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Digitally native brands look for a new D2C playbook: Brands are embracing wholesale, physical retail, acquisitions, and even selling on Amazon to regain momentum and achieve profitability.

The news: Amazon鈥檚 direct-to-consumer (D2C) telehealth business expanded its services to include upfront, fixed pricing for the treatment of five conditions鈥攕kin care, hair loss, erectile dysfunction (ED), eyelash growth, and motion sickness. Why it matters: The new offering places Amazon One Medical Pay-per-visit in direct competition with D2C healthcare companies such as Hims & Hers and Ro.

How we got here: BetterHelp advertises mainly on digital platforms, and is one of the largest spenders on podcast advertising, to drive its direct-to-consumer telemental health. It has partnered with mainstream celebrities and influencers like Ariana Grande, Venus Williams and Tom Brady in the past, and recently began women's college and professional athletes鈥� mental health promotions.

Cosmetics and beauty make up a nearly $100 billion industry in the US, and next year more than one-fifth of those sales will come from ecommerce, according to our forecasts. In order to win over beauty shoppers, and Gen Z ones in particular, brands need to pay close attention to where their digital ad dollars go. Here are five charts to help you out.

However, owning a streaming service doesn鈥檛 mean a deal is impossible: TF1 has its own free, direct-to-consumer offering with 35 million viewers, but the canyon between its use and Netflix鈥檚 is a clear indication of where viewers are.

For a brand like Kettle & Fire, which began as direct-to-consumer before expanding into retail, the transition to retail media required developing frameworks for channel prioritization and budget allocation. Niccol貌 Gloazzo, senior director of media and omnichannel at Kettle & Fire, recommends starting at the bottom of the funnel first.

Starting July 1, WeightWatchers members can have their Wegovy prescriptions fulfilled and delivered by Novo鈥檚 D2C pharmacy, NovoCare. Novo is also slashing the cash-pay price of Wegovy to $299 for new patients between July 1 and July 31. After the first month, the price will go back up to $499 per month.

Our take: Providers that don鈥檛 deliver a convenient 鈥渇ront door鈥� digital experience are at risk of losing patients to customer-obsessed D2C healthcare companies or other competitors. Clinic staff should gauge patients鈥� comfort level with using specific online tools at the first visit.

Health AI could have a similar engagement boost with Amazon鈥檚 health products and services as Amazon鈥檚 retail shopping assistant Rufus, which answered 274 million daily questions in October, per eComtent.

These formats offer interactivity that could work well with ecommerce, especially if combined with Axon鈥檚 consumer insights. These insights also power AppLovin鈥檚 new web ad offering. The ecommerce opportunity could be large. D2C advertisers have been early testers, but retailers are also interested in exploring the RTB app world, and not just for their own ads.

The three telehealth companies will integrate with Novo鈥檚 new D2C online pharmacy, NovoCare, to complete medication orders. Zooming in: Novo鈥檚 tie-up with Hims is the most surprising piece of this news considering their public feud over Hims selling compounded semaglutide (Wegovy).

颁丑颈苍补鈥檚 ecommerce disruptors will get disrupted. Shein, Temu, and TikTok Shop face a reckoning following breakneck worldwide expansion. The crop of mobile-first ecommerce players with roots in China have taken off with consumers around the world.

A ban on D2C pharmaceutical ads could become a reality during President Trump鈥檚 second term. It would be well received by the public: Adults are more than twice as likely to support (59%) a ban on prescription drug TV ads as they are to oppose one (25%), per a December 2024 Axios-Ipsos poll.

Direct-to-consumer ARPU: $11.99 for US and Canada; $4.05 for other markets. Global D2C ARPU for the quarter increased by 1% YoY to $7.84 but was lower than last quarter鈥檚 $8.00. Overall financials: Total revenues declined 4% to $9.62 billion as theatrical revenues plunged 40%, and adjusted EBITDA for Warner Bros. Discovery鈥檚 entire business dropped 19% to $2.41 billion.

The initiative includes a Nike shop-in-shop concept, reflecting Nike's ongoing pivot away from its direct-to-consumer push of recent years. The rotating concept is designed to drive repeat visits as featured brands change. "It's not just a clever name, it is going to rotate," said our analyst Zak Stambor. "Interesting to see them go with Nike first.

As acquisition costs continue to rise, it鈥檚 crucial for D2C brands to double down on the value provided to customers. For outdoor lifestyle company Solo Brands, this meant putting its loyal fan base first by leaning into customer experience, communication, and its value proposition to keep customers engaged and coming back for more.

US consumers are increasingly turning to Walmart.com, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok to start their online shopping searches, according to Jungle Scout. Amazon, search engines, and Facebook have lost share since Q1 2022.

Two Big Pharma companies, Eli Lilly and Pfizer, rolled out direct-to-consumer (D2C) websites earlier this year in which patients connect with telehealth providers who can prescribe the manufacturer鈥檚 drugs. The benefits for each side:. For the drugmaker: Eliminating some of the middlemen in the pharmaceutical supply chain allows pharma companies to get their products to patients faster.

On Running is firing on all cylinders: The performance footwear company grew D2C and wholesale revenues鈥攁s well as market share鈥攊n Q2.

Meanwhile, several other retailers are also making investments to grow their direct-to-consumer ecommerce grocery (and more) businesses. For example, both Target and Costco are testing supersized stores that dedicate large spaces for ecommerce fulfillment. The big takeaway: Instacart has two key strengths: its exclusive agreements with grocers and its high-margin advertising business.

By the numbers: The significant brand heat On is generating is translating into higher D2C and full-price sales, which explains its sizable profit margins. D2C sales rose 43.4% YoY to account for 48.8% of Q4 net sales, another company record, bolstered by On鈥檚 growing store footprint.

Connected TV (CTV)鈥檚 digital DNA and ability to target specific audiences has catapulted its popularity among advertisers. Learn why a wide variety of advertisers, including direct-to-consumer brands, are using CTV ads to reach streaming viewers and drive measurable results.

Digital D2C disruptors, like Peloton and Casper, will bring in about $100 billion less in US ecommerce sales than the $134.55 billion of their established counterparts this year, according to our forecast.