Established brands will drive the vast majority of D2C ecommerce sales
US direct-to-consumer (D2C) ecommerce sales have more than tripled in the past six years. The market has grown from $36.08 billion in 2016 to $128.33 billion in 2021—a gain approaching $100 billion in about half a decade. We expect it will add almost another $100 billion in the next three years, reaching $212.90 billion by the end of 2024.
D2C sales will account for 1 in 7 ecommerce dollars this year. That’s solid evidence that consumers are well accustomed to buying directly from brand websites.
Established brands—and not digitally native vertical brands (DNVBs)—will drive the vast majority of D2C ecommerce sales. Although DNVBs grab the headlines, established brands will account for 75.5% of US D2C ecommerce sales in 2022.
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D2C ecommerce sales of established brands are now growing faster than those of DNVBs. Last year, they outpaced DNVB growth (27.2% versus 19.8%), and we expect that trend to continue in 2022.