From June 10-12, B2B Connect will be in San Diego, and Perficient will be hosting a workshop entitled “How to Prioritize Your Direct-to-Consumer Capabilities: What Should I Do Now vs. Next?”
This workshop will discuss how the direct-to-consumer (D2C) business model continues to gain momentum, with new brands and established players continually entering the market; how this trend presents more traditional companies with opportunities to harness the expanding online traffic and drive growth by raising awareness and expanding distribution through D2C channels; and how success hinges on delivering an online experience that meets or exceeds the high expectations of modern consumers.
If you want to attend the show and our workshop, register at the B2B Connect site.
Benefits of Going D2C
Legacy brands selling through traditional retail partners face stiff competition from D2C upstarts leveraging digital channels to build direct consumer relationships – think Dollar Shave Club, Warby Parker, and Casper mattresses. These brands saw an opportunity to provide better customer experiences while operating with lower overhead costs.
By circumventing physical retail and wholesale markups, D2C businesses can offer quality products at reduced prices while investing more in customer acquisition, engagement, and service. The convenience of simple online shopping combined with a strong brand identity creates powerful loyalty.
Bypassing retailers gives brands more benefits:
- Full control over customer data – Businesses act on deeper insights and leverage existing partnerships in new ways while also experimenting with new partners and product categories.
- Stronger Customer Relationships – Brands will now have full control of their perception, be able to expand into new markets, acquire new customers, and build new revenue streams.
- Develop Organizational Agility – Organizations can now eliminate intermediary overhead costs, improve velocity and speed to market, make processes more efficient, and gain a better understanding and transparency in their order management and supply chain process.
How to Go D2C Using Now/New/Next
Now the question is “How can our brand do that?”
Our Now/New/Next framework (N3) can help. First let’s define the three areas:
- Now: These are basic and expected activities that at least 70% of comparable brands are doing.
- New: These are more emergent activities that 20% of comparable brands are doing.
- Next: These activities have an unproven ROI and provide first-to-market advantages. Only 10% of those comparable companies are doing these.
N3 is a handy tool that lets companies quickly compare their customer experience against others and decide what to prioritize. It allows them to evaluate the ways customers interact with their products or services (website, mobile app, in-store shopping experience, etc.)
With our help, brands can use N3 to see how their customer experience stacks up against what consumers have come to expect based on their experiences with other companies and competitors. It provides perspective on where you’re keeping up with or perhaps falling behind and inspires ideas for customer experience improvements through analysis of other brands.
Overall, N3 gives companies a structured way to assess their current customer experience compared to raised expectations, get new innovative ideas from other sectors, and determine the most impactful areas to zero in on enhancing.
For any questions, please contact us and one of our experts will be happy to discuss this opportunity with you.
