Innovation, product differentiation and what it means for your brand | So Good News

From healthy baby food to women’s intimate hygiene products to a healthy milk brand taking on industry giants – India’s D2C market is brimming with products like never before. While positively disrupting the Indian market, the journey of these differentiated products has been fraught with challenges. However, with the right approach and market strategies, these startups have been successful in carving out their niche.

Emerging D2C brands gathered at YourStory’s Brand Residency event to address the importance of offering products that address market gaps and how they approach their respective spaces. panel for ‘Differentiators: Product innovation‘ stood out Meghna NarayanCo-founder, Slurrp farm; Vikas Bagariafounder, Pee Safe; Chakradhar GadeCo-founder, Country pleasure; and Priy RanjanCo-founder and CEO, Shop.

Leveraging technology to scale and grow

Technology has played an important role in making these “differentiators” acceptable in the market, starting with the right advertisements aimed at the right customer groups. Companies like Shopflo have helped brands build and maintain their own teams by offering easy checkout solutions and ushering in the new era of e-commerce.

“Only 30 percent of people who visit a website become buyers. Shopflo works to reduce friction in the online shopping process, increase customer intent, and implement customer psychology workflows for brands to create experiences and help drive incremental conversions,” Priy explained.

Beginning its journey in 2013, Country Delight brought fresh, unadulterated milk directly to the consumer’s doorstep and entered an industry dominated by Indian dairy giants for many years. By embracing technological help from the beginning, Country Delight was able to not only succeed in the market, but also build a large number of loyal customers. “We realized that technology is a key component that gives us an advantage over the big players. And by using technology, you can expand your business in ways that others may not think possible. In such a short span of time, we have five supply chains across the country because we think technology is the number one solution to problems,” said Chakradhar.

Delivering the right message

Educating them about their products and their benefits is a challenge for many of these differentiators. Pee Safe’s Vikas shared that he was “surprised to know that this is the first product of its kind worldwide.” Speaking of its flagship product, the toilet seat cleaner. For products such as feminine hygiene and intimate health, finding the right target group and continuing to engage with them is essential. “My team suggested we target Gen-z because their health is a lifestyle. We still have a long way to go, but we’re glad that the younger generation is talking about it.” he said.

Meghana faced similar challenges in breaking stereotypes when launching her products. A health food brand for young children, Slurrp Farm has been defaulted to just another packaged product instead of its healthier alternative. “There is a perception that packaged food is harmful, without seeing its logic. We used digital media to deliver the message. We often show the entire process of manufacturing our products and how we use healthy alternatives to it,” he said.

Defining a niche

Access to multiple e-commerce channels along with a dedicated product website makes it easy for startups to launch innovative products. But finding the right niche for a product in this unique category of innovative products remains a challenge. “We chose a target group from puberty to menopause. We defined our vision and continued to come up with products that could solve the problems of this group,” shared Vikas.

The journey for any D2C business to thrive does not end with acquiring customers, but rather takes them to the next step of retaining said customers. This is where companies like Shopflo provide the support and guidance that brands need. “You can’t build a relationship with a customer as a D2C brand with a single sale. Repeat customers should receive special treatment, such as a hassle-free checkout experience and membership points, cashbacks, and more. are rewarded with privileges. Priy said.

With brands placing great emphasis on customer experience, innovating and offering unique products and at the same time trying to educate consumers about them, the future of differentiated D2C brands in India looks very promising in the near future.