Direct Brand-to-Consumer Niche Selling. How to Do it Right

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Asi Erenberg

The other day I received a call from a specialized brand manufacturer. His voice sounded urgent. He needed help, he explained. And fast. So far he had been offering his merchandise in brick and mortar stores around the country. “It’s high time we start marketing directly to consumers,” he said pointing to the rapidly growing number of manufacturers, big and small, who have taken the step.

It was a good point. An avalanche of brands have indeed started selling directly to consumer both online and off. Examples include Bose, LuluLemon and Apple of course. Sure larger margins are a draw. But it does not seem to be the main one – after all, most vendors continue offering their goods via third parties, as well. But they are eager to leverage the changing nature of the shopping experience. Customers are no longer restricted to local B&M stores and their limited selection.They compare prices and features online, and quickly locate the best deals for their needs. In other words they have assumed control, and forward-looking brands realize they need to engage users directly if they want to understand evolving needs and remain successful.

What many brand manufacturers, especially smaller, specialized companies eager to sell directly online do not realize at first, is the amount of work and know-how involved when moving from a purely B2B approach to one that includes B2C. When they find out, many decide to join existing ecommerce websites that host a panoply of brands and offer all of them a similar, ready-made template along with near-instant access to the online marketplace.
Unfortunately this “easy way out” rarely yields the desired commercial results. Traffic, ticket size, conversion and consumer retention rates remain low.

At ECommerce Partners, we advocate building dedicated niche stores, or Microshops instead. These inch-wide, mile-deep ecommerce sites are custom made and optimized for a specific niche market, including targeted brand and product categories. They offer a wide selection of specialty items and a seamless web design and intuitive user interface for maximum shopping convenience.

Here are three points specialty brand manufacturers need to be particularly mindful of:

Showcase expertise. Focus on a specific product line and offer a large selection along with specialized tips, detailed information, reviews and more. This will allow you to engage with your most relevant target groups and showcase real thought and product leadership in the niche while branding your store. Examples of niche markets would include baby slings, vegan shoes or teeth whitening products. The content that you develop about your field of expertise will be rare and will attract relevant traffic to your website.

Boost loyalty. Use your niche site to develop a real relationship with your customers. Engage them in dialogue, learn about their evolving needs, and leverage valuable user information in your marketing strategies for personalized up-sells and cross-sells, as well as to develop additional products and features that closely match customer needs.

Increase margins. Analyze your sales data over a period of time to spot your real bestsellers. In most cases, the 80/20 rule applies. In other words, your top 20% products will drive 80% of sales. Once you’ve identified the prefered 20% , find ways to streamline their production maximizing efficiencies and minimizing costs to boost your bottom line.

No question: Selling directly to consumers can be a great opportunity for specialty brand manufactures. But rather than rushing to any type of online niche marketplace, plan your B2C approach carefully and systematically and evaluate all your options. More often than not, customized microshop ecommerce sites are the way to go.

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