The world is never going to be the same after the unfortunate global pandemic that is COVID19. Ecommerce was mainstream even before, but now it has become indispensable, a saviour of sorts. Embracing Ecommerce is a necessity for survival and success, especially for small businesses. 

Different reports estimate that the eCommerce market in India is expected to become USD 120 Billion by 2025, against an estimated overall retail market of USD 1.7 Trillion in India by 2026. That’s around 7% of the retail transactions going online. 

There are several D2C unicorns already with over $1 billion USD or 7500 crores in valuation. Some of them are:

1. Licious - Meat

2. Mama Earth - Personal Care

3. Myglamm - Personal Care 

4. Boat - Consumer Electronics

5. Lenskart - Eyewear 

In the last 2 years, hundreds of D2C brands launched in India across fashion, cosmetics, wellness, accessories, home and lifestyle, food and beverages, consumer electronics and more. For a country of 1.3 billion, there’s a massive shortage of good quality brands across categories. New age consumers with global exposure are demanding, yet provide the greatest opportunity for D2C brands to address these consumers which are not well served by incumbents and large established brands. 

The ecommerce ecosystem has evolved rapidly and it’s the best time to start your own D2C brands. Internet democratised information access. Now E-Commerce has democratised launching brands. A small startup and an established large brand has access to the same set of customers and tools on the internet. 

A small D2C brand can behave like a large brand by distributing the products to the whole internet population. A large traditional brand can behave like a startup D2C brand by connecting with each customer directly and personalising content and products. 

I have built my own D2C Brands previously and I am sharing a step by step guide to launching a D2C brand. 

1. Identify a product segment where you have an unique advantage such as an insight which was largely overlooked -  it could be a design improvement, a change in material used or a product that should have existed but does not. 

2. Not all of us can come up with new product ideas, in that case, it is better to find products that sell well on Amazon and Flipkart and launch a brand of your own. When a market is very large, it will always give space for new products and brands, when executed well. 

3. Come up with a brand name. It is better to sell under a brand rather than sell a generic product. Also if this brand clicks you can grow it big in future or sell to one of the internet roll-up companies that buy successful online brands. (I will be writing a detailed blog post on internet roll-up companies, how they work and how to get acquired by them). 

4. Register a company. It is better to start a proprietorship or an LLC since the compliance burden is less compared to a Private Limited Company. Also if things go north, it is much easier to close a proprietorship or an LLC compared to a private limited company. 

5. Apply for an MSME certificate. An MSME registration gives a lot of benefits, one of which is the subsidised cost of trademark fees charged by the Government. 

6. Apply for a trademark for the brand, under the relevant class. Different categories of products fall under different classes of trademarks. Please note, a trademark under one class, does not give protection under other classes. If you want to sell many different types of products under your brand, you will have to apply for a trademark in all the applicable classes. It is an easy process and can be done in a couple of days. The charges for trademark registration is generally around 1000 Rs of professional fee and Rs. 4500 in government fee (for MSMEs). You can reach seller square for trademark services. 

7. Register your company on Amazon and Flipkart. You can start with Jio Mart, Ajio, Tatacliq, Meesho, Myntra, Snapdeal, Shopsy, etc as well. But Amazon and Flipkart remain the definitive and largest marketplaces in India, it is better to start with these, build some initial traction and launch on other marketplaces and eventually launch your own D2C eCommerce website. 

8. Narrow down on the initial set of products.

9. Run a small production run to test the products. Put up a budget which you can afford to park for some time.  Gaining initial traction takes some time. 

10. Launch the products with high-quality photoshoots, editing and catalog content on Amazon and Flipkart.

11. Setup ads and promos on Amazon and Flipkart and voila, you are a business owner with a brand of your own. 

12. Now work on ratings, ratings give the pricing power. Connect with each customer. Send a personalised message. Address any quality concerns immediately. 

13. Keep a close track of vital metrics such as product ranking, sales, page views & conversions, shipping cost, unit margins, ACOS, TCOS, ROI, etc. 

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