🎁Tohfa,Tohfa,Tohfa

Starter Babies, ITC's Bite, Meta's CPMs, Nua's Funding

Hi Surgies 👋

Let’s start with the one graph that brings together all D2C founders and marketing folks. Meta recently reported its financial results for the quarter in which it stated that the average price per ad increased by 14%. Let that sink in for a minute before you sigh ROI (or ROAS).

🗞️Marketplace Buzz

• Guess who’s back? Back again. The Shein India app is live. Reliance Retail just launched the app, marking the Chinese fashion giant’s return after being banned in 2020. This time, it’s all ‘Made in India-ish’ with Reliance handling all local sourcing, data, and logistics.

  • What this means:
    ✅ Shein gets to sell legally in India again
    ✅ Reliance strengthens its dominance in fashion retail
    ✅ Myntra and Nykaa start sweating

  Shein’s return is another reminder that in Indian retail, nothing is truly gone forever – except maybe your attention span after scrolling Insta for an hour.

• Non-grocery items now account for 14% of Instamart orders - a 4x increase as compared to last year This is a good indicator of how quick-commerce is taking business from modern retail and e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart

• Zepto, last year became the world’s second most downloaded mobile app in the foods and drinks category, according to data Sensor Tower released recently. McDonald’s was the most downloaded. Blinkit was the tenth most downloaded app in the category. Ok, now you know.

  

• Flipkart is reportedly looking to expand its dark store count to 500-550 ahead of its Big Billion Days sale this year. This massive expansion represents a substantial increase from the company's current network of fulfilment centres and marks a significant investment in strengthening its quick commerce capabilities.

• Logistics giant DTDC is launching rapid delivery in 2-4 hours. Because waiting for 10-minute groceries was already too long, right? As part of its strategic move, the company has set up its first Dark Store in Bengaluru, signalling the beginning of a hyperlocal fulfilment ecosystem that will significantly improve the speed and efficiency of last-mile deliveries. The move will enable D2C (Direct-to-Consumer) brands and social commerce sellers to provide rapid and efficient delivery services across India.

• Amazon and DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) just linked up to push Indian exports to $200-300 billion by 2030. Currently, 125,000+ Indian exporters are already selling on Amazon’s Global Selling program. Net net, a great move to help cut the export red tape, boost MSMEs, and turn India into an e-commerce export powerhouse.

🍕D2C Snippets

• The Derma Co. (Honasa Consumer Limited) is stepping out of the digital world and into real-life skincare convos! With four exclusive brand outlets open in major Indian cities, they’re going beyond e-commerce to build an offline skincare empire. Expect experiential zones, beauty experts dropping skincare wisdom, and a whole lot of talk about active ingredients—because glowing skin needs more than just an online cart. ✨

• 🥟 ITC wants a bigger bite of Prasuma. Looks like ITC isn’t just smoking cigarettes anymore—it’s steaming dumplings too! The company is eyeing a full takeover of Prasuma, the brand that made momos mainstream. It is planning to acquire a 100% stake over the next three years.

  

• FMCG companies like Hindustan Unilever, Marico, and Parle are creating separate teams for quick commerce due to their need for a faster stock turnaround and distinct product portfolios. Quick commerce requires more agile logistics, with companies replenishing stock almost daily, compared to once or twice a week for traditional e-commerce.

• Hair Raising💰: Hair extensions brand Hair Originals has raised $5 million in a series A funding. The company will utilise the funds to open experience centres, expand its ‘try-at-home’ service, and research & development initiatives. Founded by Jitendra Sharma and Piyush Wadhwani, Hair Originals specialises in premium, ethically sourced, 100% natural hair extensions.

• 🏠 Pepperfry’s Not-So-Great FY24: The company’s losses are shrinking (down 37.5% YoY), but growth is still MIA. Maybe people aren’t impulse-buying chairs anymore? Either way, they need to pull off some serious home makeover magic to stay in the game.

• 💄Kumar Mangalam Birla’s daughter, Ananya, is launching a new beauty and cosmetics venture. The venture will launch various beauty and personal care brands by 2025. The billion-dollar Indian beauty market still has room for one more celeb-backed brand.

• Speaking of celebs, Deepika Padukone-backed Nua just bagged ₹35 Cr to push wellness & personal care products further. While Bollywood celebs launching brands is nothing new, Nua is doing good numbers - It became profitable in Q2, and crossed Rs. 100 crore net revenue ARR in Q3.

• FirstCry just got a little closer to profitability, trimming its Q3 losses by 69% to ₹15 crore. The baby care giant is tightening its diaper-uh, expenses- while boosting revenues, showing signs of steady growth. The Pune-based company’s consolidated operating revenue increased 14.3% to Rs 2,172 Cr, up from Rs 1,900 Cr in the same period last year. Its subsidiary, GlobalBees, contributed Rs 422 Cr to the total revenue.

• 🛍️ Move over Shein. Tata’s Trent ( the company that operates Zudio and Westside) is doubling down on a D2C fast fashion model. Not new to the online world, Westside has seen its online revenues growing by 45% year-to-date, contributing over 6% to total revenue.

📺Brandwagon

The e-commerce ad game is on fire! From nostalgic throwbacks to emotional rollercoasters, brands are pulling out all the stops- both online and offline to go viral. And let’s be real, it’s working… because we’re all adding-to-cart. 🛍️

Check out Swiggy’s Tohfa Tohfa Tohfa ad…

swiggy_instamart

A post shared by @swiggy_instamart

📚Reads and Recommendations

• The organised ethnic savoury snacks market in India is worth ₹19,300+ crore and is expected to grow at 11% CAGR till FY 2027. However, Haldiram’s, Balaji Wafers, and Bikaji Foods together hold 54% of the organised ethnic savoury snack market. Space for D2C brands here?

• The ghosts we inherited when it comes to money, spending and wealth. We're caught in a bizarre tug-of-war between our parents' fear of loss and our fear of missing out. A great thread by Raj Kunkolienkar.

• Decision-makers are losing trust in SEO as a channel. However SEO isn’t dead, the game has changed. If SEO is a game, winning in SEO now requires adjusting based on the flow (intent) of the game instead of counting cards (keywords).

• Starter Baby: Pet food demand in India is growing as more couples delay having children and opt for pets, making them 'starter babies.'

• Since we're bonding about ‘marketing mehenga ho gaya hai’ here's another thing which D2C founders discuss and rant about when they're down 3 beers (or 2 chais). Returns.

🔥That’s all for this week! As always, share this with your fellow D2C hustlers, and let’s keep the community growing.

PS: Folks at some companies have told us this newsletter is almost mandatory weekly reading for their teams 🥰. If your company is not in on it yet, get your teams on the latest in the e-commerce space every week.