Towards D2C, Winking at B2B E-commerce

Grocery and D2C: a winning combination?

The period we are leaving behind has implied the start, also in the grocery industry, of a phenomenon already known in Fashion as D2C (Direct to Consumer).

Production companies, lacking their traditional sales channels, have started to develop their own distribution channels to directly approach final consumers.

Data regarding this phenomenon arrive from the USA where, according to 1010Data, growing categories are vitamin supplements, petcare/petfood and cleaning products.

One of the more evident advantages of D2C is the creation of a direct relationship with customers, who can be contacted via so many tools, for example social media, therefore collecting precious information on preferences and purchase behaviour. Other important aspects are greater control of products entering markets and of the brand’s reputation, quicker times for launching products and bigger openness towards onmichannels.

Which e-commerce solution is more effective to be adopted when our intention is to approach consumers directly?

Managing B2B and D2C in synergy

Starting from a B2B e-commerce solution rather than a platform designed for B2C undoubtedly presents advantages, above all when we must manage B2B and D2C together:

• it is an application designed to manage customers clusters with product assortments, price dynamics, customized promotion logics (also for the moment when the order is placed), delivery date and address, even the specific logistic platform from which the goods are leaving;
• it is a business and sales model non strictly connected to the number of transactions, but which can be managed according to the product complexity and customization requested by sector/customer;
• it is born from the experience of the “fresh”/food distribution market, which requires a capacity to manage (also regarding payments) products that may vary weight or have close expiry dates with various logics (cut-off timetable, calcutation of possible delivery days, trolley time-out);
• it allows managing the click&collect in the store mode, too (point of sale assortment, delivery timetable slot with exceptional management according to calendar, delivery/shipment cost, diverse for timetable slot)

The start of the D2C phenomenon is a trend we have witnessed in the past months also in our customers: in some cases, the interest is transforming from simple experimentation, born from the circumstances, into a new course, totally integrated in their sales strategy.