Online Brands Try a Traditional Marketing Strategy: Retail Stores

This article discusses the trend of DTC brands pivoting into traditional marketing through the opening of new retail spaces, specifically with more obtainable lease terms as landlords are hoping to attract new customers by shortening lease terms. This shift is a result of many DTC brands being forced to rethink their customer acquisition strategy because the costs of acquiring through competitive digital channels have become just too high. Daniel McCarthy, a professor at Emory University cites that "customer acquisition costs range from $100 to more than $800 per customer" and with the continued privacy measures from Apple and Google this cost might be tough to justify given these changes have made it harder to target customers and potentially hurting campaign ROAS. And while I see the importance of in person marketing and creating a space where DTC brands can highlight their product in person, I don't think this shift will take the place of strong digital marketing campaigns - there is just no better way to successfully reach a broad and highly targeted audience. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/23/business/direct-consumer-retail-stores.html