Think Like a Direct-To-Consumer Brand

I work with direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands for a living, so unsurprisingly, I am an avid buyer of DTC products. In the past couple of months, it’s become more evident than ever that businesses need to shift to a direct-to-consumer mindset if they are to succeed in the new order marketplace. While uncertainty abounds as to when stores will be able to safely open, and when customers will feel safe shopping in-person again, security lies in adapting to the lightweight and digitally-native DTC model.

There are a few characteristics that serve as every well-run DTC brand’s backbone: a top-notch ecommerce setup, a well-defined brand identity, and lean and agile operations. While the traits are inherent to DTC brands, they are transferable to any business model. After reading this, you should be able to apply them quickly and immediately start benefiting from the shifts.

Let’s start with the pièce de résistance of the most successful digitally native brands, a spectacular and intuitive ecommerce operation.

Checkout This Checkout

Fast, intuitive, and enjoyable. Those are the first things I look for when assessing a brand’s online store. Sure there are loads of other factors that go into creating a positive online shopping experience, but these three must-haves embody the 80/20 rule (80% of the effects come from 20% of the cause).

Speed

When your customer begins to shop online, you are already starting at a disadvantage. Whereas with in-person perusing you can count on them looking around a little longer because they have already expended energy in getting to your location, on a website they can click away or hit the ol’ faithful command-W (don’t hit that now unless you are really not enjoying what I’ve had to say so far) the moment they lose interest. The fastest way to lose someone’s interest? Make them wait for your page to load. In 2019, 70% of consumers said that a slow webpage makes them less likely buy a product online. This might sound like common sense, but the reality is that page load speed is still massively overlooked.

Prioritize improving the load times on your site. DTC companies have been doing this since inception, and in order to compete in an increasingly crowded online marketplace, your company needs to as well.

Intuitive

Think about setting up your ecommerce shops the same way you would your physical store. Product categories need to be clearly delineated, with logical connections between complementary items. Take DTC premium online plant shop, Léon&George. Plants are separated into use and care categories rather than by species. Léon&George knows that their plant-curious customers aren’t very likely to arrive at their site and want to only look at fern species. No, when someone heads to the site, they are more curious about what kind of plants won’t be poisonous to their cats or which flora won’t die in a low-light room. Their structure answers the questions consumers will bring to the interaction.

The process is intuitive all the way through checkout. As you prepare to make your purchase, you are given the option to purchase add-ons, which are rarely large ticket items. Léon&George knows that after adding plants to your cart, you are unlikely to tack on another set of expensive plants. The items you are more likely to consider are easier to stomach, like their watering can or a vitamin boost for your new plant-babies. Léon&George is just one example of strategic grouping done right. DTC-darling, The Sill, groups plants by ease-of-care, size of pot, pet-friendliness, and need for light. The shopping experience is clean, intuitive, and makes what could be an intimidating purchase for many (myself included) into an accessible and repeat-worthy adventure.

Enjoyable

Open Spaces, a DTC home goods company, has created an enjoyable, frictionless online shopping experience by providing the same level of comfort that it’s physical products do. Padding (space around a given area on a website) gives each section of the site room to breathe, while calming colors, textures, and fonts remove any sense of urgency. Your cursor turns to a muted orange color on the site and when you mouse over a hyperlink, a small hand appears. No sense of urgency to make a purchase on an ecommerce shop? While that sounds like a flaw, it actually serves as an advantage for Open Spaces. In line with the ethos of their brand and their parent company, Open Spaces is embodying the lifestyle they sell by encouraging consumers to take their time before committing to a purchase. It is an ingenious way to avoid the conjuring of unpleasant memories of pushy sales-people.

Now Picture an Apple Store

Think of your local Apple Store. Picture two versions of it. The store that existed half a decade ago and the store as it is now (well, pre-pandemic). We can apply all three online characteristics (speed, intuitiveness, and enjoyability) to the dichotomy of these shopping experiences.

Ahhh, the old days. Pre-pandemic. Pre-Apple Store revamp.

When you entered an Apple Store in 2014, you were greeted by a wide open space with modern tables and one or two greeters, each equipped with an iPad to help direct you. Products were separated across the vast space by intuitive categories, with iPhones on one side, iPads on the other, and computers in the front. The Genius Bar was at the back of the store, and a few empty tables provided seating for those who had a short wait.

Let’s review the experience. Because of the ingenious flow of the store, speed was rarely an issue. Unless you were in line to grab a product the morning it launched, you rarely had to wait to be helped. As you entered the store, you were guided to the appropriate section, all without missing a beat or having to stand around. There was no room to become irritated and walk out because there was a purposeful interaction at each interval. The intuitive sectioning of the store made it easy to go directly where you needed to be. Looking for an iPhone? Perfect. Browse the available models at the dedicated tables and then head to the back corner of the store to browse accessories while an employee fetches your new device. Getting your laptop fixed? You likely aren’t happy spending time waiting for a repair, so head to the back of the store for quick answers. No matter what you went to the Apple Store for, the experience was always enjoyable. On-brand messaging was inspiring and energizing. Employees would offer to help but also took great care not to pester you unless you looked like you needed some assistance.

Now let’s take a look at the current state of Apple Stores in 2020. Reach way back in your memory before the lockdown and recall the overwhelming visual and auditory barrage that was walking into an Apple Store. Confused consumers wander aimlessly around the store, not sure whom they should talk to about checking in for their Genius Bar appointment. Unbeknownst to many, the Genius Bar as it existed before is gone! It’s been replaced with free-floating specialists that spot you based on appearance, then slide into a crowded table to assist you with your troubles. Empty tables for these appointments are mixed in with tables for the Apple Watch, iPad, iPhone, laptops, desktops, headphones, external monitors, Apple TVs, drones, and more. Finding what you want to play with is a task, made worse by the hordes of people you need to navigate to get there. Speed and intuitiveness are gone. Many of these products were in the Apple Stores of yore, but they were organized in a way that simply wasn’t a shit show. That brings us to how enjoyable a shopping experience is at an Apple Store. Frankly, it sucks. I love playing with tech, but the stress at Apple Stores now has led me and many others away from them.

Your online shop needs to operate like Apple Stores when they were a prime example of an excellent shopping experience. If you’re having trouble deciding what to change or how to prioritize, just think of your ecommerce shop like a physical store. Is your current issue with lines that are taking too long and confused crowds? Is your store unintuitive and possibly discouraging for consumers, who are likely to get frustrated by a lack of clarity? Or does your ecommerce store lack personality and fail to deliver an easygoing buying experience?

A Brand To Remember

The second tell-tale trait of a good DTC brand is a strong dose of capital P, Personality. That isn’t to say they all take the over-the-top approach companies like Squatty Potty and Dollar Shave Club (with their hilarious “Our Blades Are F***ing Great” ad) have adopted, but in some way or another each digitally native brand that has found success has a clear and tangible personality.

You may not even know that they are direct-to-consumer brands, but you likely have heard of companies like Casper, Harry’s, Warby Parker, and Blue Apron. Even if you don’t know exactly what they do, I bet you at least have an image of their logo in your head. These companies, through the use of DTC-centric branding agencies, have crafted holistic identities that stick in your mind long after you saw their ad on Instagram or plastered across the side of the subway. They do this because they know who they are and have a simple message to convey.

Engaging and easily digestible messaging from Casper.

Please Don’t Be Bland

Whether you use an agency to develop your company’s brand or you work on it in-house, make a statement with it. Have a purpose and create something that won’t blend in with every other company out there. The reality is that unremarkable branding is not branding at all. Take this opportunity to assess the value that you bring to your consumers’ lives. What does that say about your company? How does your company convey that? Answer these questions through your brand’s persona so when people are deciding whom they should patronize, you immediately answer some of their questions just in how you present yourself.

Hiring a branding agency isn’t in everyone’s budget, and there are times when you need to push forward with your brand solo. For those times, you should ask yourself, and maybe one or two top-level team members, the following questions.

If I were describing the personality traits of my brand as if it were a person, what would I say? Is my brand bold, futuristic, and edgy? Or is it calm, reverent, and noble? The possibilities are endless. And really, the adjectives don’t matter as much as the fact that they are true to your brand. People can smell bullshit from a mile away, so don’t waste time pretending to be something you’re not. Everyone appreciates and respects authenticity.
How does my brand communicate with its customers? Are we formal and decisive in each interaction, or do we prefer to assume a casual tone and delight fans with slow-burn messaging? Make sure to cater messaging profiles to specific customer groups. There should be nuance in how your brand speaks to first time buyers vs. loyal repeat customers.
Why does our company exist? Define your mission, values, and vision and then build your brand around those definitions. Even though Dollar Shave Club has a raunchy and in-your-face persona, its goal has always been admirable — to bring low cost shaving supplies directly to your door. That commitment to a core mission keeps its messaging from coming off as pompous.

These are just starting places for exercises that have the power to create a defined personality for your brand — and that power cannot be understated. There are many more direct-to-consumer shaving companies out there* — but I bet you haven’t heard of them.

*True story, from the time when I conceived this article to looking for brands to illustrate the danger of a weak brand personality, the example I was going to use went out of business .

Where Does All Of This Go?

All of the brands I have covered seem to have never-ending channels to share their personalities: (often) brightly-colored billboards, YouTube ads, influencer features, top-tier podcasts, and more. As exciting as these avenues are, your brand is probably better served not exploring those channels initially. Traditional retailers just looking to refine their online brand experience shouldn’t worry about the uber-expensive, incredibly high traffic channels available to raise awareness. There are dozens of low-hanging fruit opportunities that should take priority. If you are one of the many startups or small business owners caught in the midst of COVID with what feels like only lackluster options for turning sales projections around, then this part is for you.

Let’s call back to the 80/20 rule from the ecommerce discussion. In this case, we are talking about the majority of growth opportunity and brand exposure coming from your website. So that is where we need to focus your branding. If you aren’t ready or able to revisit your brand, but you have something that has worked so far, spend your time ensuring that the existing voice and visual style are present across your entire website. Check on everything from the obvious stuff like copy and images, to the minutiae like purchase confirmation emails and product descriptions. Once you have run through it a few times, have a couple of friends go through the purchasing experience and provide feedback on what they felt the brand was communicating, and if it was clear throughout the entire process.

Lean, Agile, and Focused

Without further adieu, the third exemplar. Within DTC, the true indicator of whether or not a company is going to succeed is in their distribution and operational logistics. The best are lean with an efficient distribution system and agile team that can adjust quickly based on user feedback and marketplace change.

Lean (and Unfortunately Sometimes Mean)

Direct-to-Consumer companies are inherently lean in that they do not utilize middlemen for sales. Granted, there is a general industry shift towards folding in traditional retail channels, but for the most part, digitally native brands are just that… digitally native. Sales are made online and products are shipped directly from the manufacturer to the customer. This is beneficial for a bunch of reasons, but the most obvious is that you don’t need to share any of your profit with an intermediary.

Your situation is likely different in that you may not have a dedicated manufacturer to route all purchases through, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t adjust your distribution to take advantage of the benefits of direct selling. Find the path of least resistance for your specific circumstance and explore it! Distribution arrangements vary wildly depending on the product you sell and the structure of your business, so I can’t provide much carte-blanche advice here in good faith. But I can promise you that time and money spent reviewing how you move your product will be worth it. My focus within the industry is branding, but because I spend so much time with DTC companies, I have gained a ton of insight into this core pillar of operations. If you see distribution becoming an issue, hire a consultant to adjust things.

And now for the harder discussion within lean ideologies. Your staff. COVID has caused mass layoffs across practically every industry, so you’ve likely already had to make some incredibly hard decisions as to who you can afford to keep on. I am not going to tell you what your operational sweet spot is in regards to people on salary, but in order for most businesses to survive they are going to need to consider slimming down their teams or consolidating positions. It is ugly and unforgiving, but running a business with a lean team will give you more money to invest in critical infrastructure like ecommerce capabilities. Talk to a consultant and weigh the pros and cons of making a move like this.

Gotta Go Fast

In the now universally-panned initial trailer for the 2019 Sonic the Hedgehog movie, our protagonist exclaims that, well, he’s “gotta go fast.” Agility is key in the DTC market, with a constant flow of useful consumer feedback and data coming in (one of the benefits of controlling the entire sales pipeline), as well as new competitors popping up every month. A brand’s ability to quickly and adeptly pivot both the core product itself as well as the messaging around the product becomes paramount to survival. With online sales only set to continue increasing at an unprecedented rate, your company needs to go fast, too. It also needs to never ever create the terrifying monster that is now known as the first draft of the new Sonic. But speed? That you can do.

You see, as you make the necessary shift to selling online, you are also opening yourself up to a whole new world of competition. Worse yet, you are the one intruding on their turf. The good news is that as long as you quickly learn to play by their rules, you have a good chance of doing some serious damage. As you may have guessed, this will require you to be open to being far more agile than you likely were in the past.

Collect as much feedback as you can from customers on your ecommerce experience, the brand relationship they have with your company, and the product you are selling. Use analytics, advanced digital feedback tools, and classic person-to-person conversations to get that data. Have some intel? Good. Now make those changes and make them fast. Part of embodying the agility found in the DTC world is making small changes frequently and then evaluating the response before tweaking again. Speed is key here — not only do you want to adhere to what your customers are telling you, but those customers are going to be actively watching to see if you make improvements based on their feedback. As the painfully overused yet unquestionably accurate saying goes, it is easier to sell to existing customers than to bring on new ones. Agile behavior is necessary for wooing returning consumers and eventually converting them to brand loyalists.

Eye On The Prize

Direct-to-consumer brands almost always launch with just a couple of products, many start with just one, and you will be hard-pressed to find a single successful DTC company that launched with products in multiple verticals. This focus allows them to invest more time and money in what they believe will be the true bread winner for the company.

Casper, the sleep company (a wider pivot they made recently from identifying as a mattress company) that created the subway advertisements pictured earlier, launched with a single product. You went to their website and chose the size of the mattress you wanted to buy. Even though they have now expanded their lineup, the initial focus on just one product allowed them to refine their distribution and messaging around a single totem.

I am not recommending that you stop selling most of your products… unless you are fully rebuilding your company with the DTC model in mind, that is. No, for the majority of small business owners looking to guard their company by borrowing ideas from digitally native brands, a much more agreeable solution is to focus on your highest margin items. Of course, make sure that those products are in line with what consumers are currently buying, but find what is worth going all in for. Then refocus your messaging and ecommerce operation to shine a light on those items.

Narrow focus leads to specialization and a higher level of buyer trust. It’s your job to determine what to focus on and then to actually go through with narrowing the prominent options your buyers have. Your gut reaction may be that you are leaving money on the table by just zooming in on a select group of products, but you are just adapting to a system that has been spreading through new companies like wildfire.

Are You Down With DTC?

So there you have it — three traits of direct-to-consumer brands that your business can adopt right away to see an almost immediate shift in sales and outlook for our present pandemic and post-COVID future.

Change is overwhelming, especially changes to something that you have probably had years and years of proof has worked up to this point. But things are different now, and they won’t ever be going back to how they were before. Assess your ecommerce operation, invest in filling out your brand identity, and take a long hard look at how your company handles its operations and logistics. Your business has survived up to this point thanks to your ability to adapt and survive. Just think of this as the next evolution in the story of your business.