Friday, April 14

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

📦 Is the fast delivery craze subsiding?

📰 TL;DR - A report from The Wall Street Journal suggests that the race to have same or next-day delivery is finally dying down. People are, reportedly, willing to wait a little longer for deliveries these days. The driving factors include concern about the costs of quick shipping, as well as a return to retail. Basically, if you need Tide pods, you might be more willing to just go to a store than find a quick-delivery option.

💡 Insight - For the sake of DTC brands, I hope this is true! You know how logistically difficult and expensive quick delivery is, and I bet you’re also reluctant to pass those costs along to customers. Rather, this article says certainty matters more in shipping. Can you guarantee a delivery date? Can you at least offer an accurate delivery window? Transparency and accuracy are what will keep you competitive.

📈 Top brands choose Rebuy to accelerate growth*

Break your sales records with Rebuy, the AI-powered personalization platform that supercharges your sales growth.

Preferred by brands like Liquid Death, Patagonia, and Magic Spoon, Rebuy lets you merchandise your storefront any way you want. Personalize recommendations based on purchase history, offer exclusive deals for repeat customers, improve ROAS with intent data based on traffic URLs, and much more.

Rebuy integrates seamlessly with Shopify, Recharge, Klaviyo, Attentive, Tapcart, and your favorite e-commerce apps through its RESTful API. Customers rave about their white-glove support, fully customizable shopping cart, and fast ROI.

Why wait? Try Rebuy for free for the first 60 days! Sign up here.

🔎 E-comm search still sucks

📰 TL;DR - According to the piece, 72% of e-commerce searches fail to meet search expectations. That’s significant! The search capabilities of e-commerce sites just don’t have the same level of sophistication as other search engines, and customers expect better. The commenter here says a lack of AI and data means results lack nuance. And we know that frustrated customers are likely to click away.

💡 Insight - It’s true that the default search function of most e-comm platforms isn’t stellar. I think it really depends on what you’re selling, though. If you only have a few main products, search isn’t such a big deal. But the more products you have on offer, the more a search function that works is going to help customers. Your platform of choice most likely has apps available to improve search functionality. Give one a try if this is a pain point for shoppers.

What do you want to see more of in DTC Daily?

Leave a comment if you want to elaborate!

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

👎🏼 Return charges are a major turn-off

📰 TL;DR - Not long ago we had a piece in this newsletter about how some online retailers are now charging fees for returns to recoup costs. Well, surprise, customers don’t like that very much. In fact, 34% of customers have switched from a brand they were once loyal to, just to avoid paid returns. They also don’t like when the return window gets shortened.

💡 Insight - There’s really no winning, eh? Either you eat the cost of returns, or you upset customers by asking them to bear those costs. The true win here is to reduce returns in the first place. There are some tactics you can use to do this, including encouraging exchanges and having very solid product images and descriptions. USG and reviews can help, too. The more info a customer has before they buy, the more likely they are to keep their purchase.

🚚 Tech is keeping up with the wholesale swing

📰 TL;DR - Once again, the trend of DTC brands turning to wholesale is proving strong. This article digs into how tech brands are trying to aid those new channels, like Shopify’s new B2B platform, or wholesale marketplace Faire. Brooklinen, for example, is using Shopify’s offering and they expect to grow their wholesale business by 50% compared to last year.

💡 Insight - Wholesale is growing. B2B sales increased 131% in 2021, and I can only see that number being more dramatic this year. The good news for those of you interested in a wholesale channel is that tech companies are happy to follow the money. They’re doing what they can to both help you and get a piece of those sales. If you’re going to get into wholesale, take advantage of these platforms to do some of the heavy lifting.

Did you learn something new from today's newsletter?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

If you want to reach our audience, fill out this short partnerships form.

Some things in this newsletter (particularly the things with a *) may be a sponsored post or Growth Daily LLC may be getting a small commission if you sign up.