The next growth opportunity for manufacturing companies - Already in your portfolio, but invisible in sales reports.

Manufacturing companies invest millions in developing new product lines that never reach their potential. Not because the products are weak. Not because the market is too small. But because they are sold through the wrong channel.

“Ready-to-use” products, with no need for professional installation, are sold via the same B2B channels as standard commodity goods. They get stuck in multi-step distribution, lose visibility, and pick up margin costs at every stop. Resellers rarely push them. The value proposition gets diluted. And in the end, the numbers disappoint.

The result: High-potential products underperform. Sales stay flat. R&D investment turns into sunk costs. Over time, innovation slows down – not due to a lack of ideas, but due to lost belief.

A better path? Build a direct-to-consumer (D2C) channel where it makes sense.

More than just new revenue streams: What you can gain from creating direct-to-consumer channels.  

By creating their own D2C channel selectively for underperforming product lines with a clear channel misfit, manufacturers can exploit the products‘ potential and create new revenue streams — without disrupting the core B2B business. The benefits are clear:  

• Regain consumer pricing control by removing unnecessary margin stacking

• Benefit from strong product promoter roles via owned channels

• Generate direct customer insights through first-hand interaction

In a nutshell: Critical elements to build a D2C channel as a manufacturer.  

Building a D2C channel requires a set of deliberate strategic choices.  

• The organizational setup: The setup must allow speed and independence, often best achieved through a separate unit.  

• Skills needed: Digital marketing, e-commerce, fulfilment logistics, and data analytics are the skills needed.  

• Marketing, sales & branding: End-customer targeting, pricing, and brand strategy must be aligned from the start, balancing D2C freedom with existing B2B relationships. Sales and marketing channels must be selected carefully and tested to ensure consistent brand presence and customer reach.  

• Logistics: Optimized for small to medium parcel, high-frequency deliveries - Logistics should be fulfilled via specialized partners.  

• Stakeholder management: A critical element — not only to avoid conflict, but to keep B2B distribution partners engaged and motivated.  
  

Core products must continue to perform well through existing channels. The D2C initiative will focus only on one underperforming product line without risking the trust and performance of the core distribution network.

Now is the time to ask the right questions. Could one of your underperforming products succeed in a direct model and become a new revenue stream?

Not years but month - Our pragmatic roadmap

What might mistakenly be seen as years of work can be a straightforward, fast process.  

In our whitepaper “From B2B to D2C: Why, when and how manufacturers should sell underperforming products direct-to-consumer" we presents a pragmatic roadmap for B2B manufacturing companies to start a D2C channel for a specific product line — with a shop live in 3 months and profitability forecasted in 12 months at the latest.  

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