CASE SUMMARY
Monarch Hunting Products (MHP), a locally owned business in Alvarado, Texas, was seeking a way to complement its local distribution by exploring a wide range of online ecommerce direct-to-consumer (DTC) business opportunities on all major marketplaces (Amazon & eBay). MHP’s existing strategy focused on Farm and Feed stores and the company did not have in-house capabilities and human resources to tackle additional avenues. Through local banking relationships, MHP’s ownership connected with the GRITR team and decided to explore its options. One of the core challenges facing Monarch was a combination of margin pressure in its costing structure and high freight charges due to product dimensions resulting in its products not being attractive to traditional ecommerce retailers. GRITR’s DTC solution managed to solve this obstacle and delivered on financial objectives for MHP without any disruption to its existing distribution business model.
Client Challenges
Gritr Solution
To start to engage directly with consumers, the manufacturer had to address the following challenges:
- Develop a logistics and fulfillment strategy.
- Developed a logistics and fulfillment strategy to ensure timely and accurate order fulfillment.
- Represent & manage the whole product catalog on marketplaces.
- Invest in digital marketing and advertising.
- Build trust with customers and establish excellent customer service.
- Monitor customers’ feedback, product quality and brand’s reputation.
Gritr has developed an end-to-end solution to address the challenges in the direct-to-consumer (DTC) model that Monarch Hunting faced.
- Developed a logistics and fulfillment strategy to ensure timely and accurate order fulfillment.
- Created and optimized product listings for search engines to improve visibility.
- Developed and implemented a comprehensive digital marketing strategy.
- Provided a responsive and knowledgeable customer service team to address inquiries and issues promptly.
- Monitor online reviews and social media mentions to address any negative feedback promptly and positively.
CASE STUDY
The direct-to-consumer (DTC) model is a business strategy where a company sells its products or services directly to consumers, bypassing traditional retail intermediaries like wholesalers or brick-and-mortar stores. This approach has become increasingly popular due to advancements in technology, changes in consumer behavior, and the desire for more control over the customer experience. Here are some key features and advantages of the direct-to-consumer model:
Direct Sales Channel:
Companies using the DTC model typically sell their products or services through their own online platforms, such as websites or mobile apps.
Full Profit Margins:
Bypassing intermediaries allows companies to retain a larger portion of the profit margin since they don't have to share revenue with wholesalers or retailers.
Control Over Branding:
DTC allows companies to have greater control over their brand image, messaging, and customer interactions without relying on third-party retailers.
Rapid Response to Market Trends:
DTC brands can quickly respond to market trends, consumer demands, and feedback, enabling them to stay agile in a rapidly changing business environment.
While the DTC model provides numerous advantages, it also comes with challenges, including the need for effective digital marketing, logistics, and customer service capabilities. Successful implementation requires a well-thought-out strategy and a deep understanding of the target audience. And here is where Gritr can help.
Challenges of a Direct-to-Consumer model that Gritr covered for Monarch Hunting Products
LOGISTICS AND FULFILLMENT
Managing the logistics of shipping and fulfillment can be complex, especially for companies that are new to handling their own distribution. Working with oversized products can be an additional difficulty.
Gritr established and implemented a logistics and fulfilment strategy, ensuring timely and accurate product deliveries. Gritr helped set up a dropship for oversized products to help save on shipping costs.
MANAGEMENT OF ONLINE PRESENCE
Acquiring new customers in a crowded online marketplace can be expensive. Companies may need to invest significantly in online brand representation to stand out.
Gritr helped the brand to register Amazon brand registry and ASC account. We also created and optimized product listings to correspond to all Amazon & eBay policies and best practices.
DIGITAL MARKETING EXPERTISE
Amazon grants 1P sellers access to its Retail Analytics tools that give insights on various aspects of the product’s performance. You can get your hands on data on sales, traffic, search terms and other metrics.
Gritr SEO-optimized listings across all platforms to ensure high product visibility. We also launched highly efficient PPC campaigns of all types to promote new listings and get first sales as quickly as possible.
PRODUCT QUALITY AND REVIEWS MANAGEMENT
With direct customer feedback being more visible than ever, negative reviews can have a significant impact on a brand. Maintaining consistently high product quality is crucial for reputation management.
Gritr implemented a proactive feedback monitoring and improvement system that utilizes not only a highly professional customer service team but also all the options the marketplaces provide – such as Amazon Vine program.
RESULTS
FAST IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MODEL
As a result of Gritr and Monarch Hunting cooperation the full implementation of the DTC model and launch of first DTC sales took less than 2 months. Within this period the logistics strategy was developed and implemented and the whole product catalog was uploaded to major online marketplaces.
HIGH-QUALITY ONLINE CATALOG PRESENTATION (Listing Optimization)
Gritr’s marketing services proved highly beneficial to all Monarch’s listings based on the A-grade received from Amazon’s evaluation tool. Amazon’s A-grade was also validated via Gritr”s LQS algorithm which rated the optimized listings very good- excellent.
EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION
Gritr created and launched PPC campaigns on both Amazon and eBay to significantly increasing sales by driving visibility, traffic, and enhancing overall product discovery on the Amazon platform. Gritr’s advertising campaign, increased sales by 17%.
Gritr’s strategic planning, marketing expertise and technology allow brands to utilize our DTC FBG (direct to consumer fulfilled by Gritr) in executing a seamless go to market plan quickly, driving positive customer experiences which increase brand loyalty and sustainable growth.
SALES
Gritr sold in excess of 385 Monarch products during the FW24 season which peaked in October, highlighting Monarch’s most successful selling season on record. Based on our results in this category we are forecasting a 20% sales increase for FW25!
DTC
Using DTC FBG model allows vendor markup (gross margin) to be much higher, which provides greater opportunities for:
- Pricing flexibility to competitively position the product in the market
- Larger funding for promotion and product advertising
- Investment in product development and personnel
