Following the pandemic, the phrase ‘omnichannel’ has emerged as a new catchphrase. Brands are aggressively turning toward omnichannel commerce to provide customers with absolute control over their purchasing experiences. Aside from giving benefits to customers, this technique enables firms to refill their stockpiles more intelligently and optimize their inventory levels. But does omnichannel sound right for direct-to-consumer brands? Let's get into the specifics.
 
Current Scenario

The direct-to-consumer (D2C) sector in India is predicted to reach $300 billion by 2030, making it the country's retail future. The Indian market is home to more than 50K digital-first businesses that satisfy a diverse range of requirements, from nutritious meals and supplies to chemical-free home hygiene and energy-efficient devices to locally designed and produced fashion. D2C is without a doubt the most intriguing e-commerce sub-segment in terms of development prospects. They are exploiting the next billion internet-savvy buyers by reinventing how companies communicate with customers through online, nimble enterprises (no middlemen).
 
What is the D2C Model?

D2C (direct-to-consumer) business strategies allow businesses to sell and distribute directly to customers. As a result of the lack of intermediaries, businesses may offer better pricing, culminating in more profits. Sustaining customers today is difficult since customers want to communicate with their brands across all platforms; this is where omnichannel marketing comes in useful in interacting with them throughout many platforms.
 
Why an Omnichannel Approach?

An omnichannel approach centers its strategy on the consumer rather than organizational divisions. A D2C brand that implements this recognizes that its consumers may interact with it in numerous ways across multiple platforms (website, mobile, social media, etc.) at the same time. Also, to compete in the cutthroat retail market, retailers must develop omnichannel retail tactics that go beyond simply possessing an online or store-based footprint. Customers should have a seamless and unified purchasing experience if there is a powerful physical store presence and numerous online channels (e.g., social media and text messaging) as well as diverse platforms (e.g., mobile and desktop). Furthermore, they should make use of the most recent digital interfaces (such as smart shelves or kiosks). 

Retailers may boost sales by supplementing their omnichannel D2C strategy with the newest digital touchpoints and providing information at the correct time and place. In general, the direct-to-consumer (D2C) business is highly competitive, continually developing, and exposed to a range of technological and non-technological challenges.

The D2C Advantage is Being Eroded by Rising Costs; Would Omnichannel Support?

There is no denying that India's renewed interest in direct-to-consumer companies is admirable; according to a Diffusion survey, more than 80 percent of buyers intend to buy from them by 2023. However, when normalcy gradually returns in post-Covid times, small enterprises are faced with the same issues they had before the pandemic compelling them to adopt more inventive, asset-light techniques.

With wealthy heritage firms emerging into the fray and people returning to offline shopping, the battle has heated up. Client acquisition costs (CAC) have skyrocketed, and customer retention is as difficult as ever, with too many choices to choose from. Add to it the escalating expenses of procurement, production, and marketing, and it's evident that another strategic shift is in order.

To compete with traditional retailers, D2C companies must embrace an omnichannel approach and market through third-party digital marketplaces and brick-and-mortar retail storefronts to boost brand awareness, engage consumers, and drive revenue.

Brands with D2C Experiences can Benefit from these Moves Through Omnichannel
 
An Easy-to-Use Shopping Experience - Using real-time data analytics, omnichannel automation calculates, observes, and manages the entire customer journey, so the brand can offer a seamless shopping experience to customers. To provide a seamless shopping experience, it is crucial to provide a post-purchase process after the product has been delivered to the customer. By having your brand available omnichannel, services like returns and exchanges of products become seamless, and your customers get the best post-purchase experience.
 
A Higher ROI with Cost-Effectiveness - Through D2C brands' elimination of intermediaries like distributors and retailers, connecting, engaging, and selling become easier. In this way, brands can offer their customers the best prices by reducing the expense of intermediaries. Because your business is on social media and other digital social platforms, you can optimize your marketing costs and develop bigger marketing efforts with less money lost. Through various channels, your customers can interact with you, which ultimately improves customer engagement and leads to repeat business.
 
Increased Brand Awareness - The manufacturer does not have control over the marketing and sales activities in traditional business models. It is the D2C brands that have full control over the marketing strategies, and it is they who create brand awareness and build them. From production to distribution, when a brand has all its data in one place, it can monitor how its customers receive each proposed strategy.

For instance, the Covid-19 pandemic altered the entire landscape of the gifting sector, and with everything moving digital, TheYaYaCafe, a lifestyle brand in the home furnishing and gifting space reaped significant growth by coming online. To provide consumers with a more visually appealing product while maintaining the highest level of quality and ease of use, the company is always exploring new product ideas and modernizing existing operations. Customers of the company may also utilize the platform to get an exclusive preview and launch deals. A digital-first brand, it has major plans for expansion in 2023 with retail stores, which together with its website and marketplace sales will help the brand to maximize its reach. 

Similarly, HUFT (Heads Up For Tales) discovered that there is a dearth of products for pets in India, and what started as a website in 2008 has now grown to 52+ stores and 30+ pet spas.

Adopting the omnichannel approach, HUFT is available across all mediums like retail stores, websites, and apps and uses content widely to reach out to customers effectively.

They started producing content based on the most common pet parent queries and now have in-house production facilities. In addition to sales content, it also provides informational content like ‘How to keep your dog flea-free?’ and ‘Can my dog eat peanuts? In addition, the brand sends out a weekly with crisp pet advice that has an open rate of 40 percent or higher and over 50,000 members. Currently, 60-70 percent of HUFT's D2C traffic is organic, experiencing a bump every time they upload informational material.

Summing Up
 
In general, the D2C sector is a dynamic one that is continually developing and may be exposed to a range of technical and non-technical challenges. Customer shopping patterns have shifted, and competition is stiffer than ever. Digital forces and customer social behaviors are altering the retail landscape, and omnichannel retail is one useful tactic to handle these difficulties.