Tuesday, November 7

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🚨 In today’s newsletter 🚨

• Why DTC brands are going omnichannel

• A new virtual try-on tool

• Why loyalty programs matter during the holidays

Let’s get into it👇

#1 - 🛍️ Is the future omnichannel?

📰 TL;DR - This is a dispatch from this year’s Inc. 5000 conference, where the founders of two brands were asked to speak about the evolution of the DTC model. Except, funny enough, neither brand (Bark and Bala) is even purely DTC anymore. So the theme became how DTC has evolved into just one channel of an omnichannel strategy. DTC was used alongside retail initiatives to grow both of these businesses. As the founder of Bark put it, "Shipping and fulfillment directly to millions of customers is quite a bit more expensive than one big shipment into a target location."

💡 Insight - Pushing into retail has truly been the big theme of the last year or so in DTC. DTC grew leaps and bounds over the pandemic, but as sales tapered off as the world normalized, many brands found that getting into retail was the path to continued growth. Some went for opening their own brick-and-mortar stores, but the biggest trend has definitely been getting into Walmart or Target. Frankly, we’ve also seen that VCs are also choosing brands that are on this path. That’s not to say you have to eventually move into retail, but it’s very telling that it’s what so many very successful brands are doing.

➡️ You can read the article here...

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#2 - 👗 Virtual try-on tech raises serious cash

📰 TL;DR - A pair of luxury clothing distributors have created virtual try-on technology that’s attracting investors. It’s called Zelig, and it will eventually allow users to upload a photo of themselves and virtually try on clothes, shoes, and accessories in a way that actually conforms to their body type. Right now, users can instead choose from models of various body types, skin tones, and hair colors. While virtual try-on is not new, Zelig is going for a hyper-personalized approach and has earned $15 million in Series A funding, with a valuation of $100 million.

💡 Insight - From a consumer perspective, I love the idea of being able to create outfits on my own body before purchasing — kind of like Cher’s virtual closet from Clueless. For e-commerce brands, the hope would be that this kind of technology can reduce returns, which are truly a plague upon apparel brands. This technology combined with an AI-powered sizing tool would be a game changer for buying clothes online. Using this would also build excitement for a purchase and saving outfits would be like an upgraded version of a saved cart.

➡️ You can read the article here...

#3 - 🛠️ Things worth checking out

📈 TRENDS - Here’s a weekly roundup of DTC trends and moves.

💿 PRODUCT - And here’s a weekly roundup of e-commerce product releases.

🏆 SALES - DTC sales are expected to grow more than brick-and-mortar.

🎄 VIDEO - Home Depot has created a pretty neat shoppable video series.

👛 TIKTOK - TikTok Shop has partnered with an authentication service for pre-owned luxury handbags.

#4 - 🎁 It’s the most loyal time of the year

📰 TL;DR - The holidays mean both brand new customers and really leaning on relationships to draw previous customers back in. It’s also prime time for loyalty programs. According to this survey, 65% of people plan to leverage loyalty programs to save money during the holiday shopping season. Interestingly, younger shoppers seem to be more savvy about loyalty programs, with millennials most likely to use them to save some at 71%. Those 55 and up were the least likely to do this. Women are also more likely to leverage a loyalty program than men.

💡 Insight - There are two things to keep in mind with loyalty programs this season. First, for existing members, make that membership worthwhile by making sure they’re the first to find out about holiday deals. You should also consider offering deals that are exclusive to members. The second thing is that this is a great time to draw in new members by dangling exclusive offers, as well as getting creative with sign-up offers.

➡️ You can read the article here...