What is D2C?
Direct to consumer (D2C) is part of a sales program wherein an organization promotes and sells an item or service directly to consumers, removing the requirement for intermediaries.
Because of the internet, it’s easier for online marketplaces and eCommerce platforms to sell items
directly to shoppers in a simpler and cost-effective manner compared to the early 2000s. All you
need to do to begin is track down the correct platform to make sales, which includes choosing a
marketplace or website.
For an organization to be able to sell to consumers, they need a place to sell from, such as a brick-and-mortar store, online, etc. In the case of online, organizations have two options: marketplaces and websites.
Marketplace vs. Website: Area of differentiation
Online marketplace
An online marketplace is a site where you (among other outside merchants) can list, advance, and sell items. Consequently, the marketplace charges a month-to-month expense or potentially takes a cut of the last sales cost. The most mainstream online marketplaces in the UAE are Amazon, Noon, Carrefour and SharafDG.
eCommerce website
An eCommerce website is a site that you run; where you list, advance, and sell your own items only. Most D2C brands will utilize an eCommerce stage to make their website and oversee advertising, deals and activities. Unlike marketplaces, D2C sellers make a brand valuation for themselves through websites.
Marketplace vs Website: Cost of selling
Online marketplace
Numerous marketplaces have reference fees, which go about as a commission when a customer makes a purchase on them. This drives down profitability a bit as the sales volume increases. Usually, Noon and Amazon share a price calculator on their websites through which the total cost of their fulfillment services can be calculated.
eCommerce website
There are no referral charges when selling on your own website, so you will save costs that from that perspective. Furthermore, it helps in shining your brand more compared to a marketplace while increasing stickiness and customer retention. However, the turn-off would be the costs to build and maintain the website. Furthermore, landing customers on the website and successfully converting them would require additional marketing spend. For new brands, selling D2C can likewise accompany a greater expense of client procurement without the constant flow of customers a marketplace can pull.
Marketplace vs Website: Barriers to entry
Marketplace
Online marketplaces have severe screening requirements you should meet before being acknowledged to sell on the platform. These reach from basically having an enlisted business and seriously valued items to showing critical aptitude and involvement with selling on the web.
eCommerce website
Theoretically, anybody can set up an eCommerce site, in any case, not every person has the specialized or showcasing capacities to plan a site and draw in clients. While eCommerce stages, for example, Shopify have simplified subjects that make making a site simple, they require a level of specialized commonality. This doesn’t mean you can’t figure out how to make and market a site utilizing eCommerce,/a> or re-appropriate these errands to specialists. It simply requires somewhat more exertion than selling through Amazon, for instance.
Marketplace vs. Website- which is best for your D2C store?
Eventually, the question between marketplace vs. website for your D2C store reduces to what you need for your D2C business. Marketplaces are ideal if you need to target a larger crowd and make an early foothold under another brands name.
If the focus is to target a curated crowd, fabricate an incredible brand, and set yourself up for long haul achievement, websites are better.
Or then again you can utilize both. Start your journey with a marketplace to generate traction and beginning brand awareness and afterward progress to a site to improve the client encounter and drive your business forward.
About Depoter
Depoter is a network of multi-channel fulfillment centers in the UAE that focuses on 2-hour deliveries. We believe that eCommerce startups should try to maximize sales and at the same time build a brand for themselves. As such, we support eCommerce companies by fulfilling their orders from both website (build on Shopify, Woocommerce, Wix, Magento, Prestashop, etc.) and marketplaces (such as Amazon, Noon, Carrefour, SharafDG, etc.)
