Women-led DTC cos on the rise, make up 40% of segment on Instamojo: study

Over 500,000 women visited Instamojo website in 2021 inquiring about setting up their business on the e-commerce platform, the report says

More women-led DTC (direct to consumer) businesses are coming into the spotlight. Over 500,000 women visited the Instamojo website in 2021 inquiring about setting up their business on the e-commerce platform, according to the ‘Indian DTC brands eCommerce outlook 2022’ report launched by Instamojo.

About 40 per cent of the total online businesses using Instamojo are women, with increased interest from women aged above 50, said the report by Instamojo, India’s largest full-stack digital solutions provider for D2C and small business owners, which conducted a study across its platform to understand the trends and developments in the DTC e-commerce space.  The report was launched as a part of the study draws upon the experiences of over 20 lakh small businesses in 2021.

“As entrepreneurs and small businesses increasingly learn the benefits of selling independently online, we can expect the DTC model to catalyse business growth significantly in the coming quarters,” said Sampad Swain, CEO and co-founder, Instamojo. “In the post-pandemic world, the DTC model can be an effective solution to accelerate business recovery. It is heartening to see the digital growth of this sector which has mostly been defined by traditional business models. As we witness the shift of DTC businesses to the online medium, we aim to support the growth journey of more than 250,000 small business owners as they strive towards becoming digitally independent.”

The report said the year 2022 will be ruled by consumer sentiment. As e-commerce grows, brands will be conscious of the product they are selling, and also how they are selling it. There will be a heightened focus on sustainability, not just for the product but for the entire supply chain. Also, consumers are also becoming more aware of ‘where’ the product comes from. There has been an increase in Indians wanting to support local and small businesses over industrialised factory products or from multinational corporate brands.

The report said that e-commerce has evolved from ‘commercial transactions that happen over the internet’ to personalised, more customised journeys that feel more human. Brands today will invest in resources that make the entire customer experience frictionless and hassle-free.

For instance, one of India’s leading tech-enabled logistics and order fulfilment platform, witnessed a 60 per cent growth in the number of independent sellers on-boarding on its platform. This is a clear indicator of an increase in DTC brands.

Social commerce will be the preferred channel for e-commerce from a consumer point of view. The new wave of DTC brands are aware that selling on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube is a profitable choice.  Instamojo saw a 23 per cent rise in new users who logged in via phones.  About 40 per cent of the entrepreneurs on Instamojo that signed up in 2021 had a business profile on social media. The report said the year  2022 will see massive budget expansions on influencer marketing, especially on micro-influencers as they have a better grip on niche categories. To replicate the mall experience, people are hopping on social media LIVE streams to shop while feeling like a part of a community.

As homegrown and independent businesses rise in number, there will also be a significant shift to revenue-based financing over traditional venture capital. An increased consumer consciousness coupled with the rise in social commerce will make 2022 a golden year for Indian DTC brands.DTC brands are expected to spend 40 per cent more on performance marketing. Homegrown independent DTC brands are leveraging the power of digital ads to widen their brand reach. DTC brands that will successfully scale in 2022 will be the ones that identify ways to reduce dependency on Facebook and Instagram alone.