There is no avoiding that Ecommerce presents great opportunity for brands to accelerate their growth. The last two years with the COVID-19 pandemic amplified the fact that brands needed to have a presence in Ecommerce and digital platforms to survive in the highly volatile marketplace. This presented a prime opportunity for Direct-to-Consumer brands to be innovative, and strategically build and enhance their direct relationship with their customers. Over 55% of consumers tend to want to purchase directly from the brand then third-party retailers, hence why there is great opportunity for brands to transition their strategy to D2C as stated on Airwallex.
The Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) is defined by the meaning of “Selling a product by avoiding third-party retailers or trade networks, by directly reaching the consumer through a company owned website” according to McKinsey. Building D2C strategy will open greater opportunity for the brand to control and take advantage of their selling network and relationships with how interact and enhance the end-consumer experience, build brand loyalty and retention, also allow greater control of the brand strategy by working on solutions based on real time insights.
3 key takeaways: advantages of D2C
1. Data: being the primary owner of consumer insights
Taking on a D2C strategy will allow you to gain insights through real time data including how users interact with the website as well as demographics and psychographics of consumer behaviour. This information will be essential to shape the brand strategy and elevate the customer experience and conversion journey which will lead to efficient and more accurate targeting.
2. Higher level of control over customer experience
Having ownership of your Ecommerce platform you will have greater ability to control the start to end experience of the end user. Based on the data you gain you are able to build a strategy that meets the needs to of your customer profile and behavioural intentions for example what other products can you cross sell to your customer, which products you prioritize onsite etc.
Furthermore, insights can be gained by customer feedback which will allow you to better respond to issues within the customer journey experience in a timely manner.
3. Enhance brand loyalty and retention
Having a D2C strategy will allow to build and strengthen the relationship with the customer directly. The control of the online platforms will allow to gather email, phone numbers which will allow you to directly target your customers through direct emails, SMS marketing and target paid social media campaigns. Targeting the content that your customers are looking will assist in better targeting the needs of your customer enhancing the brand experience according to bigcommerce.
Something to consider when applying an online D2C strategy is to ensure sufficient resources to create a seamless customer experience which includes fulfilments and shipping, managing Ecommerce platform, providing customer support and to maintain up to date with the technology trends and updates to ensure the platform is regularly maintained and secure.
3 D2C Platforms you should get to know:
Shopify
Launched in 2006, Shopify is a leading Ecommerce platform with over 1 million customers in 175 countries, using the platform to sell their products and services online as mentioned on Airwallex. The platform is user friendly and allows businesses to have access to control the backend and manage the process to make updates when required. Leading organisations are utilizing this platform which includes Skims, Red Bull, Sephora, Tesla and Netflix to name a few. A Shopify build is highly recommended for business starting their Ecommerce journey, the dashboard allows you take control of the entire process, if you are planning to grow in several different countries then Shopify Plus is the way to go.
Shopify will be the right platform if you don’t want to spend are great amount of time with the initial set-up of the online site. The platform is made for first time users with strong level of customer support offered onsite.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is another user-friendly and cost-efficent ecommerce platform developed in 2011. The platform is free to use however additional features to enhance the site will incur costs however the investment will add value to your business. Accounting for 28% of share in the Ecommerce sector, its is a WordPress plugin, as stated on Airwallex. The added features for the plugin included one-page check outs, add-ons, direct email marketing which all enhance the user experience. Leading companies who use WordPress include Sony Music, Hypebeast and Vogue. If your comfortable using WordPress, then WooCommerce would be great platform to utilise.
Magneto
Magneto is a US based company which was founded in 2008, it is the most popular Ecommerce platform and can be used across all industries and company sizes. Magneto system allows the customer to develop their shop the way they want it, through customisable features. International organisations that use Magneto include Land Rover, Ford and HP.
If you are looking at full customisable Ecommerce platform without being restricted to existing templates. For this platform it is highly recommended to have someone who knows coding as it is more complexed then using a Shopify platform.
The growth of Ecommerce and with customers preferring to purchase directly with the company it is essential to relook at the D2C strategy and see how you can grow your business and take great control of the process. So ensure to do your research and if you have further questions or are interested starting your digital journey get in touch with the Rik and Ralph team. To start your D2C journey contact Rik and Ralph by click on visiting RikandRalph.com to learn more.
