8 Experts decode D2C growth for the 2022 festive season

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Festive Season Playbook for D2C Brands

The D2C model has gained popularity in India over the past several years as a result of the expansion of e-commerce, the development of digital infrastructure, the growth of the millennial generation, an increase in consumer tech knowledge, and the proliferation of D2C entrepreneurs and their varied products. In short, the pandemic-induced faster digitalization and a change in consumer buying behaviour will lead to a boom in the direct-to-consumer industry during the next few years. With one of the most significant market opportunities awaiting Indian D2C brands during this festive season, we tried to dive deep into tried-and-true tactics offered by business insiders for D2C firms to use over the holiday season to achieve successful outcomes.

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Here are some festive campaigns that testify the evolution of the D2C e-commerce segment this year:

Owing to how relevant growth strategies are for D2C brands in the biggest festive season post-pandemic in India, we brought 8 experts from the growing D2C ecosystem - popular brands, one of India’s largest marketplace along with India's leading capital provider for the festive edition of The Breakfast Klub.

Top Learnings from the chat

Vijay: “Brands should piggyback on the consumer engagement and marketing activities of marketplaces for higher visibility and brand recall among the target audience.”

Marketplaces, complementary products, payment gateways/banks, delivery partners, etc. can be meaningful partnerships to foolproof your distribution strategy during this season. New brands should experiment fiercely for data-driven insights.

Anish: “Festive season is the time when we give back to our customers.”

Gratify your existing regular consumers’ overspending on new customer acquisition because repeat sales historically account for a larger proportion of D2C sales annually.

Vimal: “Brands may be competing with other brands but the most critical competition to beat would be local players that already have a relationship with the neighbourhood audience.”

Omnichannel distribution channels can be a game changer in this dynamic market as consumers have access to numerous brands across a variety of platforms so not being present on specific platforms can be a huge opportunity cost.

Anurakt: “As a capital platform, we see this trend repeatedly that brands that utilise a combination of equity and debt capital provide them with higher and better outputs which are a lot more optimised.”

Brands should insulate their liquidity by raising flexible capital during this season, where sales are hinging on discounts, which is a cost for D2C brands at the end of the day. Flexible debt options like supply chain financing, revenue-based financing, and working capital financing can come in handy for brands with consistent cash flows but longer credit cycles.

Sagarika: “While brands bring products to the table, platforms are supposed to bring security & credibility of the purchase experience for consumers.”

D2C brands selling through e-commerce or quick commerce platforms should access data points like past festive season search & purchase trends, projections for shipping timelines & demand surges, and user behaviour on the platforms they sell through, for more targeted outreach.

Vaibhav: “Marketplaces in India are doing an aggressive job at creating demand & it is up to consumer brands to capitalise on this demand.”

Projecting the proper demand is critical for consumer brands during the festive season which includes a multi-week and multi-month strategy that brands have to undertake to generate more revenue.

Rhea: “Sampling can be a great way for customer acquisition during the festive season because new customers want to experience new products a little before the season.”

Experimenting with your channel partners and e-commerce platforms can be key for new brands looking to build a category or community of users.

If any of these tips seemed helpful, our report is going to be a goldmine for you. Klub has curated 30+ growth strategies for India’s top D2C brands looking to win the market this festive season. Download the report here: Festive Season Playbook for D2C Brands