Andrew @ RTAILD

Founder @ Retailed | We help DTC brands get into retail.

[Andrew @ RTAILD @A_RTAILD]

If you're a DTC brand doing over $2.5m/year,
and you're thinking about going into retail

Check out our "Are you retail-ready?" quiz👇
https://t.co/PAHu4M148a

[Andrew @ RTAILD @A_RTAILD]

As a DTC brand, how do you actually get into retail (step-by-step):

1⃣ Do you have the margin for retail?

To even have a chance to survive in retail, you need to give buyers roughly 55-60% margin

So take your DTC price and cut it in half

P.S. Big-box retailers expect a discount. If it's Walmart or Target, subtract another 10-15%

If you want sales reps that's another 10% gone

2⃣ Nail down your pitch

Store buyers are old-school. Give them a sales pitch with a good story they can relate to, or price point so good that will bring net new clients into their store

3⃣ Figure out your offer

If you have 30-50 SKUs, go with max 10-20 of your best sellers

4⃣ Build your line sheet, catalogue, assortment, wholesale pricing and retail pricing

5⃣ Make it easy for buyers to say yes

These store buyers get maybe 10-20 pitches a day. Make it exceptionally easy for them to say yes

6⃣ Figure out where you want to be specifically

Do you want to be in boutiques?
Do you want to be in gas stations?
Do you want to be in surf shops?

If you're a DTC brand thinking about getting into retail, hit me up and I'll do my best to help

[Andrew @ RTAILD @A_RTAILD]

@PhantomStays Everyone on here claims to make so much money

If you're making at least $100k/m, the info and the time you save by paying a few hundred bucks is 100% worth it

You'll make it back in a month with points/cashback

[Andrew @ RTAILD @A_RTAILD]

@RossMackay111 Looks great!

[Andrew @ RTAILD @A_RTAILD]

@thinborne It's definitely on the higher end but about $90-100, signs were fully custom-made

[Andrew @ RTAILD @A_RTAILD]

Most DTC brands severely underestimate just how big of an initial investment getting into retail is

I know a brand that recently got into 1,000+ stores. They paid $100/store for shelf signage alone

That's $100,000 in SIGNS

Is that a bad investment? Not at all

Those signs will make the brand more premium, get more attention, and improve conversion rate. They could make back the $100k on their launch day alone

But for most DTC brands, getting into 1,000+ stores just doesn't make sense financially unless DTC is dying down or reaching a cap

The profit is not worth the original investment, even if sometimes the profit margin is higher than DTC

*Manscaped signs for reference*

[Paul Niklas @PaulNiklas8]

@A_RTAILD "For lots of brands it takes years to be profitable even with all that, just because of how much they scale"

Can you explain this part? I don't quite understand. If it's 45% of DTC price minus all those other additional costs why could it be unprofitable?

[Andrew @ RTAILD @A_RTAILD]

@yaynutsceo 100%

Not to say brands shouldn't go into retail, but there's many other cost-effective ways to do that

Faire, independent retailers, etc.

[Andrew @ RTAILD @A_RTAILD]

@riotcultures Lowkey those $500k day screenshots do look beautiful

[Andrew @ RTAILD @A_RTAILD]

https://t.co/LzX1zqafNW

[Andrew @ RTAILD @A_RTAILD]

@TrafficBrokerX Too many people treat business as a game and they get burned

You should enjoy the process, yes, but you should also take it seriously

[Andrew @ RTAILD @A_RTAILD]

@joelpadronn Gruns for breakfast, lunch and dinner

Haribos in between

[Andrew @ RTAILD @A_RTAILD]

@connorrolain Getting into Costco was a setup for that move imo

[Andrew @ RTAILD @A_RTAILD]

@cartiernoahh The only right answer is product

[Andrew @ RTAILD @A_RTAILD]

@Enzoncap 👀

[Andrew @ RTAILD @A_RTAILD]

Lots of brands when they get started they push out heavy launches and expansions for the first 1-2 years

Endcaps, OOH campaigns, exclusive SKUs which make COGS more expensive

There's also slotting fees, broker fees, insurance, returns, chargebacks, etc.

What I mean is they reinvest so much to build a 1,000-1,500 store presence and to build that side that it takes a while for them to see the profit

[Andrew @ RTAILD @A_RTAILD]

Why have so many 8 and 9-figure DTC brands started getting into retail this past year?

Many people think it's because:
- they want higher brand awareness
- they want omnichannel presence
- they want to look more trustworthy

In reality, the reason is far simpler: MONEY

The real reason why 70-80% of DTC brands go into retail is because DTC has reached a cap

With CPAs increasing, DTC only just doesn't make sense anymore for a lot of 8 and 9-figure brands:

AG1, Gruns, Hilma - they're all DTC giants that launched into retail earlier this year...

For brands like these, it's just more worth it spending 30-50% of their revenue on growing their retail & wholesale channels, rather than keep spending it on expanding DTC

So if you're a brand in a similar position, here's what you need to ask yourself:

Is it more worthwhile investing fully in growing DTC, or have you gotten to the point where DTC provides diminishing returns and it feels capped?

[Andrew @ RTAILD @A_RTAILD]

Really depends on the category but it's not unheard of for retail to be more profitable than DTC

In big-box, you're selling to the retailer at 40-45% of your DTC price, and your expenses are COGS, trade spend, packaging, and additional depending on the category

I'd say a good margin is anywhere from 12-18% in big-box, 25%+ in regional/national retailers

For lots of brands it takes years to be profitable even with all that, just because of how much they scale

Lots of up front costs tho

[Andrew @ RTAILD @A_RTAILD]

@FakeRosaParkXBT The higher the scale the lower the margin too

[Andrew @ RTAILD @A_RTAILD]

@the_alex_d_ Even caffeine gum has more caffeine in it

[Andrew @ RTAILD @A_RTAILD]

Non-US based DTC brands have a HUGE advantage when it comes to retail:

You can learn everything about how retail works in UK, CA, AU, etc. pretty much risk-free, and then launch in the US

As a non-US brand, your advantage is that you're allowed to fail at first

If you make a mistake in UK? Not much happens, at worst you lose that market for a few years

If you make a mistake in US? You WILL lose that market for 5-10 years, and the market is 10x bigger

Here's the playbook for UK, CA, or AU-based DTC brands getting into retail:

1) Accept most retailers in your area that aren't too big

Most partners that'll come to you will be 50 to 100-door retailers, and that's a good starting point

You might screw up at first. You will PROBABLY screw up at first actually

But that's part of your advantage:

2) Learn everything about how it works

Packaging, EDI, compliance, net terms, factoring, trade spend, etc.

You have a semi-safe way of learning about how retail works while minimising your risk

3) Take those learnings and launch into US

Now that you have some experience and understand how everything works, use that to get into the retailers you want in US

You can now play it more strategically. Be more select about retailers, negotiate better terms, etc.

Starting in a smaller region gives you HUGE leverage:
- you now have proven retail sales
- you're in actual stores
- you can offer SKU or region-based exclusivity

You have A LOT more negotiating power starting this way than if you had launched into US first.

[Andrew @ RTAILD @A_RTAILD]

@the_alex_d_ Crazy how everyone who does trading on here sells a course

Pure coincidence I'm sure

I think Julian Petroulas is the only one who actually makes money trading