🛍 DTC Daily - Friday, Mar 3

Today's DTC news, tips, & tools you need to know

March 03, 2023

😘 E-commerce had a *chef kiss* year in 2022

📰 TL;DR - There's been a lot to worry about in e-commerce between inflation, supply chain woes, and people returning to IRL retail. Despite all that, 2022 was a banner year for e-commerce. Revenue exceeded $1 trillion for the first time in the US and Q4 set records. This post breaks down the wins of 2022, including the rise of mobile, social commerce, and online grocery sales.

💡 Insight - I want to call attention to the stats here on mobile commerce. According to Shopify, 69% of sales from merchants using Shopify came from mobile last year. In the US, mobile sales were up 26.3% if you compare Q4 in 2021 and 2022. Obviously, that means you need to have a great mobile experience for shoppers. Mobile checkout must be as good, or better, than on desktop. But also think about other aspects of your business. Can customers access your full support options from mobile? Can they message you on Facebook? If any aspect of your store isn't optimized for mobile, you need to fix it ASAP.

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🗺 A roadmap from 1,000 visitors a month to 37,000

📰 TL;DR - E-commerce SEO expert Keval Shah shared a tweet showing the exact plan that helped him grow a beauty brand to 37,000 visitors a month. And it's not just a numbers game — he says these are sustainable numbers that deliver high-intent shoppers. The graphic breaks down a roadmap that includes sound technical SEO, keyword research, content creation, and link building.

💡 Insight - You know SEO is important, because of course. But this offers a solid roadmap to how to actually execute an SEO strategy. The most interesting thing is how he built the strategy around content categories. They created a lashes product category, for example, then went on to win for that keyword on search with targeted content and backlinks. SEO isn't just something you set up once and hope for the best, it's a strategy that must be optimized, tweaked, and attended to. This tweet shows you how.

🌞 Meet the founder of this inclusive sunscreen brand

📰 TL;DR - We heard you're craving founder stories, and this is a great one on the Shopify Masters podcast. Katonya Breaux is the founder of Unsun Cosmetics, a tinted sunscreen brand made especially for people of color. The brand has gone on to earn media acclaim and a wholesale deal with CVS.

💡 Insight - I want to point out some things that Katonya did right:

  • She found a niche need that wasn't being addressed by competitors.

  • She used education as a pillar of her marketing strategy.

  • She identified the right price points and was able to offer basic and premium versions of her products.

Definitely give this a listen for inspiration on how to create create a product that innovates within all already established categories.

💄 The downfall of Birchbox

📰 TL;DR - For a time there, subscription boxes were all the rage. It seemed like no matter your area of interest, someone was happy to send you a curated box of goodies every month. One of the big players was Birchbox, a beauty subscription box. But you may have noticed they've basically disappeared. Retail Dive took a deep dive into what happened to Birchbox, including its mounting financial difficulties, an acquisition, and unhappy members.

💡 Insight - There's a lot of mess to unpack here. What I want to note is that Birchbox's problems very much seem to be their own. The global subscription market was expected to increase to $120.4 billion in 2022, and to $904.2 billion by 2026. Subscriptions offer the joy of discovery and they're increasingly being made more customizable, so customers can influence what arrives. Just make sure to pay your vendors.

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