Welcome to The Week in Direct-to-Consumer, a weekly roundup for marketers from Quad Insights that sums up the latest news in the DTC space.
Faire partners with Shopify
B2B retail marketplace Faire has announced a global partnership with Shopify. Through the partnership, Faire becomes Shopify’s recommended wholesale marketplace, giving Shopify retailers access to the over 100,000 brands on Faire, and Shopify Point of Sale becomes the preferred provider for Faire retailers. Shopify will also become a Faire shareholder to demonstrate its “long-term commitment to the partnership,” according to a Faire statement.
Retail Dive’s Howard Ruben reports that the two companies forged the relationship around a common goal of empowering small businesses, noting that their partnership “comes as more digitally native and DTC brands seek ways to increase wholesale relationships and reach a wider audience of customers.”
Related coverage:
• “Shopify enters global partnership with B2B retail marketplace Faire” (Retail Insight Network)
Liquid I.V. bolsters its DTC membership program
As Liquid I.V. continues to grow its omnichannel strategy with retail partnerships, “engaging with direct-to-consumer customers remains important for the company,” Modern Retail’s Gabriela Barkho reports in a piece about the brand’s evolving $5-per-quarter membership program.
The loyalty program is the Unilever-owned brand’s “digital VIP experience,” Liquid I.V. E-commerce and Media Director Brooke Cullison told Barkho, who notes that exclusive experiences and merch will soon be added to existing member perks such as discounts.
Liquid I.V. joins a growing list of DTC brands and retailers hoping to drive channel growth by building out their loyalty and membership program efforts. In September, GNC renewed its partnership with subscription solutions company Ordergroove, while DTC jewelry brand Mejuri launched an app and loyalty program, as we noted in an earlier installment of The Week in Direct-to-Consumer.
Blue Apron to be acquired by Wonder Group
Meal-kit company Blue Apron has announced an agreement to be acquired by food-delivery company Wonder. The merger is expected to “enhance both companies’ abilities to deliver chef-curated meals with high-quality ingredients to more customers across the country,” according to a Blue Apron statement. Blue Apron will continue its operations under its own brand.
Related coverage:
• “Meal-Kit Maker Blue Apron to Be Sold” (The Wall Street Journal)
Ad Age tells the story of hot DTC luxury brand Flamingo Estate
In a story titled “Behind Flamingo Estate and its founder, who left agency life to start the high-end DTC brand,” Ad Age’s Phoebe Bain chronicles Flamingo Estate’s journey from pandemic-era passion project to growing DTC luxury brand. The company was born during COVID lockdown when founder Richard Christiansen leveraged Instagram to sell boxes of produce for L.A.-area farmers needing new distribution options. Bain writes that “those farmers reignited Christiansen’s creative energy” and inspired his departure from the agency world to focus on Flamingo Estate. The brand has since expanded into the beauty and home goods categories with products such as $250 jars of celebrity-grown honey and a $178 candle set.
Further reading
• “Full Glass Wine Co. acquires Wine Insiders” (Beverage Industry)
• “Destination XL and Untuckit Create Capsule Shirt Collection for Big and Tall Shoppers” (Retail TouchPoints)
• “Pandora shares sparkle after jeweler raises growth targets” (Reuters)
• “On Holdings Aims to Double Sales by 2026” (Women’s Wear Daily)
