Hello! 👋

The weekend was all hands on deck due to the Amazon Prime day sales so we pushed the Pulse by a day. Hope all the D2C brands had a great weekend driving sales. We hear that the sales growth was great in some categories.

Ecommerce sale season is officially here!

What’s sizzling hot? 🔥

⚔️The Video Shopping War is On

The video OG YouTube is planning to rollout shopping features in India in the coming weeks. Even better is the Shopify integration announcement. The Shopify partnership will allow eligible YouTube creators to directly connect their Shopify stores to their profiles, which syncs inventory and enables onsite checkout “so that viewers can complete their purchases without leaving YouTube”.

The social e-commerce battle will now be fought between the likes of Meesho, Shopsy and Youtube. The short video apps are not far behind and are also experimenting with this format.

A few months ago it was reported that Dailyhunt’s short video app Josh was readying its live commerce feature. According to reports, live commerce through short video platforms is expected to reach $5 billion by 2025.

While other short video platforms such as Chingari and Trell (facing troubles in recent days) have also ventured into live commerce. Short video platform Moj had announced a partnership with e-commerce player Flipkart to enable ‘live e-commerce’ on its platform last year.

This area is getting hotter with multiple options for brands and creators to experiment with in the coming months.

🗞️Marketplace Updates

• Nykaa has launched an incubation programme, Beauty&You India, in partnership with`Estée Lauder. India-focused beauty startups and entrepreneurs can apply and the winning applicants will be awarded non-equity grant money. Go for it folks!

• Indiamart’s operating revenue grew to INR 224.6 Cr in Q1 FY23 from INR 181.6 Cr in the corresponding quarter last year. However Net Profit declined by 47%

• On a lighter note: Myntra ruled the social game by fixing Ranveer Singh’s nude pic

🍪 D2C Bites

• Logistics technology platform Shiprocket has acquired Arvind Internet Limited’s omnichannel technology business – Omuni for INR 200 Cr

• D2C footwear brand Plaeto, which makes footwear for children, raised INR 40 Cr. Its products contain a proprietary fit liner that allows the user to get a size more from the same product.

• A quick round-up of celebs and their investments in D2C brands.

• Emami has picked up a 30% stake in pet care startup Cannis Lupus in an all-cash deal. In March this year, Emami picked up a 19% equity stake in nutrition-focused D2C FMCG startup TruNativ for an undisclosed amount. In June last year, the company invested another INR 50 Cr in a men-focused grooming brand, The Man Company.

Brands that caught our eyes 👀

🍸To kill a mocking drink

With not many options available for non-drinkers, Pankaj (now founded of Coolberg) didn't want to order fancy-looking mocktails served with an umbrella and a nice twisted straw. Hence he launched, Coolberg, a non-alcoholic beverage brand that offers non-alcoholic beers in seven flavours – cranberry, peach, ginger, malt, strawberry, mint, and cranberry. 

🧢 A leather in one’s cap

The Black Canvas is a nook where you’ll find awesome leather products produced in Dharavi. Founded by Khyati Dodhia - a photographer, maker, artist and crafter, the brand is dedicated to crafting quality leather products that are made with thoughtfulness, and attention to detail.

Trend of the week: 📈

Healthy Vegan beverages 🐄🐄🐄

Nut milk, spiced black tea, haldi latte (vegan), classic Kombucha, superfood juices, there is also ‘No Coffee - coffee’….for all the Gen Zs and Millennials, who are either lactose intolerant or choosing to go woke & vegan, D2C brands have upped their game with exciting offerings. Check out few of the brands that caught our eye this week:

Reads and Recommendations 📚

• Snap wiped off 10B USD from its market cap on the back of poor results. Ths company blamed it on slowing growth rate, ‘sophisticated’ competitors and ‘incredibly’ challenging conditions. The DAUs were’nt bad though at 347 million

• The story of Milky Mist and the Dairy Industry in India

• Optimizing your D2C site. Time to revisit the basics before we start spending on ads!

That’s all for this week!

Stay tuned for more insights about the D2C ecosystem in India.

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