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DTC Insights Retail Strategy

Many upstart DTC brands entered the market at a time when online customer acquisition was quick and easy. Now, competition for customers online is higher and more expensive than ever. In order to grow, DTC brands should look into expanding into new channels and finding new opportunities to meet their customers where they already shop. This is where big-box retail comes in. While launching in Walmart was once considered unfashionable for DTC brands, it’s now a completely viable strategy. In this article, we’ll talk about the benefits for DTC brands that sell their products in Walmart.

DTC Brands are Selling in Walmart

Without beating around the bush, Walmart is the biggest retailer in the world and many people still shop at retail locations due to preference or convenience. By having your product on Walmart shelves, you’re getting a share of the revenue brought in by the largest retailer in the world. It’s an audience that post-pandemic DTC brands can’t afford to miss out on. 

Of course, Walmart gets their share too. The relationship has to make sense for both parties. However, working with Walmart means they only get a share of what they sell on their website and stores. This is attractive for DTC brands because they get all of Walmart’s built-in infrastructure along with a new channel for reaching customers and driving revenue. They also get to keep control of their branding and all of their original revenue channels. It’s a win-win for DTC brands and the relationship can be highly beneficial for them. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest benefits of selling in Walmart.

Benefits of Going Retail for DTC Brands

DTC brands such as Quip, Big Fig, Harry’s, and many more have already made the jump to retail. These brands are getting benefits such as cost-effective customer acquisitions, increased revenue, and more. Here are some of the benefits DTC brands can get from stocking their products at Walmart:

Customer Acquisition

For most DTC brands, customer acquisition is the name of the game. Online, the competition is as fierce as ever and it can be costly to acquire new customers. It can be even more costly to test out new online channels to acquire customers. When you stock your products at Walmart, you get a new channel for customer acquisition that is already tested and proven. Walmart caters to a gigantic customer base, and anyone who sees or buys your product from Walmart has the chance to become a subscriber or recurring customer. Even if they don’t, you still get the revenue from the sale.

Putting your products in Walmart doesn’t require you to optimize keywords and fine-tune your ad campaigns. No matter what, the millions of people who shop at Walmart every week will pass by your products and see your brand.

Access to Walmart’s Resources

Becoming a partner with Walmart gives you access to its vast resources. Walmart has a global supply chain and robust fulfillment in place. Instead of footing the cost for these shipments and fulfillment on their own, DTC brands can rely on Walmart to take care of the items sold through their eCommerce site and retail locations. 

Brand Awareness

Walmart has over 11,000 retail locations. According to Statista, they welcomed approximately 230 million visitors per week across all of their locations in 2022. If you’re able to capture even a small percentage of that market share, imagine how much brand awareness and customer loyalty you can build. If you have an effective store display, these customers are going to see your product and branding one way or another. This will help you stick in their mind and possibly lead to sales and ongoing revenue in the future, if not on the day they visit the store.

More Revenue

Again, even if you’re just selling your product to a small portion of Walmart’s 230+ million weekly customers, that can still lead to massive revenues for your brand. Walmart still reigns as the world’s largest retailer, pulling in around $572.8 billion in 2022. These numbers can’t be ignored when you’re searching for potential growth opportunities. If your product is a good fit for Walmart’s customer base, you could be missing out on this revenue by discounting the opportunity.

More Data

During the pandemic, Walmart’s eCommerce went up by 74%. The necessary shift to more online business has made Walmart’s website more robust and more useful for merchants. As a Walmart merchant on their site, you’ll get access to traffic data and Walmart’s SEO capabilities. This data can be highly useful – not only to better your continued partnership with Walmart but for your own digital marketing campaigns as well. You can also take a page from Quip’s book. The electric toothbrush brand sells its toothbrush in retail locations like Walmart, but only sells replacement heads online. When a customer buys from a retail location, they can sign up for an account using a code they get in their box. This code can show you how many people are signing up after purchasing your product from specific retailers, giving you more data on your partnerships.

Save Money

DTC brands are online to avoid the need to invest in and open retail locations. They simply ship their products direct to the consumer. However, with a retail partnership, this retail investment is unnecessary. You get the brick-and-mortar space without any of the costs associated with opening and maintaining a retail space. Sure, Walmart will get their share, but you’ll get all of the above benefits and a new channel to grow your brand.

How To Start Selling in Walmart

If you’re ready to scale your DTC brand and put it on Walmart shelves, there are some steps to take. You should make sure to determine if Walmart is a good fit for your brand. If it’s the right move for your company, you’ll need to come up with a pitch, apply to be a Walmart partner, and have a retail strategy. If you’re ready to make the jump to retail, The Stable is ready to help.

Scale Your Retail Business With The Stable

Schedule a call to talk with our team about your brand’s Walmart strategy here!