4 min
NEWS
Traditional Market Leaders Can Learn A Thing Or Two From D2C Brands
- Direct-to-consumer brands are effectively disrupting the marketplace and capturing significant market share. Specifically, a study found that D2C’s have captured 20%, 15%, and 12% of the mattress, shoes, and razor markets respectively.
- D2C brands resonate with consumers due to their ability to exploit the available margins and their customer-centric brand model. D2Cs model their brand position around customer insights and authenticity. Successful D2C brands directly address and satisfy the unmet needs of modern consumers.
- The popularity of D2C is dramatically increasing YoY, such that “40% of US internet users expect D2C brands to account for at least 40% of their purchases within the next five years.”
- With so much success and a clear ability to capture loyal customers, D2C brands are expanding into a slimmer version of brick-in-mortar stores. The D2C marketing mindset helps brands find product-market fit and achieve undeniable results.
- Why does this matter? All in all, the downfall of retail has been exaggerated. D2C brands are exposing a new approach that works. In order to avoid being the next brick-and-mortar store to go out of business, brands should look to the basic philosophy and advantages that have caused D2C brands to take off.
Google’s Introduction Of Activity Cards To SERP Results
- Google’s added feature is designed to give the user more control and transparency. By allowing users to connect with their past search history, Google hopes that users will understand that SERPs incorporate users’ behavior and not just Googlebot’s interpretation of the relevance and authority of content.
- In a statement from Google:
“Whether it’s meal planning for a new food regimen, researching new stretching routines for post-gym recovery or picking up a new hobby. You might come back to Search to find information on the same topic, hoping to retrace your steps or discover new, related ideas.”
- Another feature of the activity cards is that users can save searches to collections and ultimately organize the searches into a pinboard. A downside to this is that it can make it difficult for newer sites to penetrate certain searches if a large amount of well-clicked links already exist for the search.
- Lastly, the biggest complaint digital marketers have is that activity cards appear at the top of the SERP, above organic and sponsored listings.
TRENDS
The Benefits Of A Cashless Economy
- In the last two decades, we have experienced an evolution of mobile payments. Moving from PayPal (1998) to Bitcoin (2008) to Google Wallet (2011) to Apple Pay (2014), there is a clear advancement in low friction payment opportunities.
- Currently, Apple Pay is becoming pervasive and companies that are utilizing it are reaping the benefits. Apple Pay embraces simplicity, provides security, and is a relatively easy integration.
- Notable benefits from companies that have implemented Apple Pay:
- “In the time since we implemented Apple Pay, we have seen a 10-20% increase in sales on mobile devices.”
- “It has helped us increase our mobile conversion by more than 20% and our desktop by 15%.”
- “Checkout process incredibly easy … fewer bounces in the cart”
- Although cashless economy often is perceived as synonymous with Apple Pay, let’s not forget about 1-click buying. Amazon patented this idea back in 1999, but after the patent expired on September 11, 2017, companies have successfully developed their own versions of 1-click buying.
- Why does this matter? One of the biggest trends over the last few years is the increasing popularity of mobile. Apple Pay and 1-click buying are just a few examples of how companies are responding to this change and working towards enhancing the user experience. Cashless forms of payment are the future of Ecommerce, and companies should take advantage of this seamless technology.
