🛍 DTC Daily - Monday, Jan 23

1 - Walmart is getting into indie beauty

📰 TL;DR - Most people think of Walmart's beauty section as a place to pick up the usual drugstore brands, but the retailer is looking to change that by adding indie brands to its shelves. The Walmart Start beauty accelerator program will introduce smaller brands like PaintLab nails and Dossier scents. A Walmart spokesperson told Glossy beauty startups are a "big priority" for the mega-retailer.

💡 Insight - The interesting tidbit here is that Walmart recognizes indie beauty brands' edge with Gen Z. In particular, indie brands are known for creating products for a diversity of hair and skin types and shades. Perhaps Walmart has also seen all those TikToks of beauty influencers putting major brands on blast for having their "darkest" shade be a medium orange.

You can read the article here...

2 - Say hello to DTC 3.0

📰 TL;DR - You're far from alone if your e-commerce business is facing post-pandemic challenges. Whereas DTC 2.0 was about cheap customer acquisition and even cheaper Facebook ads, Bryan Mahoney, co-founder & CEO of Chord, told Forbes that DTC 3.0 is about forging a deeper, more personal connection with customers. That means creating brand experiences, but it also means smart use of that sweet, sweet first-party customer data.

💡 Insight - Mahoney predicts that DTC 3.0 is "inevitable." Thriving in this new era means turning your attention to what your brand offers beyond just products. Can you build a community for your customers? Are you stating and staying true to strong values around sustainability? Are you adding value with a loyalty program? Mahoney also has some great thoughts about navigating data in an age when customers are hesitant to share it with brands.

You can read the article here...

3 - This developer is taking on discount apps like Honey

📰 TL;DR - Dennis Hegstad is a Shopify app developer who's building a way for e-commerce stores to deal with discount code leaks. Called Vigilance, Hegstad says it will let you monitor where codes are coming from — such as Honey, Capital One Shopping, Piggy, or code websites like RetailMeNot — and block their use if you choose. Using the app, you can instead simply show a message that no coupon codes are available or kill off codes that have leaked.

💡 Insight - Having this data could be a very powerful tool, especially if you work with a lot of influencers and affiliate codes. You'd be able to find out whether one of these codes is actually being used because an influencer had a viral moment, or because the code simply wound up on Honey. Vigilance's pricing seems geared toward larger stores, but if it works as promised that data could save some serious cash.

You can read the article here...

4 - Amazon sellers are missing cancellation notices

📰 TL;DR - Last year, Amazon changed how cancellation notifications are shown to sellers, moving them from the messaging system to a banner on the Manage Orders page. That's all well and good but apparently some notifications are still coming in through the old system, leaving the potential to miss them entirely. Amazon knew about the issue last spring but it appears to still persist for some sellers.

💡 Insight - One of the painful parts of selling on a marketplace like Amazon is that technical hiccups like this are beyond your control. Until this is resolved, make sure you're checking both locations for cancellations and it doesn't hurt to keep an eye on the Seller Central forums to know what's actually working — and what's not.

You can read the article here...

5 - Is it worth going legit as an LLC?

📰 TL;DR - Deciding your business structure certainly isn't the sexiest part of starting a new e-commerce business, but it has a lot of implications down the line. The Shopify blog dove into the differences between sole proprietorship vs. becoming an LLC, including the tax, liability, and costs.

💡 Insight - It's entirely possible that when you started your business, or if you're about to start a business, sole proprietorship just sounded easier. However, growth makes everything more complex and going legit as an LLC will provide financial protection and even make it easier to raise capital. This is a practical and important read to determine if you've grown beyond sole proprietorship.

You can read the article here...

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