If you want to maximise the performance of your online store, it’s important to select the right eCommerce model.
The D2C eCommerce model in particular is growing in popularity — and for good reason.
When done right it can be leveraged to help your business achieve success.
The likes of Gymshark and Glossier are perhaps the best examples of profitable D2C models.
Even Heinz and PepsiCo have converted from their long-established, traditional methods to a D2C strategy as a way of opening communication with their customers. 1
What is D2C eCommerce?
D2C (direct-to-customer) refers to the model in which businesses sell their products directly to their customers, without the involvement of a third party.
With a D2C eCommerce platform, you have end-to-end control of your business— from product creation and marketing to order fulfilment.
Don’t be daunted by this. The growth and improved availability of technology has unlocked this business model for online stores of all sizes.
As a result, the benefits of D2C are also easily accessible:
- Affordability: Cutting out the middleman allows retailers to sell their products at a more competitive price.
- Higher margins: No marketplace fees means all profits made from sales belong to you.
- Access to customer data: By directly communicating with customers and collecting their data, you are able to optimise your website to meet their needs.
- Effective stock control: Managing your own stock prevents overselling and disappointing your customers.
- Improved conversions: Getting to know your customers means you can tailor your messaging and recommendations to increase the likelihood of a purchase.
- Increased brand loyalty: Closer involvement with your customers builds a bond that will keep them returning.
- Customer satisfaction: In D2C, brands can offer a personalised and consistent customer experience.
Many of these benefits revolve around your customers and their interactions with you. As with most eCommerce decisions, your customers should be at the forefront of your mind. After all, improving customer engagement with your brand can help drive conversions and enhance customer loyalty.
Why is D2C key to customer engagement?
Customer engagement refers to the interactions a customer chooses to have with your brand throughout their lifecycle.
By optimising these touchpoints, you develop a simple retailer-consumer relationship into a long-term bond.
A bond which results in 23% higher revenue than average per highly engaged customer. 2
So, how can a D2C business model help keep your customers engaged?
1. Personalise the customer journey
Customers are exercising their right to dictate what they want from eCommerce sites, and a high priority for today's consumers is personalised experiences.
In fact, it has become a necessity that shoppers are actively seeking out, driven by the hyper-personalised feeds billions of social media users are scrolling through daily.
Luckily, D2C companies can fulfil this need with ease.
Complete control over the functionalities of your site is helpful when it comes to the instant implementation of solutions and strategies.
This may include adopting tools such as AI-powered Recommendations that inspire conversions and improve shopper satisfaction.
Dynamic recommendations guide visitors through the sales funnel with the personalised experience they expect.
Truly tailoring recommendations based on visitor behaviour inspires purchases while building a meaningful connection that leads to customer loyalty.
As you are selling direct to consumers, you can further your gain by upselling your own products in your relevant product suggestions.
Considerations:
Products may be lost amongst the myriad of brands available on marketplace platforms.
Due to this, you may not have control over the brands associated with or displayed alongside your store.
Instead, sell to your consumer D2C to have full control over the representation of your products via Search and Recommendations.
Related: eCommerce Personalisation: What It Is and How It Engaged Customers
2. Leverage data to increase sales
The proper use of the wealth of eCommerce customer data can be a strong advantage for both D2C brands and customers.
Removing third-party marketplaces from the equation gives you control over the collection and use of your customers' data.
The value in this presents itself through increased customer engagement and an improved conversion rate.
D2C businesses can thrive by making data-driven decisions that allow you to:
- Act on trends: Ensure the right products are displayed on-site at the right time, capitalising on trends.
- Track product performance: Identify your highest and lowest-performing products in order to devise marketing strategies appropriately.
- Optimise pain points: Tracking on-site behaviour allows you to see where conversions are being lost and react swiftly.
- Understand your customers: Data condenses all you need to know about customer behaviour and their relationships with your brand into digestible insights. Insights that help personalise your site to consumer needs.
Customer data has a firm place in the decision-making process for all aspects of your business.
When using a D2C model, be sure to use seamless data collection and analysis to your advantage.
Pro tip: Incentivise the collection of data by offering discounts in return for customers’ email addresses with Salesfire Overlays. This will prove to be vital information when it comes to future communication and encouraging loyalty.
3. Facilitate an omnichannel experience
The customer experience goes beyond the time spent on-site. In fact, it spans multiple channels, from product discovery on social media to post-purchase email sequences.
With a D2C model, you have the opportunity to create an engaging and consistent cross-channel experience by having full control over the tools, messaging and features.
Many customers now discover the products they want to buy on social media platforms, so replicating that visual search experience on your site creates an effortless path to purchase.
The addition of Visually Similar Search seamlessly optimises your site to accommodate your customers' omnichannel experience.
Accelerate the product discovery experience by allowing customers to upload inspiration they’ve collected from other platforms and connect them with relevant products.
Empowering visitors in this way encourages customers to explore the site and make successful purchases, converting them into loyal customers.
Pro tip: Enhance your entire site search experience with the full version of Salesfire Search to create an effortless search experience that delivers customers directly to your checkout.
4. Continue to build a relationship post-purchase
All eCommerce businesses hope that customers will love their service enough to return time and time again.
Having control of the post-purchase experience and providing tailored support is important to help customers feel valued after they’ve placed an order.
But relying on the automated responses of marketplaces takes control away from eCommerce businesses and causes customers to drop off.
An effective way D2C channels are able to provide a personalised post-purchase experience is by perfecting their customer service to resolve queries with ease and speed.
Go that step further to retain customers by providing discounts in personalised emails to combat post-purchase regret.
Or provide insight and tips into products they have bought based on their purchase history.
Consider entering the D2C market to ensure your personalisation efforts remain a few steps ahead of your competitors, keeping your customers engaged and ready to purchase again.
Related: How to Use the Post-Purchase Experience to Retain Customers
Support your D2C model and customer engagement efforts with Salesfire
The D2C model can offer retail sites success through increased conversions and loyalty by providing an elevated on-site experience.
Give your business the chance to stand out in a busy eCommerce environment by optimising your D2C site with Salesfire solutions.
The ease of implementation allows you to create a seamless and engaging customer experience in an instant.
Want to get the most out of your D2C eCommerce business? Get in touch with an expert at [email protected], or book a free 15-minute consultation of our CRO suite.
1 The rise of Direct-to-Consumer | Medium
2 Why D2C Startups Need To Focus On Customer Engagement For Growth | Inc 42
