The market where we buy and sell products has transformed from its traditional means of shoppers walking into a store and buying goods. Overall, the retail landscape has been unpredictable and changed over the last few decades. From the threat of big chains to recent technological advancements and the rise of eCommerce sites, retailers have adapted to various trends and innovations to captivate consumers. Direct-to-Consumer or D2C is one of those business models that has gained wide popularity among many consumer goods manufacturers in the last decade.

Connecting with customers is the need of the hour
Customers are the key driver of sales, so brands need to strengthen their connections with customers. It is significant to note how customers react to your brand. Reaching out to the customers only when you need to increase sales is not the best way of communication. Finding multiple ways through multiple platforms and touchpoints and showing the customers that you care is vital for business growth. To be a customer-centric brand, one must stay connected to its consumers through strategic efforts.
Connected consumers have the potential to become repeat customers, and these customers are important for a business to grow. Also, safeguarding an existing customer is less expensive and more profitable than getting a new one. These customers may not need to be persuaded to return; they buy your goods because they want to. If these valuable customers make more purchases, they become advocates for your business. They hold power to drive new sales through positive word-of-mouth recommendations.

Why D2C is widely popular among manufacturers and consumers?
Direct-to-Consumer marketing is an e-commerce strategy where manufacturers have complete control of manufacturing, marketing, and selling their products directly to consumers through digital media. Compared to traditional retail, which depends on distributors and wholesalers, the D2C model takes out the middleman, allowing manufacturers more control over their demand and supply. This business model has disrupted traditional retail because it offers several competitive advantages over traditional retail strategies.
Increased profit margins, valuable customer data, and better customer experience are the benefits that D2C offers to businesses. Meanwhile, consumers prefer D2C brands for impeccable reasons like a seamless shopping experience, a sizeable range of products, better brand engagement, free shipping, and fast delivery. The progressing e-commerce capabilities have only encouraged more choices and better customer services.

Online Store Vs Physical Store Businesses make strategic choices when deciding whether to go for physical stores, online stores, or both. The nature of products, clientele, business location, and company size influence a business's approach.

Benefits of a physical store:

• Customer value suggestions from sales executives when shopping.
• Shoppers can experience better; they can touch and see the product in person, resulting in less confusion when purchasing.
• Expensive products like cars and gold or diamond jewellery are difficult to shop online. Physical stores can sell large and expensive products as well as small, inexpensive products at the same time.
• Physical stores make returning goods simpler and quicker compared to online stores. They also save shipping costs, and customers can take their purchases home right away.

Benefits of an online store:

• Online stores have fewer overhead expenses and higher profit margins than physical stores.
• Online business owners aren't liable for following a mall's operational guidelines or for a sales associate's work environment.
• Online stores get access to an almost unlimited customer base. They can gather substantial, informative data about shoppers' buying habits by reviewing the most-visited sites and most- viewed products.
• Online businesses hold lesser risk in comparison to physical stores. It is much easier and more cost-effective to purchase a website address than to open a physical store. If sales are slow, the business faces less risk because there are no rent or employee wages to pay.

Today, even though e-commerce and digital media have influenced the business practices of retailers of different kinds, both physical and online stores are significant sales drivers, each with distinctive strengths.

Is the need for physical stores getting outdated? Not in the least. Customers still need to try or test products before buying. At the same time, customers also expect and demand flexibility on the retailers' part, who should be present on multiple channels, which includes physical & online stores, plus a great social media presence.

The retail landscape is transforming! The D2C business model has prevailed in the market for over a decade. Since then, innumerable D2C brands have been making their own path in the race of consumer goods category. To be specific, the pandemic gave rise to countless small D2C brands and carved a niche for transformation in the retail sector. Despite the utter need for physical stores, the D2C model has been announced as the evolution in the retail sector.
On the other hand, consumer-friendly technology is forever evolving and more rapidly every day. It is safe to say that the D2C landscape may drastically change by the year 2030. To solve this, businesses must be prepared to move with the times while listening to what, where, and how the consumers wish to buy.