Direct to consumer (D2C) is a retail paradigm in which companies promote, sell, and deliver their items directly to consumers. D2C brands mostly sell their items via their own channels, manage their own eCommerce platform, social media presence, or brick-and-mortar location. Physical storefronts for D2C businesses are purpose-built to increase brand exposure and consumer interaction, resulting in increased online sales. The D2C approach is gaining traction in nations such as the United States, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia.
Numerous SEA start-ups and companies have already established themselves in the direct-to-consumer (D2C) category, including fashion businesses, personal care firms, and finance. This article will examine the most significant start-ups operating in the SEA area that are focused on D2C.
- Skincare From Yours
YOURS is a Singapore-based start-up that specialises in providing personalised skincare. Among the investors are Sequoia India’s accelerator programme ‘Surge’, Global Founders Capital, Kindred Ventures, which is backed by Uber, and an unknown celebrity fund. Yours will make significant investments in computer vision and machine learning in order to personalise skincare. By submitting a picture of oneself and answering questions about their skin, lifestyle, and surroundings, users may complete an online skin evaluation. Navneet Kaur and Shivam Sharma, both former Uber employees, started the firm. - Happy Human
Happy Human designs affordable, functional, and aesthetically pleasing common home items that help consumers save money, space, and the environment. Ms. Vinnie Ong, the creator and CEO of this firm, is on a quest to eliminate single-use plastic packaging from all consumer items, beginning with a line of waterless cleaning products. This business offers a novel approach to cleaning. It provides refillable cleaning products to their customers that contribute significantly to the reduction of single-use plastic waste and carbon emissions. - Sonno
Sonno provides Italian-designed, high-quality latex and memory foam mattresses with the philosophy that when you sleep well, you live better. Fabio Miceli founded the company in 2017 in Malaysia. He soon realised that the product can gain good traction even in other crowded, competitive markets. Recognizing Singapore’s enormous potential as a market, he swiftly designated the city-state as the company’s first target nation. Miceli was drawn to the concept of establishing a local business that would operate in the market in addition to establishing his headquarters here. - Recess
Jay Schaeffer, a local entrepreneur, has developed Recess, a remote workplace idea that satisfies the demands of work-from-home professionals yearning to leave their home office while also benefiting local companies. Additionally, Schaeffer said that he thinks the cheaper pricing range distinguishes Recess from other local coworking choices. A monthly membership is $99 and a one-day membership is $15. Schaeffer characterised the notion as more akin to a “flexible workplace community” than a standard coworking facility. - PURA The Pure
Pura Indonesia is Indonesia’s greatest natural sea salt and seasoning brand, with all components in Pura’s products being hand-selected, the best, and 100 percent natural. They want to develop a seasoning that is devoid of artificial synthetics and fillers, low in salt due to the use of Himalayan salt, and infused with herbs and spices. Pura was created out of passion for natural goods and frustration with the difficulties of finding high-quality natural foods in Indonesia. - Anymind
AnyMind Group, a brand enablement platform for marketers, company owners, influencers, and writers, announced the introduction of D2C for Enterprise, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) product for enterprises. This solution gives marketers and online and offline businesses of all sizes with a variety of tools and resources to help them accelerate their e-commerce and direct-to-consumer development, including e-commerce enablement, marketing, logistics, and international expansion. AnyMind Group products such as AnyFactory, AnyShop, AnyTag, AnyLogi, and AnyDigital are all direct-to-consumer (D2C) for enterprises. - Love, Bonito
Love Bonito, a Singaporean fashion business, has developed into Southeast Asia’s largest vertically integrated brand. Initially, the site focused on selling clothing acquired in Thailand and South Korea. As a result of the blog’s popularity, the three creators quickly decided to develop and sell their own inventions through their site Bonito Chico, which was renamed Forefront and is now housed on the platform LiveJournal. In 2017, yearly sales increased by 85 percent, while marketing expenditure accounted for barely 10% of sales. - Glossier
Glossier, a Direct-to-Consumer cosmetics brand became a Unicorn in March 2019, after earning US$ 100 million in series D investment. Sequoia Capital led the round, along with a number of other investors, including Tiger Global Management, Spark Capital, Forerunner Ventures, Thrive Capital, IVP, and Index Ventures. Now, Glossier has a valuation of around US$ 1.2 billion. - Huda Beauty
Huda Beauty was created by Huda Kattan in 2013. Her experience as a beauty blogger since 2010 helped her realise that she had a flair for recognising what products perform best. In 2012, she developed her collection of synthetic and fake mink lashes. Retail sales topped, earning revenues of US $1.5 million in the first year, which grew to US$10 million. Huda Beauty is also expanding its in-store presence. - Oxwhite
Modern Asians can look good, feel good, and be confident at an accessible price thanks to Oxwhite, a lifestyle brand that specialises in high-quality basics that are available at cheap prices. Oxwhite was founded by CK Chang, who has his headquarters in Malaysia. Oxwhite operates on a pre-order basis, with a purpose to provide high-quality lifestyle products at an accessible price to the general public.
In the aftermath of the outbreak, markets and consumer behaviour have transformed considerably. Despite the temporary closure of traditional retail stores, the pandemic accelerated the use of the internet. D2C firms have unprecedented access to their customers’ insights, demographics, and purchasing behaviours. This allows them to adjust their marketing and product strategies to their customers’ unique requirements. Above all, technological advancements and innovation will define success in this sector.
