9 Direct-to-consumer (D2C) Trends To Keep An Eye On In 2024

The Indian eCommerce landscape has witnessed a significant shift in the last half a decade. However, it saw a massive transformation in 2023 where direct-to-consumer brands found their rhythm and came out of the closet. They not only went head-on with marketplaces but leveraged many new-age technologies to strengthen their stance in the Indian market, and for good. 2024’s projections estimate that the market will record as many as 355.77 crore online shoppers in India by 2027 signalling a significant shift towards online retail. As we enter a new year, let’s stay abreast to the emerging D2C trends and aim to thrive in this dynamic environment.

Considering the trends of 2023, Gokwik, a leading eCommerce enablement platform, brings forth the most anticipated D2C trends for 2024. Let's take a look into the future and explore the exciting developments awaiting us!

Once a talk just on paper, now seems to be taking shape. Omnichannel experience is finally in the forefront and will become an important aspect for D2C brands in 2024. By offering this experience, brands will be able to provide consumers a convenient and personalised shopping experience across all platforms. To explain this concept, let’s imagine that you added a product in your cart on a direct-to-consumer brand’s desktop website. When you access the brand’s mobile site, you often have to start a new shopping session as it doesn’t continue the one you started on your desktop. But, with omnichannel eCommerce, this will change. Now shoppers will be able to continue their shopping journey irrespective of the platform they’re using. The unified experience will ensure a consistent brand experience, facilitate smooth transitions between digital explorations, in-person transactions, and better after-sales support.

A rising trend in 2023, sustainability will continue to be the talk of the town in 2024 as well. Online brands are increasingly pivoting to eco-friendly practices, from manufacturing to packaging, and embracing conscious consumerism in marketing. A McKinsey and Co. survey indicates that 75% of millennials prefer buying from brands that practice and encourage sustainability. This not only resonates with consumers but also shapes a brighter future for both eCommerce and the planet.

Also read:-How Sustainable Commerce Is Shaping The Future of Commerce

Social commerce has come a long way in the last 2-3 years. Brands are now leveraging these communication and socialising platforms to build a space where consumers can experience shopping, buy products, easily interact with brands, and leverage seamless shopping experience. Video shopping, live streams, and try-before-you-buy trends are dominating the social commerce market today.

Instagram and Facebook are witnessing a significant surge in video shopping while AR try-ons are revolutionsing product visualisations. Trust and quality are becoming paramount, emphasising on authenticity and leveraging customer reviews to cultivate trust and credibility. Brands like Amides, Lenskart, Swiss Beauty, etc. are excellent examples of direct-to-consumer brands leveraging social commerce to the fullest.

ONDC, a non-profit eCommerce network backed by the Government of Indian, has expanded its reach to 236 cities now and has welcomed over 36,000 merchants to benefit from the omni-platform. With a goal to foster competition and startup innovation, ONDC envisions elevating eCommerce to constitute 25% of India’s consumer purchases within the next two years.

The initiative has many folds which the government is yet to uncover and benefit the eCommerce landscape in many ways unimaginable. Moreover, companies like Meta too are in the process of incorporating ONDC framework into WhatsApp to expedite the onboarding of small-sized online businesses. As per Wikipedia, from 2024, Meta is planning to concentrate on monetising via government’s ONDC platform.

Consumers today expect brands to offer instant support for their queries. If not, social media gives them much authority to highlight their concerns out loud and creative negative brand impact in the market. So, real-time brand communication to reduce customer anxiety and maintain brand reputation must take the front seat in the 2024.

eCommerce brands must integrate direct messaging and texting technologies on their websites, apps, and mobile sites to address concerns and solve problems in real-time. In fact, according to statistics, consumers are 2.4 times more likely to stay loyal to a brand that provides instant support when reached out to. GoKwik, via Kwik Engage , it’s WhatsApp Commerce leg, too is helping eCommerce brands set up instant customer support mechanisms to build customer loyalty and retention.

Although most direct-to-consumer brands have already starting offering flexible payment options, but come 2024, it will become a necessity than an option for online brands. Offering flexible payment options has many benefits including

GoKwik, via Kwik Pay, its comprehensive payment stack, is enabling its 1200+ partner eCommerce merchants offer flexible payment options to consumers. Moreover, it’s also allowing brands to personalise payment options for shoppers so that when they checkout, they can simply click on their preferred payment option and complete the purchase instantly.

A much talked about feature, eCommerce brands must adopt one-click checkout now more than ever. That’s primarily become people crave a hassle-free shopping journey and one-click checkout is the gateway to this experience. One-click checkout smartly eliminates many friction facades of a checkout process, such as creating an account, filling unnecessary details, going through the same process again and again, and more.

Explore GoKwik’s Kwik Checkout, a one-click checkout solution to streamline and automate customer experience, increase conversions, reduce cart abandonment, and build marketing authority.

In 2024, the problem of return-to-origin will become the central focal point of discussion in the eCommerce industry. That’s because, RTO continues to affect an online brand’s bottom line and eats away much profit making them reluctant in offering many essential services to end-consumers. 2024 will witness the growth of many effective solutions to solve this problem at large and even educate consumers the ill-effects of RTO on both brands and their own pockets due to implementation of many implications in the future.

Gokwik has build one of the most robust RTO protection and management suite for the Indian eCommerce industry that allows brands to reduce and limit RTO which enabling brands to offer cash-on-delivery as a payment option without much hesitation. Explore the suite to know more.

Chatbots will remain a prominent trend in 2024, revolutionising direct-to-consumer interactions for online brands. These technology-driven digital assistants will continue to effectively and efficiently help brands cut down on customer service time, handling product queries, processing returns, addressing order concerns, and providing valuable information. Kwik Engage by GoKwik enables eCommerce brands to achieve cost-effective growth and direct customer engagement via its WhatsApp driven AI-powered chatbot support.

As we step into 2024, these direct-to-consumer trends are certain to reshape the eCommerce industry and offer a more streamlined shopping experience to end-consumers. Stay ahead of the curve, embrace innovation, and leverage technology to create a seamless and engaging shopping experience for your customers. GoKwik is here to empower your journey into the future of direct-to-consumer trends. Exciting times await!