SMB Wrap: These companies are leaning on D2C and digital expansion to grow amidst the pandemic

COVID-19 has been a wakeup call for several businesses. Businesses have had two major realisations — they need to go digital at all cost and they need to focus on serving customers better — to survive. D2C or Direct-to-Consumer is a fairly recent phenomenon, but the pandemic has made small and medium businesses realise that it is here to stay.

This week, SMBStory lists three companies that are leaning towards D2C and upping their digital presence to combat the magnitude of the COVID-19.

NOTO

According to Markets Research, the Indian ice cream market is projected to reach about $3.4 billion in revenue in 2021. While our love for ice creams will never fade away, the guilty pleasure many of us are very fond of is becoming ‘healthier’. Several local health-conscious brands are also cropping up in the market, including NOTO ice cream, founded by Ashni Sheth and Varun Sheth.

In 2018, Varun was facing some health issues that compelled him to start a weight loss journey. However, he realised that he was unable to compromise on sweets. Varun saw this as a business opportunity and decided to venture into the dessert category — but, healthier ones.

This led to the birth of NOTO, a low-calorie ice cream brand, in May 2019. The USP of NOTO lies in its calorie content. All options offered by the brand are under 100 calories in a 125 ml cup, as compared to usual ice cream brands, which contain calories between 140 and 200 calories in approximately 125 ml cup.

COVID-19 impact

Varun claims that the COVID-19 outbreak proved to be a wake-up call for the company as it realised that it needs to strengthen its (direct-to-consumer) D2C model to ensure that the disruptions caused by the pandemic do not impact the business.

“When the lockdown was announced, the hubs were closed, and they were a big part of our revenue. However, we navigated through the situation by working on our website, and we have been growing 20-25 percent ever since,” he says.

For Varun, going D2C has been a “super enlightening experience”. Apart from an increase in customer engagement, the co-founder says it has helped in recognising customer-ordering patterns, and thus, helped the brand in serving its customers better.

Read the full story here.

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Joe Shu

The men’s retail segment has been undergoing a lot of changes, including men’s footwear. Long gone are days when buying shoes for men only meant fancy formal shoes. Today’s brands cater to various styles — across comfort, casual, and formal. Delhi-based Joe Shu, founded by Jyoti Narula in 2016, is one such brand.

Joe Shu offers footwear across formal and casual categories and also diversified into other extensions of men’s wear including belts, fashion wallets, cufflinks, neckties, and more.

Digital - the way forward

The footwear space has also been dealt a massive blow by COVID-19 with iconic retailers like Canada-based shoe brand ALDO and US-based J Crew filing for bankruptcy.

Jyoti says that though “at heart, he is a brick-and-mortar guy”, seeing the situation in the retail and rental spaces, “digital is the way forward”.

Now, Joe Shu is forcing its way through digital expansion, working on its presence on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. It is also listed on ecommerce platforms such as Amazon, Myntra, Flipkart, and others.

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Super Smelly

With a variety of fragrances, innovative branding, and easy-to-carry packaging, India’s perfume and deodorant market segment has grown tremendously in the past few years. However, there are hardly any options for teenagers or adolescents, who have to rely on either using baby care products or those meant for adults.

Dipali Mathur was on a quest for a deodorant for her teen daughter and realised the lack of age-suitable toxin-free personal care products for adolescents. In 2018, with her friend Milan Sharma, Dipali launched Super Smelly in New Delhi, a Made-Safe, 100 percent toxin-free products brand, under Natturel and Kool Pvt Ltd.

At present, Super Smelly has around 18 SKUs across deodorants, face masks, face washes, hand rubs, moisturisers, lip balms, and more. The company secured its first round of funding within a year of its launch, led by Singapore-based Lyte Investment Bank.

Lessons from the pandemic

COVID-19 has brought inexplicable predicaments to the business ecosystem. The brand was facing numerous new challenges for its offline sales in the wake of the pandemic. But it's D2C strategy and online presence helped it compensate.

Dipali says that Super Smelly aims to be a D2C brand and building an online presence will be a priority for the next four years. However, the company understands the advantages of being omnipresent to achieve scale. It plans to now focus on expanding online and offline across the country.

Read the full story here.