The death of DTC? Not so fast. - Episode 256
INTERVIEW WITH CALVIN LAMMERS
DESCRIPTION
In today’s podcast, Kiri is once again joined by Calvin Lammers, the SVP of eCommerce at TRUFF. They are discussing the DTC model, what it used to be, is this the end of it, and what they see in the future of DTC.
Make sure you tune in to find out more!
At TRUFF, the truffle-infused condiment brand, Calvin oversees all digital touch points and platforms for the digitally native brand that has seen rapid online and offline growth since being founded in 2017.
“It might be a controversial take, but I’ve been rethinking my whole adoption of the term eCommerce, just because the last few years have been so transformative with the landscape of retail and digital in general. A better approach would be just ‘commerce’ since you are reaching customers wherever they are and how they’re shopping.”
KEY TAKEAWAYS
A number of articles have come out recently concluding that it's the 'death of the DTC model' now - the narrative is that it was a house of cards, DTC was never going to be profitable, everyone is returning to the stores, etc.
There's some merit to each of those points. Calvin is a DTC guy, he has built the DTC channels (and marketplace channels) for several brands over the years at brands like Spindrift and Health-Ade and he’s a firm believer in DTC.
Kiri and Calvin discuss what has happened in the past few years professionally, personally, and globally.
The conversation starts with the question of what these “end of DTC” arguments are missing.
DTC was never “easy”, especially for low ASP products. They are not ‘suddenly unprofitable’ - these headwinds have always existed. They discuss what has changed in the market’s acceptance of this and Calvin shares his POV that it shouldn’t be the primary sales channel.
Truff was a DNVB. Leveraged the hype, demand, and launch into a traditional retailer. Everything comes down to how brands are using the data they have.
Calvin and Kiri discuss several points where the skepticism makes sense for CPG brands and share some use cases.
They also discuss retail marketplaces in the same context, are channels immune from the same challenges as DTC? Do marketplace channels like Amazon actually benefit DTC and in-store sales since some brands still view these emerging channels as potentially cannibalizing their in-store sales?
Calvin shares what he changed his mind about recently and what he’s excited about, related to eCommerce.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Connect with Kiri Masters
Connect with Calvin Lammers
Learn more about Bobsled, an Acadia company
Learn more about TRUFF
