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On today's podcast episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss what established brands have to gain by going D2C, the ways digitally native brands sell in brick-and-mortar stores, and how brands are maintaining a digitally native 鈥渋dentity鈥� for marketing purposes while also going wholesale. Then, for "Pop-Up Rankings," we rank the the digital natives that are primed for success and the ones that need to up their game. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts vice president of content Suzy Davidkhanian and president of SageBerry Consulting and author of "Remarkable Retail" Steve Dennis.

The bank wanted to introduce credit cards for its retail customers but gave up on the idea after shifting its strategy to weather economic headwinds.

Brands can also seek to collaborate more closely with retailers on exclusive, lower-priced products and enhance customer engagement through direct-to-consumer (D2C) channels and value-oriented subscription offerings. Innovation is expanding private label鈥檚 share of shopping baskets. Retailers look to cash in on white space opportunities.

After boosting the D2C model over the last decade, digitally native vertical brands (DNVBs) face a slowing market, with sales growth declining every year through the end of our forecast period in 2028. That means acquiring customers and revenue can鈥檛 solely be done through online channels such as social media, as DNVBs have relied on in the past. Here are three ways DNVBs can continue the momentum of their digital buzz.

Established brands are beating digital natives at their own D2C game. As marketplace and wholesale opportunities obfuscate what it means to sell D2C, brands need to keep up with both their retail and marketing playbooks鈥攐r risk falling behind.

For August, a digitally native direct-to-consumer brand of period care products, TikTok gives more than it takes down. For example, in January 2020, its launch video was immediately removed by the platform. 鈥淚 still get videos taken down for what the app believes is graphic content,鈥� said August co-founder Nadya Okamoto. Still, Okamoto credits TikTok for helping her cultivate a community of nearly 4.5 million followers across her personal and brand TikTok accounts, as well as allowing her to open a dialogue for authentic marketing.

Hims & Hers defies digital health market odds: The D2C healthcare company grew revenues and membership鈥攁nd unlike competitors, it鈥檚 increasing its marketing and advertising spend.

Digitally native vertical brands (DNVBs) have a long way to go to catch up to established brands. While established brands will make up $134.55 billion in D2C ecommerce sales in 2023, digitally native brands will make up just $34.84 billion, according to our March 2023 forecast.

Nike鈥檚 close connections to sports and sneaker culture keep it on the top of Gen Z鈥檚 list of favorite brands while its cutting-edge sneaker technology makes the brand a must-have for runners. But Nike must use a mix of D2C and wholesale commerce if it wants to defend its title from the competition.

Whether you鈥檙e an established brand like Wendy鈥檚 or a young D2C building an audience, understanding the right mix between organic and paid social is key, especially as the line between the two blurs. 鈥淚 think paid is planned paid, and organic has opportunistic pay that could go along with it,鈥� said Jimmy Bennett, vice president and global head of brand engagements and partnerships at Wendy鈥檚.

Embracing mobile gives consumers access to a branded experience both online and in-store, while in-store technologies bring the digital world into the physical. To cater to shoppers no matter where or how they shop, brands should also make sure they鈥檙e balancing in-store and online rewards as well as D2C and wholesale commerce.

Thursday Night Football shows viewership metrics don鈥檛 say it all: Amazon鈥檚 Black Friday audience was far lower than expected, but DTC opportunities drove brand excitement.

Tapestry brings its D2C and wholesale teams together to create a consistent brand experience across channels, while Hollister enables teens to fill their carts and send to a parent for purchase. Instacart and eBay find ways to offer customers more value.

鈥淐onsumer acquisition costs have gone up. Data is harder and harder to access. It鈥檚 trickier to figure out how to target our consumer in the right way.鈥� That鈥檚 Kendra Scott鈥檚 CMO Michelle Peterson, summarizing the state of marketing right now. The jeweler has found success both online and in-store by leveraging its D2C roots, pushing a viral TikTok presence, and working with the right influencers.

Digitally native D2C brands embrace traditional retail strategies: More are inking partnerships with retailers like Amazon and Walmart to expand their reaches and offset soaring acquisition costs.

We typically do the most Chase volume with our D2C business units. I think what's interesting is when you look at D2C, we're really, really proud that our digital business in total is going to make up almost 50% of the total this year. Suzy Davidkhanian (05:35):. Wow. Sara Lebow (05:35):. Wow. Kristen D鈥橝rcy (05:35):.

Amazon Clinic, a D2C telehealth venture, is now called Amazon One Medical Pay-per-visit. The entity recently pushed further into the D2C healthcare market to include upfront, fixed pricing for the treatment of five conditions鈥攕kin care, hair loss, erectile dysfunction, eyelash growth, and motion sickness.

The news: Eli Lilly joined forces with direct-to-consumer (D2C) telehealth company Ro to offer single-dose vials of its GLP-1 Zepbound to Ro patients with obesity. Previously, this reduced price form of the medication was only available on the drugmaker鈥檚 D2C website for its LillyDirect self-pay pharmacy (meaning insurance isn鈥檛 accepted).

I think they reserve those for their D2C channels, and for their fans. Zak Stambor (09:54):. And they have so many products that it's pretty easy for them to segment, "We sell these things to this retailer and we save these things for our own stores.". Sara Lebow (10:05):. Yeah, those things being specific IP.