How Manufacturers Can Get Started Selling Directly To Consumers

Let’s face it: Manufacturers’ traditional sales models can hurt both the company and the customer. Because of the pandemic causing havoc on supply chains, selling direct has become a more popular option for many manufacturers. 

Looking forward to the 2020s, the old model of selling through a distribution/broker/retailer channel may still be alive, but many company leaders are finding that their customers prefer to buy directly from them. On top of that, restrictive middleman margins can increasingly put a chokehold on manufacturers’ profits.

When Covid-19 hit, people ran to the internet to shop for just about everything. I think manufacturing as an industry reached a tipping point between the pandemic, a global supply chain malfunction where production halted and even stopped for some companies, and some online retailers refusing to change policies to adapt to these situations.

These factors led many manufacturers to ramp up and increase their investments in a direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategy, where they have 100% control over pricing, inventory levels, and — increasingly — access to critical customer data. As the co-founder of a company that creates digital sales channels for manufacturers, I have some advice for those just getting started with selling directly to consumers.

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