Benchmarking the market: the perfect digital DTC platform

A couple of weeks ago a food brand asked me, “if you could re-launch our entire digital platform from scratch, what brands on the market would you get your inspiration from?”.

These are the playful moments of this work.

The question

It’s a first-class international food brand, just wondering if its digital d2c platform is what it should be, or if it could be better. They already have some websites in some countries where they sell DTC via e-comm, in some countries they have some very basic loyalty program (spend x € and get y points). Of course something like 95% of turnover is made through supermarkets.

What could aim at such a WHS driven classic brand? Is there any potential? Can you be part of the DTC “shift” happening globally, if you’re in a WHS driven industry?

The hurdles

The challenges for a food brand like this trying to become omnichannel and more DTC driven, or at least more consumer data-rich, are:

most revenue is made through wholesale (supermarkets & co.), so there is no direct contact with the majority of the consumers in the purchase moment;
Users are not used to download apps for cookie/pastry/vegetables/fruit/water/dairy products brands, as they’re doing regularly for sports/fashion/sport brands;
There is no DTC brick & mortar network;
E-commerce plays not a primary role in the company.

Best example consumer-centricity and website: Starbucks

Starbucks sells coffee & co. only through their own stores. What they achieved, is to put the consumer in the center. The webpage on desktop is at the same time the app. The user sees always the same interface.

When the desktop page opens, the most prominent link/message is “order a coffee”. The main goal of the web-page is to serve the customer, not to make some B2B communication.

The webpage is build in PWA (Progressive Web App), which makes the page to work like an app (you can even install it).

Best example loyalty: Pampers

Baby-care and food have a lot in common. It’s something linked to health, to well-being, to family, it’s something necessary, it’s somehing consumed daily.

Pampers is not omnichannel as Starbucks, but it offers a first-of-class loyalty app with all wishlist functions: customized content, gamification, referral, WHS-to-loyalty, community. Why couldn’t you have the same functions in a food-brand loyalty program?

The issues encountered on Pampers are in the omnicanality area:

• webpage and app presenting different structure and options;
• subscribe (to products) option available on desktop but not in loyalty program;
• missing bridge loyalty -> purchase in the loyalty app.

If we leave by side these problems, the program of Pampers appears to be like on of the best on the market, proposing quality content that really makes you click and feel like you’re getting something back from the brand for your loyalty and your commitment.

The gamification options, the extra ways to let you earn points and let the brand earn your data, the community, all this as from a manual. 10/10.

The perfect combo

The possible perfect combination is a brand presenting a super user-centric platform on PWA tech like Starbucks, using site and app to put you directly in loyalty/shopping mode.

As Pampers is doing through unique codes present inside their packages, you can get to know your customers and let them become part of your loyalty scheme even if they buy through the wholesale (supermarkets & co.) channel. In this way the brand can potentially collect the data of 100% of its customers and keep in touch with them, re-activate them when needed, get them involved in the community and more.

Adding a perfect bridge from loyalty to shopping would increase the share of DTC revenue (and margin).

This platform architecture can be applied to the most food brands.

What are your feedbacks about this topic? Do you work in food industry? Or are you subscribed to a “perfect” loyalty program?

Thanks for reading and share your comments below!