What: In his weekly column, Benedict Evans challenges the notion of DTC business from the loyalty perspective

Why it is important: Brands and retailers tend to think in terms of exclusive relationship to customers, while they should integrated, and consider themselves, in a broader ecosystem, which would allow to take some distance and possibly inject new services or products taking into account this ecosystem. The launch of the Geek Squad in the early 00’s by Best Buy is a good example of such an approach.

Benedict Evans, a tech analyst, reflects on the notion of brands’ relationships to customers and “users”. He reminds that there are not such things as captive customers anymore, which brands are often assuming. This applies to tech as well, with “users” on Facebook or Google but not thinking about Facebook or Google as an entity per se, part of their lives.

This applies to the Web3, which is all about creating direct relationships, but is there a limit to what customers, fans or users can gulp on a daily basis in terms of relationship or interactions?

Benedict Evans’ views on direct relationships