From fashion to food, behind the scenes of India's direct-to-consumer rush

 Over 600 brands born on the internet are selling to customers directly in India. It is now called the direct-to-commerce rush. Let us understand how this trend is shaping up in the Indian e-commerce

With customers increasingly becoming more conscious about their preferences, they are demanding the same from their brands too. Gone are the days when you had to settle for a face wash or body scrub from one of the few available brands.
Today, we have mCaffeine, a personal care direct-to-consumer, or D2C, a brand that makes caffeine-based products, which it claims are vegan and hence more natural than the existing products in the market. Similarly, men's grooming has evolved as a niche market in itself. So we have Bombay Shaving Company offering solutions to men's grooming needs, such as shaving foams and razors, hair styling wax, and even charcoal facial kits. There are other brands like Ustraa and Beardo in the same segment which are also making a deep cut.
So, let us look at the difference between D2C and traditional retailers.
A traditional retailer would manufacture the product, sell it to a wholesaler, who would then have to rope in a distributor, and finally get their products at a retail store from where the consumer would buy it.
HOW D2C PLAYERS WORK
Make, market, sell and ship their products themselves, without middlemen
Sell their products through their websites
Use social media platforms to maintain consumer connect
But D2C brands cut out the middleman. They manufacture their products, advertise them on the internet, and deliver them to consumers directly. By skipping this traditional fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sales route, D2C companies say they're able to offer better prices to customers while earning higher margins at the same time.
It is also about striking the right connection.