DTC  ➔ Retail  ➔ $2 Billion Dollar Exit? 

Our favorite Direct Response Soap Brand Dr Squatch is in talks to sell to private equity for $2 Billion Dollars:

Not bad for a scrappy brand that first started to scale with fun Direct Response ads like these on YouTube:

DTC to Retail = the ultimate traffic diversification?

Dr Squatch launched and hit serious scale with Direct Response ads.

…Which not only drove direct ecommerce sales but ALSO gave them the brand recognition and proof-of-concept to test another completely different type of traffic:

Foot Traffic i.e. RETAIL .

And “foot traffic” has been a massive success.

Dr Squatch has been selling in retail locations across the USA for quite a while now:

(^ I saw this Dr Squatch display the other day at a local grocery store)

And of course this doesn’t stop Dr Squatch from still spending a significant amount on Direct Response ads:

DTC to Retail: A well-worn path

This DTC-to-retail pathway has been paved by countless brands, because at a certain scale of DTC / Direct Response, it just makes sense: 

Here are just a few DTC to Retail success stories…

Warby Parker

• Initial Model: Direct-to-consumer (DTC) online eyewear sales.
• Retail Expansion: Opened physical stores
• Growth Metrics: By the end of 2021, Warby Parker had over 145 retail locations and achieved a valuation of $6.8 billion at its IPO

(See all of Warby Parker’s YouTube ads & landing pages here)

Glossier

• Initial Model: DTC beauty and skincare products
• Retail Expansion: Opened permanent stores and pop-up shops
• Growth Metrics: Raised $80 million in Series E funding in 2021, valuing the company at $1.8 billion

( See all of Glossier’s YouTube ads & landing pages here inside VidTao.)

Bark Box (now “Bark”)

Subscription pet company Bark Box got started selling subscription boxes, which they still do, very well:

But the brand was so successful among pet owners, it led to the creation of Bark, a line of products that’s now available in retail stores like Target:

And of course they’re still running DTC ads:

(Go here to see all of Bark Box’s YT ads & landers)

Dollar Shave Club

And of course we all probably remember Dollar Shave Club’s viral ads:

These low-budget but massively viral Dollar Shave Club YouTube ads were so successful…

…That in 2016, 121 billion dollar conglomerate Unilever bought the company for over $1 billion USD.

Since then, Unilever used their in-store distribution to roll out Dollar Shave in big stores nationwide.

Fast forward to 2023, and Unilever sold it to another private equity firm Nexus Capital Management for an undisclosed amount.

(Speculation has it that Unilever saw fit to off-load some peripheral brands after an overall revenue drop in 2023 (see below))

Here’s what Nexus Capital Management said after the purchase:

It’s clear Nexus is going to be focusing on DTC to kick-start Dollar Shave’s new era.

And not surprisingly, Dollar Shave Club doubled their testing volume (# of ads tested) since being purchased

(check out the testing volume data inside VidTao here)

Direct Response YouTube Ads Brainstorm Session (free)

Want help scaling your Direct Response offer/product on YouTube, Connected TV and other Direct Response Video Ad Platforms?

Schedule a FREE Brainstorm Call with Inceptly, the team behind $950M in Direct Response revenue here:
https://inceptly.com/call

DTC to Retail: Is there a “Formula” You Can Use?

So if you’re seeing success with DTC / Direct Response but not yet running in retail, maybe you’re wondering…

Is there a “formula” I can use to create & launch products that scale on Direct Response ads / DTC…

…That sets me up to tap into the massive scale of retail?

This week we’ll be diving into one entrepreneur’s unique approach to adding Retail Traffic to DTC offers.

He has mastered the art of:

So if you’re seeing success with DTC / Direct Response but not yet running in retail, maybe you’re wondering…

Is there a “formula” I can use to create & launch products that scale on Direct Response ads / DTC…

…That sets me up to tap into the massive scale of retail?

This week we’ll be diving into one entrepreneur’s unique approach to adding Retail Traffic to DTC offers.

He has mastered the art of:

• creating or identifying a worthy product…

• Using Direct Response video ads to launch and test it to cold audiences…

• Based on initial data, either kill it fast or scale it to the moon with Direct Response Video…

And then when that campaign reaches critical mass?

Adding RETAIL to the mix, where things really take off.

Go ahead and read part 1 of the story here: https://blog.vidtao.com/the-20000-gamble-how-a-broke-college-kids-ad-launched-a-100m-year-direct-response-empire-part-1/

And stay tuned for part 2 later this week…

Where we’ll be getting into his formula for identifying, testing and scaling products via DTC, and then transitioning that into a DTC + Retail powerhouse.

Have a great week!

The VidTao Team

PS - Go here to claim a Free Trial of the all-new VidTao 2.0 YouTube ad library (complete with 10 million+ unlisted YouTube ads & their landing pages)

PPS - Are you spending $1k/day+ on Paid Ads?  Go here to set up a free YouTube Ad brainstorm chat.

What are your YouTube ad questions?

In the meantime, what questions do YOU have about YouTube ads?

Let us know in the Comments section below, and we’ll make sure to cover your question in an upcoming post.

Have a nice day!

The VidTao Team