🛍 DTC Daily - Thursday, Jan 26

1 - DTC wine sales have dropped

📰 TL;DR - Like so many other DTC categories, the pandemic brought a boom time for wine sellers. And again, like so many DTC categories, sales are now declining. According to a new report, DTC wine sales fell by 10.3% in 2022. They attribute that to both economic inflation and lower demand.

💡 Insight - The most interesting tidbit from the report is that wines under $30 saw the biggest fall in sales while bottles over $100 actually sold more. That seems to suggest that even as DTC sales appear to be suffering, specialized sellers may still have an edge and audience. It never hurts to ask: what can you do that the other guys can't?

You can read the article here...

2 - The fourth wave of e-commerce is coming

📰 TL;DR - Earlier this week we had an article about "DTC 3.0" but no matter what you want to call it, a new wave of e-commerce is afoot. Over on Inc., it's all about "the fourth wave of e-commerce." In this new era, retail is proving itself a mighty competitor and the article has some ideas on how to beat them at their game.

💡 Insight - The biggest takeaway is an emphasis on customer engagement. DTC brands should aim to build strong connections with their most loyal customers and use that data and relationship to fine-tune their products. At its best, DTC e-commerce brands have a greater opportunity to capture and utilize customer data — don't forget to take advantage.

You can read the article here...

3 - Amazon wants to be your pharmacy, too

📰 TL;DR - Amazon is launching RXPass, a $5 per month prescription delivery service that's like Prime but for medication. It'll only have cheaper generic drugs, and won't be available in states with prescription delivery restrictions. The target isn't necessarily the average consumer, but someone without insurance who manages chronic illness. 

💡 Insight - It looks like this is more of an experiment for Amazon than anything. CNN reports this is expected to be a loss leader, especially since it focuses on cheap generics and not the prescriptions that actually make up the bulk of drug costs in the U.S. If you sell on Amazon, this just gives shoppers yet another reason to log on, so it's a win for you. 

You can read the article here...

4 - E-commerce brands are snatching up real estate

📰 TL;DR - As traditional retail brands expand their online channels, online brands are doing just the opposite. According to a new paper, DTC brands, like Allbirds and Everlane, are turning to brick-and-mortar to curate customer experiences better. In fact, shoppers spend 10 times longer in IRL stories than e-commerce sites, so you can't blame these brands for making the jump.

💡 Insight - If you've thought about opening a physical store, you'd be in good company. And you also have an advantage. As this article points out, years of selling online have given you deep insights into customer habits and demographics. That means when you open that first store, you have a leg up from the get-go.

You can read the article here...

5 - TikTok is driving offline sales, too

📰 TL;DR - By now you should be familiar with how TikTok can drive sales for DTC brands. Just look at success stories like Parade, Skims, or Starface. Well according to this report, brands that sell in traditional retail are seeing evidence that their efforts on TikTok are leading to sales in brick-and-mortar stores, too.

💡 Insight - I know the obvious question here is, what if I only sell online? Well, I would suggest that this report indicates that TikTok can work for you beyond what you can measure as direct, incoming sales. Organic marketing on TikTok — which means posting often, keeping up on trends, and interacting with comments — has benefits that are harder to measure but still very real.

You can read the article here...

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