The Future of D2C Manufacturing is Digital
Direct-to-consumer (D2C) manufacturing is undergoing rapid transformation. Historically, consumer brands had to partner with retailers and wholesale channels to reach customers. But ecommerce platforms like Shopify now empower independent brands to sell directly to their audience. This disintermediation is fueling the growth of D2C, allowing manufacturers to build deeper customer relationships and capture more profit.
According to some forecasts, nearly 20% of all retail sales will be D2C by 2030.
D2C is evolving in tandem with another major trend—digitization. Ecommerce naturally digitalizes elements of distribution and sales. Next generation manufacturers are also digitizing product development, supply chain planning, shop floor operations, and more with modern platforms.
As the head of manufacturing research at McKinsey put it, “The factories of the future will be defined by data and analytics.” Production metrics, equipment performance, inventory levels, and other operational data will be tracked in real-time and synced across systems. Sophisticated analytics will help optimize every area of the business.
For the new breed of D2C brands focused on customized and quality manufacturing, staying at the cutting edge of Industry 4.0 will be key to scaling profitably.
In particular, rapidly integrating production and order data across domains will enable real-time decision making to meet customer expectations. Manufacturing execution systems (MES) are emerging to capture and harness this shop floor data via cloud connectivity, digital twin capabilities, IoT sensors, and more.
As ecommerce and fulfillment functions also become more data-driven, the need for ecosystem integration will intensify. That's why versatile MES platforms like HESH put open APIs and seamless interoperability at the core of their designs.
With bidirectional data flows and single source of truth across systems, D2C manufacturers can react quicker to market signals. They can sync real-time production metrics and inventory levels from the HESH MES directly into ecommerce dashboards and order management systems.
By linking digital manufacturing capabilities with their branded storefronts in a dynamic commerce loop, D2C companies can get products to market faster than ever. The future of customer-centric manufacturing has never looked brighter or more responsive.
