Direct-to-Consumer (DTC)

Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) is a business model where you sell your product directly to the end user, bypassing retailers, wholesalers, and middlemen. For a Niagara peach farmer, this means selling jams on your own Shopify site rather than just selling bulk to a grocery chain. This allows you to own the customer relationship and keep higher margins.

In this section, we discuss the shift toward DTC for local manufacturers. We cover the challenges (shipping, customer service) and the massive benefits (data ownership, brand loyalty). Even if you have retail partners, having a DTC channel protects your business from being delisted by a big store.