Hitting the Direct-to-Consumer Jackpot

Brands that have started flexing muscles to realign themselves with the new
eCommerce scene have discovered that it is not something that they can order off-
the-shelf. Moving to the D2C model has short and long-term ramifications and hence
brands are scurrying to put in place their strategies that would boost their eCommerce
game.

This fortune 500 cosmetic brand managed to penetrate the eCommerce structure
through a huge network of eDistributors. Even so, it was difficult for the brand to boost
profitability, achieve control & deliver a seamless customer experience. What they
wanted was a comprehensive solution that would eliminate their eCommerce pain
areas and enable them to reach directly to their consumer.

Challenges:
The brand understood that the fragmented approach for online sales will not yield
results in the long run. Therefore, they identified few key challenges that were
restricting their D2C strategy.

1. Fragmented System for ecommerce operations:

The brand had understood that the fragmented approach for online sales was tedious
for them to control sell-out information across different eCommerce channels. Most
times eCommerce distributors used to sell products offline or online and used
substandard content that was readily available with them.

This restricted the brand’s chances of being visible on the first page on eCommerce
marketplaces. The quality of a listing, therefore, directly impacted its online visibility
and selling performance.

2. Need for Consumer Insights:

The current eCommerce distribution model was tilted heavily against the interest of
brands since it provided them next to minimal information about their consumers.
Given the chaos that came with the possible substandard image created by
eDistributors on online marketplaces, deprived them hitting the right mix of potential
consumers; which eventually was leading the brand to incorrect or no customer
segmentation.

As consumers worldwide relied on digital channels for shopping, they needed a

platform built with their own capabilities in order to thrive in the new digital eCommerce
space and be able to reach out directly to the end consumer. Realizing that the rich
consumer insights could enhance their speed for go-to market strategies, the brand
was looking for a unified system that could help them collectively manage consumers
and eCommerce enablers.

Implementation:
To make their D2C initiative successful, they needed to connect their internal legacy
systems to marketplaces.They also needed to set up systems for order management,
payment reconciliation, and invoicing. The system also needed to be equipped with
capabilities of providing real-time visibility of product-specific stock availability across
marketplaces, customer claim management, financial reconciliation, and integration
with the CRM system.

Apart from this, the system should have been enabled with capabilities that could push
product information and quality content to marketplaces, product information
management (PIM), digital assets management (DAM) and distribution, integration of
backend systems such as SAP with marketplaces and warehousing systems of
partners, and highly secure digital data warehousing capabilities to collect and store
customer data, and sell-in and sell-out information

The quality of a listing directly impacts its online visibility and selling performance.
Hence, when the brand wished to own the consumer experience with rich unified
global digital content across marketplaces and digital platforms, having better product
visibility, better listings, and premium slots from marketplaces would be effective. They
also could get to know consumer response firsthand to a new marketplace-specific
product launch and can use the insights to launch the product on mass retail
distribution channels later.

When this fortune 500 cosmetics brand approached Singapore-headquartered

Anchanto with their D2C solution requirement, the team looked at the problem
statement from various perspectives and offered a comprehensive solution
through SelluSeller, a robust yet customizable SaaS product that could be tailored as
per a brand’s exact D2C requirements.

The team studied all existing systems of the brand and did blueprinting of the solution.
The team then conducted intense training workshops for all relevant teams of the
brand and explained in detail the workings of the solution. The team mapped all
existing processes, current systems, and business processes and capabilities and
offered a tailored D2C solution to the brand.

SelluSeller’s mature capabilities and rich experience of dishing out tailored solutions
to ease out a brand’s eCommerce and D2C pain points came in handy as it seamlessly
integrated all critical systems of the brand with one another and also with marketplaces
across regions.

SelluSeller seamlessly connected and integrated the brand’s eCommerce

replenishment system, manufacturing systems, warehousing systems, information
systems, and every existing backend system that would play even a minutest role in
the rollout. SelluSeller offered an inimitable solution to the brand that could drastically
reduce their D2C strategy implementation timelines and also provide a panacea for all
pain areas. The solution included country wise rollout and integration of the brand’s
systems such as IT, business, finance, manufacturing, warehousing, CRM, and SAP,
among others. The solution also included integration of their internal legacy systems
to marketplaces to enable two-way communication.

SelluSeller empowered the brand with systems for:

• Order Lifecycle Management

• Channel Integration
• Last Mile Carrier Integration
• Product Information Management (PIM)
• Digital Assets Management (DAM) and
• Distribution
• Payment Reconciliation

• Invoicing
• Two-way Inventory Synchronization for
• Real-Time Visibility of Product-Specific
• Stock Availability Across Marketplaces
• Customer Claim Management
• Financial Reconciliation
• Promotions Management
Solution:

SelluSeller provided the best possible D2C strategy implementation solution to the
fortune 500 cosmetics brand as it also made their D2C foray compliant with country
wise restrictions.

a. Capabilities developed with certified standards:

SelluSeller’s invoicing system is certified by the Bureau of Inland Revenue (BIR) in
Philippines and hence enabled the brand to directly send invoices to customers in
Philippines. SelluSeller also eased the brand’s D2C entry into Vietnam as it provides
the invoicing data management system that is certified by the Vietnamese Revenue
Authority, a requirement that is mandatory for brands to comply to do D2C business
in the country.

b. Seamless operational flow:

As part of the solution, the brand experienced SelluSeller’s seamless expertise and
implementation of project management services, global UAT, regional and country-
by-country rollout, integration of multiple critical internal systems and marketplaces,
marketplaces coordination and collaboration. To top it all, team SelluSeller also got
new APIs built by marketplaces such as Lazada and Shopee particularly for the brand
to enable seamless integration of all brand systems and marketplaces.

The global Fortune 500 cosmetics brand got a tailored solution in SelluSeller that
enabled their transformation and foray in SEA as a D2C brand with a strong presence
on all marketplaces.

c. Integrated systems across all channels:

SelluSeller evolved its SaaS platform to accommodate and solve the brand’s pain
areas by customizing its platform to suit their particular purpose and business
requirements. The cosmetics brand successfully established the first-mover
advantage and leadership in SEA and has clocked in a million orders already.

With SelluSeller, the brand achieved a workable and world-class digital strategy for
their D2C initiative, along with turning key systems such as CRM, SAP, and finance to
real-time insight producers.

Conclusion:

The brand now has access to recognized D2C revenue in real-time with genuine
monthly cut-offs. Bolstered by the results that their now-in-place D2C strategy has
generated in a short span of time, the brand is upbeat about their performance in SEA
and has put in place a new Digital BI team to decipher deeper consumer behavior
based on the real-time data that their SelluSeller-powered new system generates from
daily consumer transactions on various regional and global marketplaces.