The pandemic has dramatically accelerated changes in consumers’ interactions with brands. DTC had been explored extensively by brands in the lead up to 2020 but two key changes over the last 18 months have driven a fundamental shift in the suitability of DTC for many: 

1. Consumer demand has skyrocketed. This has had a material impact on order level DTC economics – customers are easier to acquire in DTC channels than they were pre-pandemic and they are more likely to continue buying from that channel over time – unlocking DTC for brands which before would have had to pay too much to acquire customers who spent too little. 

2. Barriers to entry have come down. The emergence of models such as THG Ingenuity, which brings together an end-to-end ecommerce platform, with its provision of a fully managed service across technology, fulfilment, trading, marketing and customer services significantly lowers the barriers to entry for brands considering DTC and allows for a rapidly scalable and efficient method of entry. 

Elemis is one such brand that had a well-established and successful DTC strategy, with strongly performing operations in its two key markets of US and UK, but identified an opportunity to roll out the channel at speed into markets with lower levels of existing penetration.

THG Ingenuity powers the Elemis sites with its end-to-end infrastructure across multiple elements of the proposition, from THG’s proprietary Elysium platform to fulfilment using THG’s network of distribution centres and a proprietary Warehouse Management System - Voyager, plus fully managed trading and marketing services. This has played a part in enabling Elemis to gain a foothold in international markets, powered by THG’s deep experience in building, managing and trading beauty sites, without significant up-front investment in infrastructure.