India’s D2C Ecommerce Set To Change Consumer Buying Pattern: Experts

With the evolution of technology, there has been a drastic change in consumer buying patterns with many switching to online platforms, creating an explosive Direct-to-consumer (D2C) ecommerce.

D2C is a form of ecommerce that is aimed directly at buyers and dissolves the traditional selling mediums like distributors, wholesalers, or retailers. Needless to say, D2C is a widely adopted model these days and to discuss this unplugged platform experts came together at the BW Disrupt Founders Forum 2023 on Tuesday.

Raul Rai, Co-founder of Nicobar said, technology is the enabler for D2C providing an omnichannel experience to consumers.” He shared that today one-third of his company’s revenue comes from online sales.

On similar lines, Akash Agarwal, Co-founder of ZOFF Food said ecommerce helped to kickstart his business. 

The Pandemic Push

Adding on Agarwal stressed the grocery model was not booming on the ecommerce platform before Covid and the critical period boosted their business.

He said, “We started in 2018 with general trade but the lockdown helped us survive and today we are among the top five online grocery sellers.”

Agarwal’s remark underlined that Covid was a period when a majority of consumers started trusting online platforms for grocery purchases.

Himanshu Adlakha, Co-founder of Winston also affirmed that his brand evolved during the pandemic. He said, “Being in a beauty tech market people approached us during lockdowns when access to luxury salons was restricted.” We made a healthy business, he asserted.

The Tech Aid

Vikas Bagaria, Founder of Pee Safe said D2C is aided mainly due to technology, as it helps to target customers from diverse regions.

Bagaria said today we have a consumer base in northern India, a possible reach due to technology. He underlined that their maximum sale is from the northern states only.

Punit Gupta, Founder and CEO, Clensta said the technology not only helps to reach diverse customer groups but also supports in pitching the right buyer. 

Gupta stressed his company was able to track the repetitive buyers just by going through their purchase history. Experts concluded by emphasising D2C ecommerce as the right business model for any brand.