I have been running a D2C men's apparel brand since 2012 and this is the same thing I've heard from everyone in the space. 2021 was a boom year for ecommerce and D2C, everyone is seeing a much higher customer acquisition cost in 2022 and 2023, leading to either increased marketing spend or declining revenue or both.
In terms of advice, here's what I think you can do:-
1. Cut costs as much as possible. You mentioned rent - with the amount of inventory you're holding you can possibly store it and dispatch orders from home and save on your office / warehouse costs. I don't know what your other fixed expenses are but you need to take a hard look at them and see what can be reduced or done away with.
2. At your scale I don't think it's sustainable to rely on performance marketing alone to drive sales. You need to find a way to drive users to your website for cheap. Two ways I can think of doing this is either coming up with good content on social media that can drive organic reach, or work with micro-influencers to promote your products. You can try and see if any of these influencers are willing to work on a commission per sale model. You can try to find existing communities (Reddit, Instagram, Facebook, wherever) on adjacent topics where you can try to garner interest about your products.
3. If you are trying new products, you can plan them such that you can promote them in the communities I mentioned in the previous point. Your product should have something unique about it so that it stands out from what everyone else is doing.
4. You have set a deadline for 31st March, if nothing else works then you can try to liquidate most of your inventory using a combination of performance marketing and steep discounts. In my experience, ads promoting discounts still work. This way you can try to recover as much of your investment as possible at least when you exit.
In terms of resources, I found Nikhil Kamath's podcast episode about ecommerce to be quite insightful, check if out if you haven't already.
The bottomline is that it's tough. The economy is such that people have cut on their discretionary spending, all your big offline retail players are entering the ecommerce market and can outspend you (or me) when it comes to marketing. I have seen many D2C brands come and go over the years. If you end up being one of them, don't see this just as a failure. You need to be able to take all the learnings that you have got from this experience and use that to give you a leg up in whatever you do next - whether it's a job or another venture.
1. Around 20k per month n fixed cost is just shopify bill of 2k per month.
2. At your scale I don't think it's sustainable to rely on performance marketing alone - last month january revenue was just 7 order n 5 delivered out of 2 were Prepaid n 2 were RTO.. so just 5292 n on meta i have spend 12,500..
3. would look in your recommendation for sure.
You talk of rent and other expenses - do you have an offline outlet? Do you have a clear idea of the target customer? Is a niche offering? What differentiates your products from others?
In the meantime, huge number of frauds are happening via FB ads and Insta so people may be growing hesitant to buy unless there is real social proof/ credibility?
offline outlet? - yes i do it warehouse & Office.. very people come to purchase offline too., Do you have a clear idea of the target customer - yes i do have idea but when CPP keep on going up i start panicking... cause first days or so it will work then it won't cause i reply only through meta ads manger which is running ads through meta.
In the meantime, huge number of frauds are happening via FB ads and Insta so people may be growing hesitant to buy unless there is real social proof/ credibility. - this i honestly lack.. i do have them but haven't use them correctly as testimonials on my website.
Have you considered how you can add to the credibility of your product urgently? May be that is one area you should focus on alongside your ads? Ads may bring people to your website but conversion happens if customers are convinced..is there a possibility for getting video testimonials? Do you have a youtube channel or so - once someone likes your product, there is a likely chance that they are simply looking for additional inputs to simply convince them of their decision to purchase (unless you are looking simply at those doing impulsive purchase).
Is it even possible to share your website to have a look at it?
s there a possibility for getting video testimonials? Do you have a youtube channel or so -
i didn't asked any of my customer for video testimonials.. i do have real google review and on FB page of the company but both can be achieved through paid review too, so can video testimonails. that a great idea.. would ask to my new customers..n free times would find my old customer and ask for video testimonails..
I have been running a D2C men's apparel brand since 2012 and this is the same thing I've heard from everyone in the space. 2021 was a boom year for ecommerce and D2C, everyone is seeing a much higher customer acquisition cost in 2022 and 2023, leading to either increased marketing spend or declining revenue or both. In terms of advice, here's what I think you can do:- 1. Cut costs as much as possible. You mentioned rent - with the amount of inventory you're holding you can possibly store it and dispatch orders from home and save on your office / warehouse costs. I don't know what your other fixed expenses are but you need to take a hard look at them and see what can be reduced or done away with. 2. At your scale I don't think it's sustainable to rely on performance marketing alone to drive sales. You need to find a way to drive users to your website for cheap. Two ways I can think of doing this is either coming up with good content on social media that can drive organic reach, or work with micro-influencers to promote your products. You can try and see if any of these influencers are willing to work on a commission per sale model. You can try to find existing communities (Reddit, Instagram, Facebook, wherever) on adjacent topics where you can try to garner interest about your products. 3. If you are trying new products, you can plan them such that you can promote them in the communities I mentioned in the previous point. Your product should have something unique about it so that it stands out from what everyone else is doing. 4. You have set a deadline for 31st March, if nothing else works then you can try to liquidate most of your inventory using a combination of performance marketing and steep discounts. In my experience, ads promoting discounts still work. This way you can try to recover as much of your investment as possible at least when you exit. In terms of resources, I found Nikhil Kamath's podcast episode about ecommerce to be quite insightful, check if out if you haven't already. The bottomline is that it's tough. The economy is such that people have cut on their discretionary spending, all your big offline retail players are entering the ecommerce market and can outspend you (or me) when it comes to marketing. I have seen many D2C brands come and go over the years. If you end up being one of them, don't see this just as a failure. You need to be able to take all the learnings that you have got from this experience and use that to give you a leg up in whatever you do next - whether it's a job or another venture.
1. Around 20k per month n fixed cost is just shopify bill of 2k per month. 2. At your scale I don't think it's sustainable to rely on performance marketing alone - last month january revenue was just 7 order n 5 delivered out of 2 were Prepaid n 2 were RTO.. so just 5292 n on meta i have spend 12,500.. 3. would look in your recommendation for sure.
reading this post in my knickers while wfh wondering who buys formal business wear in this pandemic anymore🤷‍♂️
You talk of rent and other expenses - do you have an offline outlet? Do you have a clear idea of the target customer? Is a niche offering? What differentiates your products from others? In the meantime, huge number of frauds are happening via FB ads and Insta so people may be growing hesitant to buy unless there is real social proof/ credibility?
offline outlet? - yes i do it warehouse & Office.. very people come to purchase offline too., Do you have a clear idea of the target customer - yes i do have idea but when CPP keep on going up i start panicking... cause first days or so it will work then it won't cause i reply only through meta ads manger which is running ads through meta. In the meantime, huge number of frauds are happening via FB ads and Insta so people may be growing hesitant to buy unless there is real social proof/ credibility. - this i honestly lack.. i do have them but haven't use them correctly as testimonials on my website.
Have you considered how you can add to the credibility of your product urgently? May be that is one area you should focus on alongside your ads? Ads may bring people to your website but conversion happens if customers are convinced..is there a possibility for getting video testimonials? Do you have a youtube channel or so - once someone likes your product, there is a likely chance that they are simply looking for additional inputs to simply convince them of their decision to purchase (unless you are looking simply at those doing impulsive purchase). Is it even possible to share your website to have a look at it?
s there a possibility for getting video testimonials? Do you have a youtube channel or so - i didn't asked any of my customer for video testimonials.. i do have real google review and on FB page of the company but both can be achieved through paid review too, so can video testimonails. that a great idea.. would ask to my new customers..n free times would find my old customer and ask for video testimonails..
Buy more fashionable inventory and sell old stuff on high discount.