DTC, also known as D2C, is short for Direct-To-Consumer eCommerce, where merchants can sell their products online directly to consumers. The DTC business model first emerged in the 2010s but has continued to gain popularity among today’s consumers who appreciate the advantages of buying items directly from brands, specifically, the totality of experience they receive from the authentic connection built between them and the brands.

With the influx of competition, fueled by the pandemic where a lot of people were forced to be entrepreneurs, there have been really high standards placed by the consumers on the brands they choose to give attention to, and there lies the need for brands to offer the most authentic, one-of-a-kind experience designed to produce customer-delight.

And this is where the DTC model shines brightest- a space where there are no middlemen or retail stores that go between the relationship of the brand itself and its consumers, just exactly how consumers today want it.

Why is Live Streaming Commerce a Huge Opportunity for DTC Brands? 

This business model carries the DTC trifecta – social media, influencers, and online shopping making it the most logical next step for DTCs. It also fills the gap that seems to be the missing piece people crave from retail shopping: the human connection it offers. 

With live-streaming commerce, the buyers can shop online via the platform of their choice, with the influencers they support, straight from the brands they love. It’s been the rave in China, the biggest e-commerce marketplace including live streaming commerce, where netizens enjoy live online shopping, where their favorite influencers-turned-celebrities answer all their inquiries about the items while entertaining them both at the same time.

What does Live Streaming Commerce Look Like Today?

China, the e-commerce marketplace that international brands continue to tap but it’s so vast the marketplace only keeps on getting bigger, earns an estimated $6 billion annually from live streaming eCommerce alone according to Forbes. 

The rest of the world, on the other hand, particularly the West, has slowly but surely been penetrating the live-streaming market. They may be a couple of years behind their eastern counterpart but they are getting there. International brands like Tommy Hilfiger for example recently extended their live-streaming efforts in the US and Europe where 1,300 hoodies were sold in 2 minutes. The biggest western eCommerce companies such as Amazon, and Google making plans to make YouTube an integrated e-commerce destination, Walmart, to name a few has been making huge investments gearing toward the relatively new business model. 

A Call for Early-Adapters 

The best time to embark on the live-streaming eCommerce ship was yesterday but today would be a pretty solid business move too. As DTC brands in general pay very close attention to their relationships with their consumers, the enhanced engagement that live streaming strengthens this relationship even further. It’s an effective stage to showcase and sell your products in real-time, with the help of real-time feedback from your Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and returning customers present and watching the live stream.