Now is the time to go Direct To Consumer (DTC)
Brand Managers, CEOs, CXOs, International Business Development Managers and Sales & Marketing Heads
Now is the time to focus on Direct To Consumer
Physical retail is here to stay but as we can see by the recent disruption it is subject to the vagaries of nature. Most businesses and brands are dependent not only on the supply chain but also dependent on consumers coming to the physical retail store
As a brand that is selling online but mainly through outright sales to online retailers setup by online marketplaces you have limited managerial knowledge or ability to actually sell online.
This is the right time for any organization to start building its capabilities and managerial knowledge and experience in the direct to consumer business
Direct to consumer does not necessarily mean that you have to only sell on your online brand store. You could also sell on marketplaces like Amazon where the marketplace is just an enabler and you are actually selling the product direct to your consumer
Direct to consumer has its challenges in terms of being viewed as a conflict with the physical retail or modern trade or large format retail channels. However, as a brand owner you are fully within your right to reach out to consumers directly and you can do this in a way that does not conflict with your channel or retail partners.
Retailers also know that a brand will sell online and it’s the retailer’s decision in spite of having this knowledge that they choose to be in the retail business.
So as a brand, you need not feel shy or hesitant to have your own direct to consumer online business through a brand online store as well as through online marketplaces
Is it easy for a company to get into the Direct to consumer business?
The answer is No
Most corporations that produce products are used to a distribution model where they hand off the physical product and the distribution of such products through a channel partner like a distributor or a wholesaler. The company itself focuses on the product brand and marketing.
Having said that, it is not impossible for a company to go direct to consumer especially if they use the services of specialist partner like Tiger Pug Commerce which is a brand ecommerce specialist company. One that acts as the direct to consumer arm of the brand
So what are the steps required for a company to go direct to consumer?
1. Create an internal organization that has the focus and the mandate to setup and successfully operate the Direct To Consumer business
2. Decide on the 5 P’s of marketing that are more relevant to the direct to consumer business i.e. product, packaging, price, promotion and place. These are very different for a direct to consumer and online business. Brands can easily fall into the trap of trying to follow its current marketing mix to try and sell online
3. Having decided the product price, packaging, place and promotion the brand needs to get going to take action around all these aspects and make the necessary investments
4. Just like a physical store may take a couple of years to be recalled and transacted with by consumers an online and direct to consumer business too needs significant investment in management, materials, money and time
5. Focus on ongoing tracking and analytics to refine the business model in a way that it is meeting the company’s objectives
6. Review the business model and expand it to cover omni-channel and other aspects that can be grown out of the core business operations relating to direct to consumer
Summary
Given that an organization has limited knowledge and experience in direct to consumer or online businesses and that it is critical for the business success in future, it makes sense for the brand to also get advisory and consulting services from an experienced direct to consumer and brand online services company like Tiger Pug (www.tigerpug.com.sg). And follow that through with the actual implementation where the Direct to Consumer Business is set up
To know more about how you can setup or grow your existing direct to consumer business using the services of Tiger Pug please write to contact@tigerpug.comtoday!