The once high-flying Glossier now stands as a cautionary tale of stymied growth, which resulted from its insistence on sticking to an exclusively D2C model. Birchbox struggled for profitability amid increasing competition and was acquired by a women’s health startup last year; it’s now pivoting to personalized skincare and wellness products.

The emergence of new companies selling direct online has been a big story for some time. Mattress brands Casper and Emma, luggage maker Away, beauty company Glossier, and garment retailer Happy Socks were among the first highly successful direct-to-consumer (D2C) firms, many of them based in Europe.

., Into The Gloss from Glossier), and online magazines (e.g., Here, a travel and lifestyle digest from Away). Develop category mastery before expanding the brand. There are few shortcuts to building a brand, and the ability to extend into new categories where the brand hasn’t yet established credibility is fraught with risk.

If you think about the evolution of direct-to-consumer brands like Glossier and Harry's, they feel much more individual and personalized. The ability to make and create is powerful for the consumer. Everyone to a certain degree can be a creator, which is taking hold in the younger generation.

To name a few examples, Coca-Cola, Sephora, Sperry, and Glossier have actively courted micro- and nano-influencers, and more brands are sure to follow in 2022.

Glossier CEO Emily Weiss once said, “Amazon really solved buying, but it killed shopping in the process.” Implicit in this observation is the idea that ecommerce has primarily evolved around conversion optimization while ignoring much of what precedes that moment. The dominant digital path to purchase begins with a product search—often unbranded—during which the consumer demonstrates intent.

Customer-first approach: Glossier is just one of many digitally native D2C brands that have made responsiveness a key component of their strategy. In Glossier’s case, its gTEAM is tasked with reading Instagram comments, website product reviews, comments in its 21,000 member-strong Into the Gloss Facebook group, posts on the r/glossier subreddit, and a number of other sources.

Glossier CEO Emily Weiss once said, “Amazon really solved buying, but it killed shopping in the process.” Implicit in this observation is the idea that up until this point, ecommerce has primarily evolved around conversion optimization, while ignoring much of what precedes that moment in the shopper’s journey.

Many successful D2C brands are based [or have major offices] in Europe, such as Happy Socks or Glossier. Amazon remains the dominant marketplace in many European countries, but it’s not the only player, as the landscape is far more fragmented, with many niche and category-specific marketplaces.

Mattress brands Casper and Emma, luggage maker Away, beauty company Glossier, and Happy Socks were among the first highly successful direct-to-consumer (D2C) firms, many of them based in Europe. Like several other digital retail trends, D2C has been further propelled by market conditions during the coronavirus pandemic.

The D2C movement launched several startups that are destined to be power brands, if they haven’t achieved that status already: Peloton, Warby Parker, Glossier, Brooklinen, Chewy, and Quip, to name a few.