Tag: d2c consulting

  • Quick Commerce Is No Longer About 10-Minute Delivery — It Is Becoming a New Retail Format

    Quick Commerce Is No Longer About 10-Minute Delivery — It Is Becoming a New Retail Format

    When quick commerce started gaining traction in India, the big attraction was simple: get your order in 10 minutes.

    Milk, bread, eggs, snacks, cold drinks, fruits and vegetables — things people needed quickly could suddenly reach their homes without a trip to the neighbourhood store.

    For a while, the entire conversation was about speed.

    Who can deliver faster?

    10 minutes or 15 minutes?

    But I think we are now looking at something much bigger.

    Quick commerce is slowly becoming a new retail format.

    The reason is quite simple. These platforms are no longer trying to solve only an urgent shopping need. They are trying to become part of the customer’s regular shopping behaviour.

    Think about how people actually shop.

    They don’t always wake up thinking, “Today I will visit a grocery store.”

    They think, “We are out of milk.”

    “I need snacks for tonight.”

    “I forgot toothpaste.”

    “Guests are coming.”

    “I need a small gift.”

    These are shopping missions.

    Quick commerce is trying to capture these missions one by one.

    And that changes the game.

    The first generation of quick commerce was largely about groceries and everyday essentials. Today, the assortment is moving into many other categories — beauty, personal care, electronics, gifting, home products and more.

    Once the customer starts buying these categories regularly, the platform is no longer just delivering products.

    It is competing for the customer's basket.

    That is where I believe traditional retailers need to pay attention.

    Because the biggest change is not happening in delivery.

    It is happening in inventory.

    A 10-minute delivery promise sounds impressive to the customer. But behind that promise sits a much more complicated operation.

    The product has to be available close to the customer.

    The forecast has to be reasonably accurate.

    The right quantity has to be stocked.

    The order has to be picked quickly.

    The product has to be packed correctly.

    And someone still has to deliver it profitably.

    If the retailer keeps too little stock, the customer sees “out of stock.”

    Keep too much stock and the business starts carrying unnecessary working capital. Products age. Discounts increase. Fresh products get damaged. Wastage goes up.

    This becomes particularly important in fruits and vegetables and other perishables.

    A retailer cannot solve an availability problem simply by putting more stock into a dark store.

    The quality of the forecast matters.

    This is something I have seen repeatedly in retail. Inventory problems are often treated as a technology problem. In reality, the technology can only work as well as the demand data, processes and discipline behind it.

    That is why I think the next competitive battle in quick commerce will not simply be about who delivers in 10 minutes.

    It will be about who can maintain better availability without carrying excessive inventory.

    That is a very different game.

    Traditional retailers already understand many parts of this equation.

    They have spent decades managing assortment, inventory, margins, store productivity, shrinkage, wastage and working capital.

    What is changing is the operating model.

    A traditional store waits for the customer to walk in.

    A dark store waits for the order to come through the app.

    The traditional store uses shelves to present products.

    The quick-commerce platform uses the app to present products.

    The traditional retailer measures sales per square foot.

    The quick-commerce operator needs to think about sales, orders and contribution from each fulfilment location.

    The customer sees a simple app screen.

    Behind that screen is a fairly complex retail operation.

    And this is where I think the conversation around quick commerce needs to become more mature.

    Sales growth alone is not enough.

    Quick Commerce Retailers need to ask harder questions.

    What is the inventory turn?

    What percentage of orders get fulfilled completely?

    How often does the customer find the product unavailable?

    What does picking cost?

    What does delivery cost?

    How much inventory gets damaged?

    How much money is tied up in local inventory?

    And perhaps the most important question:

    Are customers coming back because the platform is genuinely useful, or only because someone is subsidising the order?

    These questions will become increasingly important as the sector matures.

    There is another change that I find particularly interesting.

    The traditional argument used to be:

    Online versus offline.

    I don’t think that is the right argument anymore.

    A physical store can also become a digital fulfilment point.

    A customer can walk into the store and buy something.

    Another customer, sitting two kilometres away, can order from the same inventory.

    The same store can therefore serve both customers.

    This changes the role of the store.

    It can become a place for shopping, product discovery, experience, fulfilment and local inventory — all at the same time.

    So, rather than asking whether quick commerce will replace traditional retail, I would ask a different question:

    How quickly will traditional retailers learn to operate with the same level of convenience? and How efficiently QUick Commerce companies can run like a Retailer to ensure backend excellence and inventory availability at optimium costs

    Because the customer has already changed.

    Once someone gets used to receiving a product within minutes, asking that customer to wait two days for a basic product can feel very different.

    Convenience changes expectations.

    And expectations eventually change retail.

    I don’t think the future of quick commerce will be decided by the fastest delivery time.

    The 10-minute promise helped create the market.

    But speed alone won’t build a sustainable retail business.

    The winners will need to get several things right at the same time:

    Right product. Right location. Right inventory. Right price. Right availability. Right cost.

    That is retail.

    Quick commerce has simply put that retail equation on a much smaller clock.

    And perhaps that is the real story.

    Quick commerce started by promising to deliver faster.

    It is now trying to change the way we shop.

    The next phase will tell us whether it can also change the economics of retail.

  • Hiring talent will not help if business processes undefined – build processes

    Hiring talent will not help if business processes undefined – build processes

    Before you blame your people for poor performance, ask yourself one question:
    Have you given them a process that allows them to succeed?
    Most business performance problems are not people problems. They are process problems.
    You may recruit highly skilled, capable people. But without clear processes, even the best talent cannot perform at its full potential.
    People need clarity: what to do, when to act, who owns the decision, and which framework should guide that decision. When these are unclear, decisions slow down. Employees naturally fall back on personal judgment, past experiences, and practices learned in previous organizations.
    The result is inconsistent execution.
    And inconsistency eventually reaches the customer.
    Different employees create different experiences, send different signals, and shape different perceptions of the same brand. You may invest heavily in customer acquisition, Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), retention, or Net Promoter Score (NPS), yet customers may still leave through gaps created by poorly defined processes.
    While one part of the business brings customers in, another may be pushing them out.
    This is why scalable organizations do not grow simply by adding more people. They grow by creating clear operating processes, defined decision-making frameworks, accountability, and consistency across the customer journey.
    People perform better when expectations are clear and decisions follow a structured path. A chaotic environment creates delays, confusion, inconsistent outcomes, and unnecessary pressure.
    Before questioning whether your people are capable, evaluate the system in which they are expected to perform.
    The right people create results. The right processes make those results repeatable, scalable, and sustainable.
    Fix the process before blaming the people.

  • D2C Brands: Stop Chasing Revenue. Start Measuring Customer Profitability.

    D2C Brands: Stop Chasing Revenue. Start Measuring Customer Profitability.

    For years, D2C has been presented as the smarter way to build a consumer brand.

    Go directly to the customer. Avoid expensive stores. Build your own digital identity. Use social media to acquire customers. Scale quickly.

    It sounds simple.

    But the reality is very different today.

    D2C Brands: Stop Chasing Revenue. Start Measuring Customer Profitability.

    Customer acquisition costs are rising. Competition is increasing. Online marketplaces are crowded. Consumers have endless choices. And customer loyalty is becoming harder to earn.

    So the real question for a D2C brand today is not:

    “How do I sell more online?”

    It is:

    “How does my customer actually make a purchase decision, and where should I be available when that decision happens?”

    That requires looking beyond the D2C label.

    The D2C customer is not one customer

    One of the biggest mistakes brands make is treating their online customer as a single segment.

    India has very different consumer groups—from affluent consumers to upper-middle-class, middle-income and value-conscious households.

    But income alone does not determine behaviour.

    Category determines behaviour.

    A consumer may be extremely price-sensitive when buying groceries but may pay a premium for skincare.

    The same person may compare five furniture brands before buying a sofa but purchase a familiar FMCG product almost automatically.

    That is why customer behaviour has to be understood category by category, occasion by occasion and need by need.

    Consider a few examples.

    Fruits & vegetables

    Freshness, availability, convenience and price can dominate the decision.

    Furniture

    Durability, finish, design, comfort, quality, price and confidence in the product become important.

    Beauty & cosmetics

    Product efficacy, ingredients, packaging, reviews, colour, price, trust and brand image can all influence the decision.

    There is therefore no universal D2C customer.

    There are category-specific customers with different reasons to buy.

    The customer knows more—but not necessarily enough

    The digital consumer today has extraordinary access to information.

    With a few clicks, customers can compare:

    • Prices
    • Reviews
    • Features
    • Competitors
    • Offers
    • Influencer opinions
    • Product demonstrations
    • Customer experiences

    But information availability does not automatically create understanding.

    The customer may see ten products but still struggle to decide which one is right.

    That is where trust, reviews, brand credibility, product experience and availability become critical.

    And this is where physical retail still has an important role.

    A customer can touch a product.

    See its finish.

    Try it.

    Speak to someone.

    Understand the difference between two products.

    And sometimes, simply seeing the brand in a physical environment creates confidence.

    The biggest D2C problem today: Customer acquisition

    Digital platforms have made customer access easier.

    They have also made competition much more intense.

    A D2C brand is competing for attention on the same platforms as hundreds or thousands of other brands.

    Meta, Instagram, YouTube, Google and marketplaces can generate enormous reach.

    But reach comes at a price.

    As more brands compete for the same audience:

    Customer acquisition becomes more expensive.

    And if the customer makes one purchase and never returns, the economics become even more difficult.

    This creates a dangerous cycle:

    Higher advertising spend → higher acquisition cost → lower contribution → greater dependence on repeat purchases.

    Therefore, the real question is not how much you spend to acquire a customer.

    It is:

    How much value can you generate from that customer over time?

    D2C and retail: Are the costs really that different?

    This is where I believe many D2C entrepreneurs should take a closer look at their numbers.

    Retail has obvious costs:

    Rent + people + inventory + utilities + operations.

    D2C has a different-looking cost structure:

    Technology + digital marketing + customer acquisition + fulfilment + returns/refunds + inventory + customer service.

    The cost heads are different.

    But the underlying economics are surprisingly similar.

    Both businesses have to:

    • Hold inventory
    • Acquire customers
    • Fulfil orders
    • Manage returns
    • Build trust
    • Provide customer service
    • Maintain technology/processes
    • Generate repeat purchases

    So the assumption that “D2C is automatically cheaper than retail” needs to be challenged.

    It depends entirely on the category, ticket size, margins, repeat rate, geography, assortment and customer acquisition economics.

    So should D2C brands enter retail?

    In many cases, yes—but not blindly.

    Retail can provide something that digital advertising cannot always provide:

    Physical discovery and local trust.

    Suppose a brand establishes a profitable store in a particular catchment.

    It understands the local customer.

    It gets the assortment right.

    Its pricing works.

    Its people are trained.

    Its product mix generates healthy margins.

    And it builds repeat customers within a 3–4 km radius.

    Now the brand has something extremely valuable:

    A proven local business model.

    The next opportunity is to replicate that model in another geography.

    Then another.

    Then another.

    That is very different from simply opening stores because the brand wants a physical presence.

    The future may not be D2C versus retail

    I believe the more relevant question is:

    Why choose one when the customer is using both?

    A consumer may discover your brand on Instagram.

    Read reviews on Google.

    Compare prices on a marketplace.

    See the product in a store.

    Order it through quick commerce.

    Buy again from your website.

    And recommend it to a friend on social media.

    The customer does not think in channels.

    The customer thinks:

    “I want the right product, at the right price, with minimum effort and maximum confidence.”

    Brands need to think the same way.

    But there is a warning for D2C brands

    Do not rush into retail simply because everyone else is doing it.

    Before opening a store, ask:

    Do I have enough SKUs?

    Is my assortment strong enough?

    Can I create a meaningful store proposition?

    Are my margins sufficient?

    Can the store generate repeat business?

    Do I understand the catchment?

    Can I train people to sell the product properly?

    A store cannot become a physical warehouse for your online products.

    It needs a reason to exist.

    The assortment, store experience, pricing, visual merchandising and customer interaction must come together as one proposition.

    The next competitive advantage: Operational excellence

    For D2C brands, the next phase will not be won simply by having a better Instagram campaign.

    It will be won through better execution.

    Brands need systems that tell them:

    Where is the customer dropping off?

    Why is the customer not completing the purchase?

    Why are returns increasing?

    Which SKU is generating repeat purchases?

    Which geography is profitable?

    Which channel is acquiring the best customers?

    Which customers are worth retaining?

    Where is inventory getting stuck?

    And most importantly:

    What does it cost to serve each customer?

    Technology will play a major role here.

    But technology alone is not the answer.

    Data + process + people + execution have to work together.

    My advice to D2C brands

    Before spending the next ₹1 crore on customer acquisition, stop and calculate the economics.

    Compare:

    D2C economics vs Retail economics vs Marketplace economics vs Quick Commerce economics.

    Look at the complete picture—not just revenue.

    Measure:

    CAC Customer Lifetime Value Contribution Margin Repeat Purchase Rate Return Rate Inventory Turns Gross Margin Cost-to-Serve Store Productivity GMROF

    Then decide where your customer should find you.

    Because the future is unlikely to belong to brands that are only D2C.

    It will belong to brands that can move seamlessly across D2C + retail + marketplaces + quick commerce, while maintaining healthy unit economics.

    The final thought

    The D2C opportunity in India is still enormous.

    But the easy growth phase is getting harder.

    Consumers have more choices.

    Advertising is more expensive.

    Competition is intense.

    Loyalty has to be earned repeatedly.

    And profitability can disappear very quickly behind attractive revenue numbers.

    So don’t ask:

    “How fast can I acquire customers?”

    Ask:

    “How profitably can I acquire, serve and retain them?”

    And don’t ask:

    “Should I be D2C or retail?”

    Ask:

    “Where does my customer want to buy from me—and which combination of channels creates the strongest business?”

    D2C may have started the journey by removing the middleman.

    The next stage is about removing the friction between the customer, the brand and a profitable transaction.

    That is where the real scale will come from.

    #D2C #Retail #Ecommerce #ConsumerBehaviour #CustomerAcquisition #QuickCommerce #RetailStrategy #BusinessTransformation #OperationalExcellence #CustomerExperience #Profitability #IndianRetail

  • A case study – D2C 2.0: Digital + Retail

    A case study – D2C 2.0: Digital + Retail

    For more than a decade, D2C meant one thing: go directly to the consumer without traditional retail.

    Build a product.

    Create a digital brand.

    Run Meta and Google campaigns.

    Drive traffic to the website.

    Convert.

    Repeat.

    That model changed how brands were built.

    But the consumer has changed again.

    And this time, Gen Z may force D2C companies to rethink one of their original assumptions: that digital alone is enough.

    The future of D2C is not online versus offline.

    It is online + offline.

    It is Phygital.

    First, understand the Gen Z consumer

    Gen Z does not behave like a purely digital consumer.

    They may discover a product on Instagram, watch a creator explain it on YouTube, compare it online, ask AI for an opinion, visit a store to experience it and finally purchase through whichever channel gives them the best combination of value, trust, convenience and experience.

    Deloitte calls Gen Z the “most authentically omni-shopping generation”—a generation that combines digital discovery with a strong preference for in-person shopping. Its research found that 64% of Gen Z uses social media to research products and 35% uses it to discover products.

    That changes the strategic question for D2C companies.

    The question is no longer:

    “How do we get Gen Z to buy online?”

    It is:

    “How do we make our brand available wherever Gen Z wants to discover, evaluate and buy?”

    That is a very different business model.

    What does Gen Z actually need?

    Gen Z wants value, but value does not simply mean the lowest price.

    They want:

    Good products.

    Fair prices.

    Trust.

    Reviews and proof.

    Personalisation.

    Convenience.

    Speed.

    Experience.

    Identity.

    And increasingly, the ability to move seamlessly between digital and physical channels.

    This matters because Gen Z will become an increasingly important spending force.

    In India, Deloitte estimates that Gen Z will account for 43% of total consumption in 2025, with direct spending power of around US$250 billion. A newer Google-Deloitte report projects Gen Z could command 45% of India’s online spend by 2030.

    This is not a niche customer segment.

    This is the next consumer economy.

    Where are D2C companies going wrong?

    The problem is not that D2C companies went digital.

    The problem is that many of them stopped there.

    They built businesses around paid digital acquisition rather than building a complete consumer ecosystem.

    The model became:

    Advertising → Website → Purchase

    That model becomes vulnerable when:

    • customer acquisition becomes expensive,
    • competitors sell similar products,
    • consumers become promotion-sensitive,
    • marketplaces capture demand,
    • algorithms change,
    • and the consumer has too many alternatives.

    A D2C brand can have millions of impressions and still have very little consumer loyalty.

    It can have excellent ROAS and weak profitability.

    It can have a strong online following and weak physical presence.

    And it can have a great product that consumers still want to touch, try, compare or experience before buying.

    This is where retail re-enters the story.

    Retail is not disappearing. It is changing.

    The old argument was:

    Digital will replace stores.

    The evidence increasingly suggests something different.

    Digital and physical are converging.

    India’s retail sector is expected to grow from approximately US$1.06 trillion in 2024 to US$1.93 trillion by 2030, while online retail is projected to increase from US$75 billion to US$260 billion during the same period.

    Online is growing rapidly.

    But even by 2030, it would represent only around 14% of total Indian retail according to the Deloitte-FICCI projection.

    That means something very important for D2C founders:

    The digital opportunity is enormous—but the physical retail opportunity remains enormous too.

    Ignoring either one limits the addressable market.

    India is already showing the direction

    The retail market is not waiting for D2C brands to decide whether they like physical retail.

    D2C brands are already moving there.

    CBRE reported that D2C brands accounted for approximately 27% of India’s retail leasing activity in 2025. In H1 2026, D2C players accounted for approximately 28% of retail absorption.

    That is a significant signal.

    D2C brands are becoming retail occupiers.

    Why?

    Because physical stores can provide something digital cannot fully replicate:

    Trust.

    Trial.

    Touch.

    Demonstration.

    Experience.

    Visibility.

    Immediate gratification.

    And sometimes, simply:

    “I want to see it before I buy it.”

    Look at what is happening globally

    The transition is not uniquely Indian.

    In the US, digitally born brands such as Oura expanded into physical retail through major retailers including Best Buy and Target.

    Beauty brand Glossier, which built its reputation through digital communities, expanded through Sephora.

    The lesson is not that these companies abandoned D2C.

    They didn’t.

    They expanded the definition of D2C.

    They realised that direct relationships can exist through multiple channels.

    The store does not necessarily weaken the brand’s relationship with the consumer.

    If managed correctly, it can strengthen it.

    Europe is taking this even further

    Europe is showing how technology can actually make physical retail more relevant.

    Deloitte’s 2026 European research found that 56% of European consumers have already used AI for shopping, with product comparison among the leading uses.

    This creates an interesting future.

    Imagine a consumer walking into a store.

    They scan a product.

    AI understands their preferences.

    It compares products.

    The store provides the physical experience.

    The digital layer provides intelligence.

    The transaction can happen either physically or digitally.

    That is not traditional retail.

    That is Phygital retail.

    Southeast Asia provides another lesson

    Southeast Asia has demonstrated the power of social commerce.

    The consumer can discover a product through a creator, interact with the seller, research the product and complete the purchase without following the traditional retail funnel.

    The lesson for India is important:

    Consumers no longer recognise the boundaries between marketing, commerce and retail.

    A video can become a store.

    A creator can become a salesperson.

    A marketplace can become a discovery engine.

    A physical store can become a content studio.

    And an app can become a loyalty programme.

    The channels are merging.

    India has an additional advantage

    India has something many mature markets do not have at the same scale:

    Digital growth + physical retail growth + young consumers + Tier II/III consumption.

    Deloitte reports that Tier II and III cities already account for more than 60% of India’s e-commerce transactions.

    CBRE’s latest retail data shows Delhi-NCR, Chennai and Mumbai accounted for approximately 66% of retail leasing activity in H1 2026, while D2C brands represented around 28% of absorption.

    The opportunity therefore extends beyond the metros.

    A D2C company that builds digital demand in a Tier II city may eventually discover that the same city can support a physical presence.

    Digital can identify where retail should go.

    That is a major strategic advantage.

    The future D2C company will look different

    The first generation of D2C companies asked:

    “How can we bypass retail?”

    The next generation should ask:

    “How can we use digital to build demand and retail to expand the relationship?”

    That changes the role of the store.

    The store is no longer merely a place to generate billing.

    It can become:

    A brand experience centre.

    A consumer acquisition point.

    A product trial centre.

    A content engine.

    A community hub.

    A fulfilment point.

    A customer-service point.

    A physical expression of a digital brand.

    And digital remains equally important.

    It can drive:

    Discovery.

    Personalisation.

    Reviews.

    Community.

    Data.

    Convenience.

    Repeat purchase.

    So the relationship becomes circular:

    Digital → Store → Digital → Store → Digital

    rather than:

    Digital OR Store

    And this is where India becomes particularly interesting

    India does not need to copy the US, Europe or Southeast Asia.

    It can combine the best elements of all three.

    From the US:

    Brand building + D2C + retail partnerships

    From Europe:

    AI + personalisation + experience

    From Southeast Asia:

    Social commerce + creator-led discovery

    From India:

    Digital scale + physical retail + quick commerce + Tier II/III consumption

    That combination can create something much bigger.

    The strategic opportunity for Indian D2C brands

    The real question is no longer:

    “Should a D2C company open stores?”

    That is too simplistic.

    The better question is:

    “Where does physical presence create incremental consumer value and incremental business value?”

    A D2C company should look at retail when physical presence can:

    • increase trust,
    • improve discovery,
    • allow product trial,
    • reduce dependence on paid acquisition,
    • increase customer lifetime value,
    • strengthen brand visibility,
    • open new geographies,
    • improve consumer understanding,
    • and create an integrated online-offline relationship.

    Not every D2C brand needs 500 stores.

    Not every brand needs a flagship.

    Some may need a shop-in-shop.

    Some may need kiosks.

    Some may need experience centres.

    Some may need selective retail partnerships.

    Some may need franchise expansion.

    The format should follow the consumer and economics—not the other way around.

    The next D2C battle will not be fought only on Meta

    It will be fought across the entire consumer journey.

    Who discovers the consumer?

    Who earns their trust?

    Who gives them the best experience?

    Who makes the purchase easiest?

    Who understands them best?

    Who gets the second purchase?

    Who builds the strongest relationship?

    That is why I believe the next phase of D2C will be less about direct-to-consumer commerce and more about direct-to-consumer relationships.

    And those relationships will exist across screens, stores, marketplaces, creators, communities and AI.

    D2C has reached its next crossroads

    The first D2C revolution asked brands to leave traditional retail.

    The next one will ask them to re-enter retail intelligently.

    Not because digital failed.

    But because the consumer has become omnichannel.

    Gen Z is proving that point faster than any other generation.

    They may discover online.

    They may validate through a creator.

    They may ask AI.

    They may visit a store.

    They may purchase online.

    They may return offline.

    And they may recommend the product through social media.

    The consumer sees one brand.

    The company must stop seeing separate channels.

    That is the real meaning of Phygital.

    And for India’s D2C companies, the next phase of growth may not come from spending another ₹10 crore on digital advertising.

    It may come from asking a much bigger question:

    “Where should our digital brand meet our consumer physically?”

    That is where D2C meets Retail Expansion.

    And that is where the next generation of Indian consumer brands can be built.