.

What awaits you in this study:

What advantages and challenges does D2C bring?

How do you identify the D2C maturity level of a company?

Which D2C strategy leads to higher profit margins and customer insights?

What role do marketplaces play?

With digitalization advancing, commercial transactions are increasingly shifting to the internet. Distribution channels are also changing to the same extent.

Product sales via marketplaces and platforms, e.g., Amazon or Zalando

Direct sales via an own online shop

Unified commerce approach with a variety of digital sales channels, such as social commerce, and seamless integration of offline & online points of sale.

Direct-to-Consumer in the Digital Age

Extract

Have you Explored your D2C Potential yet?

Your degree of Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) potential depends on the maturity level of your D2C strategy. The good news is, as you become more mature, your revenue potential grows. At the same time, different maturity levels require a different focus. Only those manufacturers who are aware of their maturity level can take the right steps to get to the next level or stay on top of the growing D2C market.

For several years now, online trade has been showing high growth rates, while retail trade as a whole has more or less stagnated. No brand can afford to ignore digital channels for marketing and sales. This is especially true for companies that so far have only sold viaindirect distribution. Control over the brand experience and direct customer contact is too important. In many cases, an online shop is a central element of a powerful digital strategy.”

- Philippe Mettler, Digital Commerce Consultant, Swiss Post

Direct-to-Consumer in the Digital Age

This study shows that D2C is more than a buzzword. For many companies, direct sales is already an important lever for profit optimization and holds enormous potential for manufacturers who take customer orientation seriously. It is precisely these insights, which can be gained through direct customer relations and data ownership, that enable a company to really position itself for the future.

As mentioned, when listing the advantages, a direct-to-consumer strategy potentially offers higher margins, access to new consumer groups (for example, by expanding into new markets), managing the brand experience, and obtaining one’s own data on customers.

Author

SPRYKER

Digital Commerce Experts
Spryker’s content creators are passionate about digital commerce and technological trends. They strive to make complex topics simple to understand via a range of multimedia formats. The diverse team hail from a range of different backgrounds and fields of expertise, but all share a love for good stories and the motivation to excite our readers.
Read the whole Study

Further Information about D2C

You want to learn more about how to quickly expand the D2C potential of your company? Then take a look at our bundled infographics about D2C. They explain the three D2C maturity levels of companies and present suitable strategies and activities.

Or are you interested in concrete hands-on examples of successful D2C companies? Then check out our D2C video to see how Spryker customer Kapten & Son turned €5,000 seed capital into a leading D2C brand with over 1 million customers through direct sales.

Download the full D2C Study to learn more

Margin increase, customer data, brand experience – direct sales has many advantages. This study shows how D2C can become your profit driver.