With 2020 behind us, we venture into a new year keeping our eye on some of the most successful (in our opinion) or soon-to-be very successful direct-to-consumer brands.
As a PPC agency and SEO marketing company, we are always on the lookout for brands and branding that resonate, especially during this time of being locked down and forced to stay at home. Why? Because online shopping from home has never been bigger, and those that are doing it right deserve our attention (and wallets).
From search engine marketing to social media advertising, brands are bullish on online strategies as consumers are changing the way they shop — from offline to online — at an exponential rate.
In this article, we’ve scrubbed the interwebs for the best-of-the-best, crème de la crème, primo DTC brands you can both appreciate, and from which you can potentially shop.
After hours of research (over 80+ brands), here are the top 10 DTC brands we think are doing it right and also why.
DTC Brands To Follow
1. Warby Parker
When it comes to nearly unsurpassed success with a direct-to-consumer model, Warby Parker has the market pretty much cornered.
At just over 10 years old, Warby Parker started out with just $2,500 seed money by four individuals who went to college together. Today, they are worth well over $1 billion, and as of 2019, were earning roughly $250 million in annual revenue.
Eyewear is notoriously expensive, especially for those who need a prescription. Warby Parker not only set out to make the process of getting affordable eyewear for much less, but also to ease the process by which eyewear users could make a purchase while lessoning the stress of making a decision.
In the past 11 years, they’ve grown exponentially to include physical shops in numerous U.S. and Canada locations as well as pop-up shops inside several Nordstrom stores.
With savvy marketing and imagery along with quality and value, Warby Parker is definitely a brand to follow. You can find them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to keep up with the latest in eyewear fashion.
Fullmoon is a performance marketing agency helping brands create targeted media buying and effective campaigns from top to the bottom of your funnel. Learn more.
Gymshark
Starting out as a company founded by two teenagers that delivered supplements for bodybuilding in 2012, Gymshark has grown into fitness apparel company that is worth more than $1 billion and earns north of $250 million in annual revenue—all from the ambitions of two college drop-outs.
Through continued growth, they’ve moved their headquarters a few times, but have firmly landed in their 42,000 square-foot facility near Birmingham, U.K.
From a marketing standpoint, what makes Gymshark such a gem to keep an eye on is how inclusive they are with their customers and fans. Typically, gym-related companies employ influencers and models who are unreachably attractive and in shape.
Gymshark, however, regularly features all types of individuals who enjoy exercising and working to improve their health.
With admirable inclusivity, a hugely robust community, and an active communications team along with honest marketing, Gymshark is definitely a brand you’ll want to keep your eye on even if you’re only remotely interested in living a healthy lifestyle.
You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube—heck, they even have a Spotify channel!
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Casper
Who doesn’t like a good night’s sleep?
Casper was wondering the same thing when they launched their sleep products site in 2014 quickly selling over $1 million worth of product in its first month of business.
How was Casper different? They were using an innovative three-layer foam design, they revolutionized the mattress industry providing highly praised comfort and affordability—all vacuum-pressed and rolled up into a deliverable box that was about half the size of a water-cooler.
Memory foam mattresses have been around for a long while thanks to NASA, and the founders of Casper saw an opportunity to capitalize on it with vigor.
Their initial fundraising efforts and growth were mesmerizing, and they were even able to attract quite a few celebrities to join in such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire.
After a few years and some aggressive venture partnering, Casper soon grew to be valued at around $1 billion before going public on the stock market.
Then the pandemic hit and things began to dwindle. Now, we’re not knocking Casper as a DTC to keep your eye on. What they’re currently enduring appears to be growing-pains, but we do also want to be transparent.
Casper clearly makes impressive products, and is delivering them to many happy customers all across the U.S. and Canada.
Their expansion into developing brick-and-mortar locations just prior to COVID may have hampered some of their impressive revenue increases, but they are not yet down for the count. This DTC company is still one to watch.
You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube.
Harry’s
Ask any non-bearded fellow if he enjoys shaving and most will likely tell you they don’t. It can be time consuming, it can get expensive, and there is always the risk of being cut or nicked.
Who likes walking around with a tab of bloody toilet paper stuck to their face for the first part of their day?
Well, Harry’s found an innovative way to resolve all of these issues (for the most part). Co-founded by the same guy who founded Warby Parker—Jeff Raider—Harry’s launched in 2012 and quickly grew.
Their subscription service—their main reason for their enormous success—launched the next year, and by 2019, they were valued at $1.4 billion.
Harry’s doesn’t mince words and they don’t shy away from who they cater to. They are a men’s shaving and accessories company providing well-rated products to men.
And given the amount of time they’ve been around and how much revenue they’ve generated, they are certainly a DTC-based brand to follow.
Fullmoon is a performance marketing agency helping brands create targeted media buying and effective campaigns from top to the bottom of your funnel. Learn more.
Outer
Outdoor furniture designer and DTC retailer, Outer, is the youngest of the bunch we’ve researched (from what we can tell). Launching fairly recently and now on the radars of many digital market-watchers, Outer provides Earth-friendly, creative, and innovative outdoor couches and seats that can withstand most weather conditions.
Featured on Shark Tank, the founders’ pitch caused quite a stir between two of the hosts as they bid back-and-forth to invest.
Outer decided from the get-go to manufacture their own materials in order to keep costs down. Smart move! Thanks to that and their innovative, modular designs, they pretty much have outdoor furniture sets for just about everyone.
And, with the roll-away coverings stitched into place and easily hidden behind the back cushions, their furniture can easily survive heavy rains and snowstorms.
If you’re environmentally conscious, you’ll certainly enjoy knowing that Outer products use around 100 “ocean plastic bottles” in each section of their sofas, and on top of that, each product is manufactured from 30% recycled material and is 100% recyclable.
Now, there isn’t a whole lot of data available so be cautious when considering investing. But given the buzz about Outer in recent months and their quick success, they’re definitely worth a look.
Outer’s community can be found on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.
Youth to the People
There isn’t much out there about Youth to the People’s history or story, but we did our digging and found out that this company has grown nearly 875% year-over-year since its launch in 2015. WOW! WOW! WOW!!!
Regardless of where you stand when it comes to being health-conscious and/or environmentally-conscious, those numbers certain deserve attention and a pause.
Cousins Joe Cloyes and Greg Gonzalez grew up being taught by their grandmother that “skin knows no gender”, according to a Forbes article.
Given their long family history of working in the skincare industry, these two entrepreneurs decided to create a company that embraced their grandmother’s philosophy while also being extremely health and environmentally conscious.
And it has paid off big time!
Since this writer only uses a Dove MEN+CARE Deep Clean bar of soap to keep his skin clean, I’m not terribly keen on skincare and its benefits.
However, from a purely investment standpoint, you cannot ignore Youth to the People as a hugely successful DTC business.
You can follow them on social media on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Spotify.
nonda
nonda (no, that’s no typo; they really do spell their name with a lowercase ‘n’) is a slightly obscure consumer electronics company that has seen significant growth in recent years. Why? Because the smart-car industry has exploded in the past 20 years and they produce a product that coincides with them quite well.
Basically, they’re known for making a device that can monitor your vehicle’s health and performance as long as it has an electronic control unit (ECU) and an on-board diagnostics II (OBD-II) port.
What used to cost quite a bit to merely diagnose when your “check engine” light came on, is now available for a small fee, connects to your smart-phone via a free app, and can be used continuously and on multiple vehicles.
But nonda doesn’t stop there with innovative and quality products.
nonda also manufacturers dash cams, smart car chargers, and universal HD car audio adapters along with several other accessories to compliment them.
With numerous awards, partnerships, and positive media articles, nonda is definitely a company to watch. Besides, 480% financial growth year-over-year shouldn’t be ignored.
You can follow nonda online on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
CUUP
Not your ordinary lingerie designer and DTC retailer, CUUP is a very body-positive, all-women-embracing movement to provide underclothing that fits each customer as perfectly as possible while also celebrating their individuality.
Normally, this was done in a store, in private, and under some—let’s just say—not the most comfortable circumstances.
CUUP, however, has heeded the call to help women of all shapes and sizes via their widely praised and successful “Fittings” program.
There isn’t much history available online to fully appreciate CUUP’s rise to over 400% year-over-year growth, but the numbers certainly warrant attention.
Their barely-there bras and panties seem to be a massive hit with many women, and especially some notable celebrities.
Sensitivity embraces and put aside at the same time (if that’s even possible), CUUP seems to be hitting the DTC market with ingenuity, impassioned inclusivity, and fervor.
Whether you’re on the market for some new customer-made underwear, or are just a curious potential investor, CUUP definitely deserves your attentive investigation.
And given how well they seem to be providing sizing assistance via video conference, they aren’t letting this ongoing pandemic keep them from providing quality customer service to go along with their quality products.
CUUP can be followed on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Peloton
Most people have heard of Peloton, know someone who has one, or they have one themselves. Peloton set a new standard for the smart exercise equipment and stationary bikes industry when they launched in 2013.
And now, thanks to the pandemic, they are experiencing growth they haven’t seen since the beginning.
Peloton goes beyond making just stationary, high-tech bikes with large viewing screens and subscription-based online exercise lessons.
They also make other indoor exercise equipment such as treadmills, shoes, clothing, dumbbells, resistance bands, and more. They are a one-stop DTC shop for all things stay-at-home exercise and in keeping fit without ever having to walk out the front door. (Yes, we see the suggested irony in this claim.)
Despite their ups and downs and controversies over the years, Peloton is thriving quite well and is also starting to become a verb like “Google.”
With its stock price increasing nearly 40% and its sales jumping over 60% since 2019, Peloton is definitely a DTC to watch.
You can follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
Liquid I.V.
In an age when staying healthy while protecting ourselves from a very serious virus is upon us, we look for ways to naturally boost our immune system while increasing energy.
In comes Liquid I.V. and their list of products they claim can do all of that and a whole lot more.
Using something they call Cellular Transport Technology, their water-dissolving powders can deliver their vitamin and mineral payloads into your bloodstream much faster and more efficiently than conventionally swallowed vitamins.
Again, we weren’t able to find a whole of information about this company and its history, but our sources tell us Liquid I.V. has seen nearly 400% growth year-over-year.
With website traffic at a healthy pace and the wild popularity of finding easy-to-use-and-digest supplements, Liquid I.V. is sitting pretty in terms of growing DTC success. And at under $2 a serving, not bad prices either.
Liquid I.V.’s motto is “Fueling Life’s Adventures” and they seem to be fulfilling their promise. They even have a philanthropic effort similar to Warby Parker where they provide a serving to someone in need for every serving they sell. We tip our hats to that.
You can follow Liquid I.V. on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Final Word
There you have it. The top 10 DTC brands that we think you should follow, observe, and learn from. Of course, not everything these DTC brands do will be a slam dunk.
But they do great work and have built brands that customers love and believe in.
Do you have a DTC brand that comes to mind?
