What: They should not forget about the key ‘speed, cost, and convenience’ values customers are looking for.

Why is it important: Traditional retailers have an opportunity to leverage their perceived reliability to their advantage to attract and keep customers.

At the start of 2020, DTC brands were poised to win the hearts (and wallets) of consumers – but after a year of immense uncertainty, they have not been able to successfully keep their end of the bargain. As the pandemic continues to dictate the future, online marketplaces, traditional retailers and branded manufacturers have an opportunity to leverage their perceived reliability to their advantage to attract and keep customers.

When e-commerce became the only option for many shoppers this year, brands and retailers were offered the chance to shift their operations online at a huge scale. For some, this switch was a massive success, and retailers were able to learn from the brands already excelling, to the point where 30% of Americans now see no difference in the experience between buying online from a DTC company versus a traditional retailer.

As supply chains have been heavily impacted by the e-commerce surge, customers want what they've always wanted – fast shipping, seamless experiences and a decent price point. As DTC brands fight to remain relevant and deliver on these promises, experienced branded manufacturers have been far more capable of addressing these needs.

This unpredictability have given significant advantages to companies considered the most reliable. For 57% of Americans, that title of "most reliable" fell to marketplaces like Amazon or Walmart, followed by traditional retailers. DTC brands have fallen behind with only 7% of Americans finding that DTC brands were most reliable over the past six months.

While DTC have been pushing for innovative creative sales models and influencer endorsements, these strategies may be distracting from the key value that shoppers want from the brands they frequent. So, these DTC brands should now remember the three key differentiators that shoppers are looking for: speed, cost, and convenience.

Coming out of the pandemic, we'll see that the winners will be the branded manufacturers and retailers who have the experience and capital to re-invent themselves for changing consumers. Customers will be looking for trust and stability and digitally native brands will either earn their place in the hierarchy or be left behind as yesterday's shiny objects.

NB: the article was initially sponsored by Scalefast.

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