DTC is dead. Long live DTC.

We started Locally 10+ years ago to give local stores a presence in a world of increasingly connected shoppers who do most of their product research online.

The goal was never to disrupt DTC efforts that brands had just started to undertake. We had always seen brand-direct and local wholesale as complimentary; understanding that optimizing one was the best opportunity to optimize the other.

Most of our early brand partners understood that for shoppers, “online” and “offline” weren’t meant to be an “OR” idea. It was online AND offline. The two complimented each other. Shoppers would decide what worked for them for a specific purchase, and all channels would work in a complimentary way to benefit the mutual customer.

image from Cara Salpini/Retail Dive

But something changed. And, it really didn’t work. Where do we go now?

Cara Salpini does an excellent job dissecting what comes next at Retail Dive.