Direct to Consumer (DTC):

In marketing, this is the strategy where a company sells their products directly to their customers without using third party vendors. Today, this is a term frequently used to describe certain eCommerce stores.

Alphabet Soup

The direct to consumer business model allows the manufacturers to sell their products directly to consumers from their own web store. This model gets rid of the retail distributors that would usually distribute the products.

Below are some examples of successful direct to consumer businesses:

  • Bark Box
  • Casper
  • Dollar Shave Club
  • Glossier
  • Peloton
  • Shein

Using this model has many benefits for both the seller and the buyer. For example, the seller has a higher control over their margins. They are also able to personalize their product range more and are even able to maximize their profit by cutting out a distribution vendor.

The direct to consumer model has a number of challenges for the sellers, too, though. First, the seller is responsible for all aspects of the shipments, which includes monitoring the orders and packaging the products. They also lose the support of large resellers, so they have to work harder to stand out and raise their brand awareness.

Every business model comes with ups and downs. It’s up to each individual business to decide which strategy works best for them.

Soup Can

Ready for seconds?

Download Marketing Resources

Download a resource bundle including marketing templates, ebooks, guides, and more. Plus, subscribe to receive updates about new blog content and other resources from CoSchedule.

Chef's Hat

Meet The Chef

About CoSchedule

CoSchedule is an industry-leading marketing management and editorial calendar platform. It's mission control for your entire marketing team to help you organize every project in one place.