#71 The Least Boring Weekly Newsletter

March 16, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes

Good Morning readers!🌞 

Hope you have a great week! 🥳

The Natural Products Expo West is showcasing new organic and clean label food innovation🍲, as well as a look at the trends influencing the almost $300 billion industry's future. 😍

New plant-based flavouring technologies, natural preservation ingredients, reduced sugar and salt solutions, and functional beverages for gut microbiota health are among the show's highlights. It has a lot in store for direct to consumer brands

Almund's newsletter will let you in on all kinds of tips for D2C brands and much much more. 

Alright, so let's get right to it! 

This newsletter is going to dive into :

🌏  Roughly 75% of DTC brands bring in under $1M in online sales

👌 Here’s How DTC Brands Are Using Connected Packaging

🙎 BRAND of the week - Upwest

📜 Top reads for this week

👩🏻‍💼 Plenty of jobs awaiting you!

So, scroll down already to THE VERY END & read up on what's yet to come your way!

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WHAT’S COOKING, HUH?

The $100 billion direct-to-consumer (DTC) sector in the United States is gaining in popularity among American consumers.🇺🇸

DTC has taken on a new meaning. According to PipeCandy's analysis, "it no longer signifies simply brands that sell through their own direct internet channel."🍺

Today, small businesses sell on Amazon as well as having their own Shopify store." Big retail-first companies like Nike, Pepsi, and Apple all have their own online DTC presence. 🍻

California has about a quarter of all DTC brands, followed by New York with nearly 15%, Florida with more than 6%, Texas with less than 6%, and New Jersey with approximately 3%. Fashion and clothing account for more than two-thirds of DTC brands🍲 👗 (67.7%), followed by food and beverage (8.1%), arts and entertainment (4.2%), and home and garden (4.2%). (3.8 percent ),

California and New York were among the top regions where DTC brands opened up shop, according to previous data. ( woah) 😍

Seventy-seven percent of DTC brands with online sales of less than $1 million have a physical location. According to the report, 67% of DTC brands that generate more than $500 million in online sales do not have a physical store.

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Times have changed, and with changes in the industry come changes in your brand. Not too long ago, e-com was very much a low-priority selling channel that you’d “figure out later.” Now, two years later, it’s your most important selling channel. 

Big changes come with big expectations, and when it comes to data, this means big challenges as well. More tedious spreadsheets, libraries full of product images and video, and the growing pressure of responsible scaling. How are you supposed to handle all of this? 

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Take advantage of the Next-Gen PIM by Amber Engine and the easy product management that comes along with it! Aggregate all your data together—including photos and videos—and optimize it with built-in data scores, bulk editing, formulas, and more. Check the Next-Gen PIM out for yourself.

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Here’s How DTC Brands Are Using Connected Packaging

Retail is now so much more than just selling, as a brand, and purchasing, as a customer. To make your customer feel satisfied, a cohesive and complete user experience is essential. To do so, many brands are pushing the limits to engage with every customer even when they receive their packages after they shop! How so? Connected Packaging, of course!

The Connected Experience Report (2021) showed that the next trend for DTC brands is connected packaging. Taking retail technology to the next level, they’re building stronger, intimate relationships with their customers, no matter where they are. 

But, what is Connected Packaging?

Connected Packaging is a way brands connect with their customers through the internet and a smartphone, focusing on delivering an experience in the form of product information, engaging UGC campaigns, sneak peek into the AR environment, and more. It works by scanning, pointing, or tapping devices to smart technology integrated with the product’s packaging. It can include, scanning QR codes using a camera, AR animations, NFC chips, and much more. The possibilities of engagement avenues are endless once the connection between your customers’ phone and your platform is established. 

Depending on the kind of technology you tap into, you can navigate the world of smart, intelligent, active, and connected packaging. 

Marketers and retail strategists might classify any new packaging options into one of these categories in an instant but for many, it can all sound the same. To rid you of any confusion, here’s a short description of each.

Smart Packaging

Smart packaging refers to all packaging that is embedded with technology and smart solutions that convey brand messaging and information in an engaging way, to provide an experience beyond just the packaging. 

Intelligent Packaging

Intelligent packaging, a type of smart packaging, is used in the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industry. It includes sensors that detect temperature and freshness inside and outside of the packed product. There are also color-changing labels that indicate bacterial growth, helpful when handling perishable goods. NFC chips in pharmaceutical packaging allow customers to reorder medication through a smartphone, enhancing their experience. 

Active Packaging

Active Packaging is an enhanced version and upgraded version of the former. It uses antimicrobial surface coatings, light filtering materials, ethylene, moisture, and oxygen absorbers in the packaging to help keep the perishable content such as food, drinks, and medicines safe.

Connected Packaging

Connected packaging is used in every industry, from retail to technology to lifestyle. It works to take the customer on a cohesive and engaging user journey through a printed product code that they can scan using smartphones anytime.

The benefits that come with connected packaging are paramount. Not only does it help you level up your marketing strategy, but it also helps give your customers a new, engaging experience to interact with your brand. It builds brand loyalty and trust as you’re able to tell your brand’s story in a more compelling, engaging way. When done right, this cutting edge can give your competitors a run for their money.

In the next edition, we’ll talk about how it can benefit your business and walk you through some of the best uses of connected packaging by DTC brands around the world. Stay tuned for an exciting next edition!

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BRAND OF THE WEEK is…

UpWest is a direct-to-consumer, purpose-driven lifestyle brand that offers conscious men and women fashion 👗, sleep😴 , wellness👍, and home goods🏠. Through information, commerce, and community, the brand aims to make customers' lives easier.

UpWest, which sells loungewear, casual apparel, and sleepwear for men and women, rose by 41% year over year (Wow) , according to Express CEO Tim Baxter during the company's Q4 earnings call. 

Express's DTC brand UpWest introduced a new activewear line, Go, as other brands and retailers bet on athleisure.  According to Kelsey Vitullo, UpWest's design director, the garment was created with wicking characteristics, four-way stretch fabrics, no tags, and mesh. QR codes are also printed on the apparel, which may be used to access yoga sessions🧘‍♀️, meditations, and other interactive customer experiences. 

"Go was created to motivate and inspire good for ourselves, others & the planet. It all stemmed from the purpose of offering comfort, versatility, and sustainability for our customers' fast-paced, hybrid lives," Vitullo said in a statement. "For us at UpWest, comfort trumps all. Offering wear-all-day, versatile pieces that were born from the idea of loungewear inspired by performance wear, is the perfect addition to the UpWest collection."🥳

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TOP READS FOR THIS WEEK

🪒Dollar Shave Club signs Gonzaga's Drew Timme to NIL deal for March Madness

🌕 Moonshot Brands secured $30 million in equity and $150M in a credit facility

☕Bobbie drinks up $50M to expand infant formula product line

📱 WhatsApp working on a new design for iPhone users

 📷 Russia set to ban Instagram after cutting off Facebook

😋India’s Licious raises $150 million for its fresh animal protein e-commerce platform

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In need of a  job? We’ve got plenty awaiting you!

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REFER HTE TO A FRIEND

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CHOOSE SUCCESS below and have a great week! ‘Get that D2C business runnin’.