Even before the pandemic, ecommerce allowed brands to bypass retail and go direct to consumers. But the pandemic has accelerated that trend with ecommerce growing exponentially. According to Statista, “in 2020, retail ecommerce sales worldwide amounted to US$2.48 trillion, with those revenues projected to grow to US$5.4 trillion in 2022.” Just over a decade ago in 2010, worldwide ecommerce sales were at US$572 billion. While growth did not quite reach the levels projected back in 2010 (projected to hit $3.46 trillion in 2019), the growth is still stunning.

The Sourcing Journal recently published DTC State of the Industry Report which documents the current state of direct-to-consumer online sales and its expected impact on in-store retail and supply chains in general. The report documents the fact that although early ecommerce growth was largely spurred by new entrants to the market looking for ways to reach consumers with a lower cost of entry, these days—especially post-pandemic (or at least as the pandemic, we hope, begins to subside)—larger brands are stepping up their DTC efforts as well.

The report states, “Over the last 5 years, DTC has outpaced overall ecommerce sales growth by a substantial margin. It’s all but certain that the omnichannel dreams of the past have manifested in a hybrid model with DTC in the driver’s seat. And this trend only seems to be accelerating. Time to step on the gas.”