Once reserved for challenger start-ups, direct-to-consumer (DTC) is now being wholly embraced by big and small brands alike. In fact, Nike project DTC – led by digital sales – aims to deliver 60% of its total revenue by 2025¹, meaning they’re slowly pulling out of brick-and-mortar retail channels to focus on online. But is this trend a fad, or a new way of doing business that is likely to stick around for years to come?

• Cost savings: Online operations can drastically cut overheads and make a real difference to a business’ bottom line. You can save on rental costs, alongside securing higher margins that are typically sacrificed to a third party.
• More control: A DTC brand has increased control over their customer relationships, because they are interacting with them directly, alongside their brand messaging – reducing the possibility of reputational risk if a third-party provides poor service.
• Customer communications: When it comes to service, a direct line of communication with buyers is key – meaning you can quickly resolve issues.
• More customer data: DTC brands have access to more (or at the very least, more timely) data about their customers – who is buying their products, what are they buying, and why – enabling them to make more informed decisions.
• Competitive advantage: Moving quickly and being among the first in your industry to be a DTC brand helps you to secure more customers.
• Selling socially: Many DTC brands now sell via social media, which offers access to a huge potential customer base and the ability to organically build ‘buzz’ around your products.

_{¹ https://qz.com/2025862/nikes-direct-to-consumer-sales-are-taking-off
² https://digiday.com/marketing/everything-dtc-inside-loreals-tech-hub/
³ https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinessdevelopmentcouncil/2022/05/16/brick-and-mortar-shoppers-have-spoken}