Dabur rethinks D2C operations

Dabur India, the FMCG business, expects to have a new direct to consumer (D2C) platform operational by the end of the year, which its CEO says will be primarily a marketing tool rather than a commercial one.

Why it matters

The economics of D2C defeated Ask Dabur, the company’s previous effort in this area which was “a complete bleed”, CEO Mohit Malhotra told an earnings call. This time, however, the emphasis has shifted away from a revenue operation and towards brand building and acquiring first-party data. 

Takeaways 

• Dabur has been rolling out many new product developments as e-commerce exclusives – “the cradle of innovation for us” – on platforms like Amazon. 
• By creating its own D2C connection it can collect first-party data to help with the conventional route to market in terms of reaching out to target consumers.
• Rural markets are “resilient” and growing faster than urban ones; Dabur has a sales network covering 83,500 villages which it plans to expand to 90,000 by next year. 

Sourced from Dabur