Consumers no longer just buy products, they buy into brands.

With direct-to-consumer (D2C) giants like Gymshark and Glossier paving the way, more and more brands are cutting out the middleman and connecting directly with their customers to build real, meaningful relationships.

This shift is especially powerful for business owners looking to scale smartly, stay in control of their brand, and build stronger connections with their customers.

And the numbers back it up - in 2024, established D2C brands pulled in a massive $135 billion in ecommerce sales, and that’s expected to jump to a huge $187 billion by the end of 2025.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the key strategies, tools, and best practices to help you thrive in the D2C space, tailored specifically for Shopify-powered brands.

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What is D2C and why does it work for Shopify stores?

Direct-to-consumer (D2C) is all about selling your products straight to your customers - no middlemen, no marketplaces, no third-party retailers. It gives you, the brand owner, full control over how your products are marketed, sold, and experienced.

Rather than relying on big-box stores or online resellers, D2C allows you to connect directly with your audience and take charge of the entire journey, from that first click to the post-purchase follow-up.

Shopify is the perfect platform for D2C because it gives you everything you need to launch, run, and grow a storefront without needing technical skills. With customisable themes, built-in payment processing, marketing tools, and many Shopify App Store integrations, Shopify makes the process seamless for business owners.

On top of that, with access to data, design control, and customer insights, you can fine-tune your messaging, pricing, and overall experience based on what your customers actually want, not what a retailer thinks they need.

Benefits of D2C marketing Shopify stores

5 Benefits of D2C Marketing

1 - More control over the customer experience

80% of customers say the experience a brand provides matters just as much as its products.

With D2C, you decide how your products look, how your brand talks, and how customers move through the buying process, creating a smooth, personalised experience that builds trust and loyalty.

Plus, you can quickly test and tweak things like messaging or checkout flow, giving you the agility to adapt fast, a big edge in a highly competitive and experience-driven market.

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2 - Higher profit margins

Since there’s no retailer or wholesaler taking a cut, more of your revenue from each sale stays right in your pocket.

Selling directly through Shopify lets you control pricing, discounts, and bundles, so you can protect your margins while still offering deals that your customers love.

This freedom allows you to reinvest in areas that fuel Shopify revenue growth, such as marketing, product innovation, or customer support, making your business more sustainable and financially resilient in the long run.

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3 - Direct customer relationships

When you go D2C, you’re making sales, but also building real relationships. You also get to gather valuable first-party data like emails, purchase history, and customer feedback.

This information helps you create tailored experiences - from personalised email campaigns to product recommendations.

It also helps you make smarter decisions, enables stronger retention strategies, and more efficient marketing, because you actually know who your customers are and what they want.

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4 - More quick & efficient feedback

With no middlemen, customer feedback comes straight to you. Whether it’s through reviews, social proof, support queries, or social media, you get direct insight into what your customers love, and what still needs work.

This lets you quickly test new products, update your messaging, or tweak features quickly. The result? Faster improvements, a better fit with what your customers want, and the flexibility to stay ahead of trends and the competition.

Plus, 78% of people prefer brands that collect and accept customer feedback, and 53% of marketers use customer feedback as the number one tactic to improve customer experience.

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5 - Stronger brand loyalty

D2C gives you the freedom to really connect with your audience. You can share your brand story, values, and personality - without it getting watered down by third-party platforms.

Transparency like this builds trust, and when customers feel a real emotional connection to your brand, they’re 88% more likely to buy from you again - and, they’re way more likely to recommend you to their friends and become loyal advocates.

But don’t forget, loyalty isn’t just about perks like discounts - it’s about the relationship. Luckily, D2C gives you everything you need to nurture that connection.

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Challenges of D2C Marketing

Customer acquisition costs can be high

One of the early challenges of D2C is building brand awareness from the ground up. Without the built-in traffic of retailers or marketplaces, you’ll need to invest heavily in strategies like paid ads, content, and influencers.

While this can be costly at first, it also gives you complete control over how you attract and convert customers. Over time, as your brand grows and you build your own loyal audience, you won’t have to work as hard to keep finding new customers - which means better profits and a stronger ROI down the line.

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Managing everything in-house

Running a D2C brand means you’re handling the whole customer journey, from marketing all the way to fulfillment and support. It can feel a bit overwhelming at first, but it also gives you unmatched flexibility and control.

With the right tools, systems, and partners (many of which integrate seamlessly with Shopify) you can automate and streamline a lot of your operations.

You also have the option to team up with a Shopify Growth Service like StoreLab to help build and scale your brand - we handle the heavy lifting while you focus on other parts of your business.

As your business scales, this hands-on experience becomes a strength, helping you stay agile and deeply connected to your customers.

How to Execute Shopify D2C Marketing Well

Create a sense of community

A recent study found that 85% of Gen Z and 79% of Millennial respondents say it’s important for brands to create a sense of community.

So think beyond the transaction and create spaces where customers feel heard and seen.

This could be a community-focused social media group or a space on your site or socials for UGC. Get people talking, share real customer stories, and always invite feedback.

Brands like Gymshark and Glossier excel because they make customers feel like they’re part of something bigger. When people identify with your brand, and with each other, loyalty and word-of-mouth just take off naturally.

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Lead with a clear mission

A strong mission gives your brand meaning beyond the product, and D2C gives you the perfect platform to express it. Whether you’re all about sustainability, inclusivity, or wellness, a clear mission makes your brand stand out and helps you attract like-minded customers.

The key is to be genuine and consistent. Don’t just post about your mission on “Earth Day” or during a campaign; weave it into your product choices, packaging, partnerships, and tone of voice.

People don’t just want to buy, they want to believe; and a strong mission gives them a reason to care and come back.

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Showcase your brand personality

In D2C, your brand is your storefront, your voice, and your face. A distinct personality helps you stand out in a sea of ‘sameness’.

Are you bold and witty? Calm and informative? Luxe and minimal? Own it, and let that tone shape everything - from website copy, product descriptions and paid & organic social captions, to email subject lines.

Shopify makes it easy to tailor your visual and written identity. Just make sure your personality aligns with your audience. If it clicks, people will buy from you, but also remember you.

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Build trust through transparency

Without the reputation of a big-box retailer behind you, trust is everything. D2C brands need to earn it through honesty, consistency, and clear communication. That means clear shipping expectations, fair pricing, easy returns, and open dialogue - especially when mishaps happen.

Being transparent also means sharing behind-the-scenes content, founder stories, or showing how your product is made. Openness like this really humanises your brand and builds confidence as customers know what to expect, and get to see who’s behind the brand.

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Understand and speak to your buyer persona

D2C gives you direct access to your customers - so use it to truly understand them! Go beyond age and gender. For example: What motivates them? What problems are they trying to solve? What language do they use?

Create buyer personas based on real data; like site analytics, customer surveys, reviews, and support tickets. Then use those insights to shape your messaging, refine your products, and make your ad targeting more effective.

With 63% of consumers expecting brands to know their unique needs, showing your customers that you get them really matters. When people feel seen, they’re more inclined to trust you, engage with your brand, and convert.

Top D2C Marketing Strategies for Shopify Stores

Paid & organic social media

For Shopify brands, paid and organic social efforts work best when you use them in tandem.

Organic social is great for building your brand’s identity and creating a loyal community around what you do. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook are perfect for showing off your products with reels, behind-the-scenes clips, UGC, and storytelling. The real magic happens when you engage - reply to comments, share customer posts, go live - it’s all about building authentic connections.

Paid social media amplifies your reach and drives measurable sales. Meta ads offer powerful targeting tools, so you can segment people based on interests, behaviours, and even previous website visitors through retargeting. And with TikTok ads, the right creative can take off fast - especially if it feels fun, native, and scroll-stopping.

Use your organic content to test out different themes and styles - if something’s getting likes and shares, there’s a good chance it’ll perform even better once you put some ad spend behind it. Whether it’s paid or organic, keeping your branding consistent and your creative strong (think eye-catching visuals, copy, and clear calls to action) is key.

Tip: Prioritise community engagement - respond to comments, ask questions in your captions, and repost UGC whenever you can. Building real relationships humanises your brand.

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Influencer marketing

Shopify brands do well when they partner with influencers whose audiences align closely with their target market. It’s not about big follower numbers, it’s all about engagement and how well they fit your niche.

Micro-influencers (10K-100K followers) often offer better ROI than larger accounts. Their audiences are more engaged, and their endorsements come across more personal and genuine.

Product gifting, affiliate links, and paid collabs are all great ways to work with influencers. Just be clear on what you want (whether it’s boosting brand awareness, driving traffic, or getting conversions) and choose your influencers accordingly.

Also, try to focus on long-term partnerships instead of one-off posts; it helps keep your brand consistent and builds real credibility.

Tip: 61% of consumers say relatable influencers are the most appealing to them. So, encourage influencers to be relatable by creating content that matches their usual tone or aesthetic, but subtly incorporates your products.

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Email marketing

Email is one of the best channels for D2C brands when it comes to ROI. It lets you connect directly and personally with your audience, making it perfect for nurturing leads, turning browsers into buyers, and building loyalty.

Start by using tools like Klaviyo to set up automated flows - think welcome emails, cart abandonment reminders, post-purchase check-ins, and win-back campaigns.

Focus on segmentation so you can target people based on how they behave, what they’ve bought, or how engaged they are. Personalised content like product recommendations or special offers trends to drive higher open and click-through rates.

When it comes to campaigns, mix things up by sending promo emails alongside content that adds value; like how-to guides, customer stories, or new product launches. Keep the send frequency balanced so you don’t overwhelm people; it’s all about staying consistent, not just blasting a ton of emails.

Tip: Always optimise subject lines, add some personalisation, keep your CTAs clear, and test send times. And don’t forget to clean up your email list regularly as it helps keep your emails landing in inboxes and your engagement rates healthy.

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Loyalty & referral programs

Loyalty and referral programs are powerful tools for turning one-time buyers into lifelong customers. Since acquisition costs keep going up, holding onto customers is more valuable than ever.

A good loyalty program rewards people for coming back, gets them more involved, and strengthens brand affinity.

Offer points for purchases, reviews, birthdays, and social sharing. Allow customers to redeem points for discounts, exclusive products, or early access to new drops. Shopify apps like Smile.io or Yotpo make setting this up simple and scalable.

Referral programs turn your happy customers into your biggest brand ambassadors. Incentivise them to share your store with friends in exchange for discounts, freebies, or points. The best referral programs are easy to share and track, with smooth integration at checkout or via post-purchase flows.

Tip: Highlight your loyalty and referral perks throughout the customer journey - don’t just wait until after someone makes a purchase. Make sure your programs are simple to understand, easy to spot across your site, and tied into your email and social strategies.

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Shopify mobile app push notifications

A mobile app for your Shopify store moves beyond just convenience - it’s a powerful marketing channel in itself. One of its most valuable features? Push notifications.

These short, direct messages reach customers instantly on their phone screens, bypassing crowded email inboxes and noisy social feeds.

Push notifications are perfect for driving timely action - whether it’s alerting users to a flash sale, reminding them of an abandoned cart, announcing a new product drop, or offering exclusive deals. Because they’re native to the app, they feel more personal and often see higher open and click-through rates than other channels.

The beauty of push is in its immediacy and relevance. With the right strategy, you can segment audiences based on shopping behavior or preferences and deliver messages that feel helpful, not spammy.

Plus, because your app sits on the customer’s home screen, your brand stays top of mind, reinforcing loyalty and increasing repeat visits. In fact, 65% of users will return to an app within 30 days when push notifications are enabled.

Tip: Don’t just use push notifications for promotions. Mix in helpful tips, order updates, or product usage ideas to keep notifications engaging, not just sales-driven. The goal is to provide value, build habit, and keep your brand part of the daily scroll.

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What to do vs what to avoid in D2C marketing

Make it a priority to build direct relationships with your customers. Use first-party data to personalise their experience - it’s key for boosting engagement and retention.

Invest in storytelling across all your channels to create real emotional connections and brand loyalty. Staying consistent with your branding, messaging, and overall experience is what makes successful D2C brands stand out.

Avoid leaning too heavily on paid ads without having a solid plan to keep customers coming back. Acquisition costs are going up, so if you’re not nurturing those relationships after the sale, you’re basically letting money slip through your fingers.

Also, don’t try to be everywhere at once. Spreading yourself too thin across every platform or campaign type can dilute your efforts. Instead, find, understand, and double down on the channels where your audience is most active and where you see the strongest return.

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Best tool for understanding customers D2C marketing

Hotjar is a great tool for D2C brands to really see how customers are using their Shopify store. With features like heatmaps, session recordings, and quick surveys, you can spot where people click, scroll, or get stuck, then fix whatever’s causing trouble. It’s perfect for improving your site, checkout, or product pages based on real behavior, not guesswork.

For D2C brands managing their own storefront, these insights are key to boosting conversions and creating smoother shopping experiences. So if you want to understand and serve your customers better, definitely check out Hotjar.

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Retention Matters in D2C - How to Keep Customers Coming Back

Customer acquisition is key if you want to grow - you need fresh eyes on your brand to scale. But when it comes to long-term success in D2C, retention is where success really happens. It’s way more cost-effective (seriously, it can cost 5x more to acquire than retain!), and loyal customers usually spend more, shop more often, and refer others.

Retention starts with delivering a great customer experience - think fast shipping, responsive support, and thoughtful follow-ups. But it doesn’t stop there. Keep the relationship going by using marketing efforts, loyalty perks, and referral programs. Stay in touch through personalised content, product recommendations, and exclusive offers that make your customers feel seen and valued.

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The most powerful retention tool for D2C

For Shopify brands, one of the best ways to improve retention is with your own mobile app. It gives your customers a faster, smoother, and more focused shopping experience than a regular mobile site - and that really pays off, with conversion rates up to 157% higher than mobile web.

It removes friction with features like one-tap checkout, saved preferences, and simple navigation. Shoppers can explore your store without any of the usual distractions, and that extra convenience encourages more frequent visits and purchases.

57.5% of consumers say they find mobile apps more convenient than other channels to shop, and it makes sense. Your app lives right on their home screen, just a tap away, becoming part of their daily scroll. That kind of visibility keeps your brand front and center, which is a huge win in saturated markets.

And like we mentioned earlier, having a Shopify mobile app means you have access to push notifications - perfect for sending updates, reminders, and offers your customers will actually see (and can act on instantly).

5 Real Examples of Successful D2C Marketing

1- Gymshark

Gymshark is a standout example of D2C done right, especially when it comes to influencer-led marketing.

They partner with fitness influencers who authentically represent their niche communities - from bodybuilders to lifestyle athletes - and lean into storytelling, often highlighting personal fitness journeys.

Their strategy goes beyond social media; Gymshark hosts global pop-up events, builds communities, and creates hype through exclusive product drops.

This close connection with their audience, paired with fun, relatable content, has helped Gymshark grow from a garage-based side hustle into a global fitness brand. And the best part? They’ve done it all while maintaining full control over their customer experience.

2 - Glossier

Glossier is a leading D2C brand because it built its whole identity around community and customer input from the start. Rather than relying on the traditional ad route, they grew organically through social media, UGC, and word-of-mouth.

The Glossier team really listens to their audience - they’re often crowdsourcing ideas and using that feedback to shape new products and updates. This loop of conversation makes customers feel genuinely heard and part of the process.

3 - Three Ships

Three Ships is another great example of D2C done right, mixing total transparency around their products with a genuine focus on building an authentic community.

As a natural skincare brand, Three Ships stand out by clearly communicating what’s in their products, how ingredients are sourced, and exactly how they work.

Their customer community is a big part of how the brand scales. Their ambassadors share their own discount codes with friends and family. By turning happy customers into advocates, Three Ships keeps their growth scalable and genuine.

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4 - Halfdays

Halfdays also exemplifies modern D2C marketing by blending fashionable, functional ski-wear with a vibrant community experience.

More than just a product, they’ve created a lifestyle brand that connects with their audience beyond the slopes. Through their exclusive Slack community, customers get early access to product drops, special discounts, and a space to connect fellow ski enthusiasts.

Getting this kind of direct engagement not only builds serious brand loyalty, but also brings in valuable feedback and gets people talking - perfect for spreading the word naturally.

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5 - Allbirds

Allbrirds is another brand that thrives from D2C marketing by aligning a clear mission with a premium product and cohesive storytelling.

Known for their sustainable materials, minimalist design, and superior comfort, Allbirds puts the customer front and center - whether it's through intuitive online shopping or eco-conscious packaging.

Their brand identity is consistent, trustworthy, and purpose-driven, creating a smooth experience that resonates with modern customers. By encouraging customers to share their stories and experiences, Allbirds fuels organic growth and loyalty.

Allbirds’ D2C approach shows that when your values, design, and experience line up, customers not only buy, but they become your biggest fans and advocates.

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More Help & Guidance for Shopify D2C Brands

If you’re a D2C brand ready to scale your store and see more Shopify revenue growth - or a wholesale brand thinking about making the move to D2C - our team at StoreLab’s here to help. Our Shopify Growth Service is designed specifically to help businesses like yours thrive, offering support with everything from: