👋 Hello!

Welcome to mid-week D2C Pulse: A bite-sized newsletter where we cover:

🌎 Exciting products from e-commerce markets of the world

🗞 Developments in online marketplaces globally

📊 Fun facts about the D2C ecosystem

Today’s pick:

🇺🇸Going Global: United States of America

There is no dearth of impressive things to say about the United States, from its status as the world’s leading supplier of entertainment to being home to a diverse consumer base. There are so many D2C stories that we want to share, so we’ll cover USA in many parts.

Talking business, USA is one of the first few countries that explored online shopping and brought seismic shifts in the shopping industry. Brands like DollarShaveClub, StitchFix, and Allbirds made it big and now there are new D2C brands appearing all the time!

Pulse Check: USA is the world's largest economy and 2nd largest e-comm market after China, with Adorkables popping up every day. US e-comm business is expected to hit over USD 875 bn in 2022 with Amazon.com accounting for roughly half 😲😲 of the total business.

Adorkables refers to a growing gang of disruptive brands, that deftly target Gen Z with a jarring visual aesthetic and an authentic emotional appeal.” by Ben Schott

Few American Adorkables maniacally focused on leading innovation for customers:

💇‍♂️ Be your own muse with Hairtelligence which makes personalized wigs using AI technology. You can create one of a kind look for yourself- choose the color, style, material, and more!

👃 Smell in virtual reality with OVR’s scent device that straps to the bottom of any VR headset and connects via Bluetooth. The device contains a replaceable cartridge that is essentially filled with scented liquid. The release of Scent molecules intensifies and fades with proximity to VR objects.

📻 Yoto is making bedtime ‘fun and screen-free’ for kids- with a speaker that works by plugging into a physical card that plays only audio content. Fables, novels, sleeping sounds, there is a card for everything and the library keeps on updating with new content. Essentially, an Adorkable version of stereos and cassettes!🤷🏻‍♂️

🐿️ Snack with impact! Pulp Pantry sells chips that are made from the fiber left over after juicing vegetables: the best part of the healthiest foods!

🎨 A new way to live with art..art subscription service. Gertrude subscribers can choose from artworks of over 30 artists and keep them for a fixed monthly subscription fee, later choose to swap, return or buy these pieces.

🗞️ Global Updates

1. Instagram is bringing 3D avatars to its stories and DM and an educational portal to aspiring creators.

2. Twitter is testing a shopping feature that lets users browse products within the app.

3. Facebook has to pay a token fine of €17 mn for breach of data protection laws in Ireland.

4. Amazon has launched a live radio app- a Clubhouse-like competitor. People can create live radio shows where they can DJ, talk with callers and play tracks from a catalog that has millions of licensed songs.

📊 Graph-iti Of The Day

Everyone likes to Buy Now. Unfortunately, data shows they’re struggling with the “pay later” part:

Source

That’s all for today! Have a great long weekend!

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That’s all for today! We hope you enjoyed this mid-week treat. If you liked it, give us a ❤️ below! Also, if there is any specific country you want us to cover next week, do let us know in the comments section.