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The D2C Boom Is Real. But 80% of Brands Are Doing It Wrong.
The D2C Boom Is Real. But 80% of Brands Are Doing It Wrong.
Growth numbers look great. Repeat-purchase numbers tell a different story.
TL;DR
- Fashion D2C is growing at 21% — health/pharma is growing at 48%
- The gap = retention, not discovery
- If your 90-day repeat rate is under 20%, you're not really a D2C brand
Unicommerce pulled this from 410 million real shipments — not a survey. Fashion brands grow at 21%. Health & pharma grows at 48%. The difference isn't ad spend, it's whether people come back.
Their exact line: a 90-day repeat rate below 20% means you don't have a D2C brand — you have a paid traffic machine with a leaky bucket. Ouch, but fair.
Quick Q&A
What actually drives repeat purchases in fashion?
Product that holds up. Fabric that doesn't pill, fit that's consistent. Not discount codes.
Why does COD hurt this so much?
25-30% of COD orders get returned. That's shipping paid twice for revenue earned once.
Sources
Shirting built the way this piece talks about — in-house, Gandhi Nagar.
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