Overview
Before you begin selling products directly to consumers, you need to know why you are doing it. It takes time and money to successfully implement this type of selling. You will waste your time and money if you don’t have a clear goal. Direct-to-consumer selling is used for more than just increasing sales. It can help you identify opportunities for new product development and collect customer data for remarketing purposes, enhance existing marketing campaigns, and build a direct relationship with customers.
Overview
Selling products directly to consumers allows you to collect customer data that will help you deliver personalized experiences and relevant marketing messages that convert.
Overview
Ask yourself the following questions before you start direct-to-consumer selling to ensure you are ready to achieve your goal: Cost considerations for selling products directly to consumers, executive considerations for direct-to-consumer delivery, partner considerations for retailing products directly to consumers, and technical considerations for selling products directly to consumers.
Cost Considerations for Selling Products Directly to Consumers
Discover the differences between different architectures for direct-to-consumer selling, how global expansion can affect total cost of ownership, and the necessary human capital to go direct-to-consumer. #1 Which is more expensive: a local platform or a cloud-based platform? Local platforms require significant upfront investment in initial infrastructure, ongoing hosting and maintenance expenses, and a dedicated IT team for releases and new updates. Over time, variable costs can increase significantly. Cloud platforms often provide more predictable cost structures and offer lower total ownership costs. SaaS platforms include all costs associated with servers, such as compliance with Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards, security, and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs). While you have design and ongoing development costs, reducing recurring costs allows DTC brands to reallocate budgets and human capital away from costly infrastructure and development and toward what truly matters to merchants: strategy, customer interaction, social impact, and data-driven marketing. #2 Will I need to hire new people? If you have an existing IT team with the bandwidth, you can handle direct-to-consumer sales in-house. Otherwise, you can partner with a design and development agency that has experience with the platform you’ve chosen. Large consumer goods manufacturers may need to work with integration hubs to connect direct-to-consumer sales with their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. You will also need to know if you have in-house staff to manage the direct-to-consumer site including marketing, sales, and customer service. #3 What is the fastest and most cost-effective way to scale our direct-to-consumer strategy globally? First, identify an e-commerce platform with a global dual Content Delivery Network for speed, flexibility, and functionality in any area you expand globally. Next, ensure that your platform allows you to replicate and launch expansion stores in the countries or regions you are targeting. You will
Source: https://www.shopify.com/au/enterprise/30-questions-before-selling-direct-to-consumer
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