Companies that internalized the episode of Friends where Ross is screaming PIVOT... are probably doing really well right now.

Ipsy is proof of this. Well, maybe not proof of internalizing Ross Gellar's voice, but proof of what a successful pivot can do. We'll explain.

We've also got fresh data from our DTC index plus some updates on USPS price changes. 

How is DTC growth trending over time?

📉7 day -0.64% |  📉30 day -1.94%  |  📈90 day +4.68%

How are churn and new revenue trending over time?

MRR Gain -20.07%

MRR Loss +8.5%

MRR gain is new revenue from either acquired customers or upgrades in a given month. MRR loss is churn, or lost revenue from cancellations or downgrades. 

Overall DTC growth is valued at 1962 points today—decreasing 0.64% over the last week. DTC growth peaked around June 30th and has steadily gone down since. 

MRR gain* is down 20.07% since last week and down 0.52% over the last 24 hours. This means we are seeing significantly less upgrades and new revenue for ecommerce and media companies. 

MRR loss* has improved 8.5% over the last week—meaning we aren't seeing as much churn and downgrades. The last 24 hours, however, we're seeing a bit of churn with MRR loss going down 0.85%. 

Know anyone who might also benefit from this data? Send me their email address to grace.g@profitwell.com and I'll hook them up. Or, they can subscribe directly at index.profitwell.com.

SHIPPING

USPS announces temporary price change

The United States Postal Service announced on Friday that it is temporarily raising prices effective Oct. 18, 2020.

USPS says the temporary price adjustments are in response to increased expenses and heightened demand for online shopping package volume. The Postal Service is planning a time-limited price increase on all commercial domestic competitive package volume from Oct. 18 until Dec. 27, 2020. 

These planned prices have been approved by the Governors of the Postal Service. They say the temporary increased rates will keep the Postal Service competitive. 

Here are the planned price changes: 

Image Credit: USPS

The press release sharing this announcement indicated that these price adjustments are a direct result of increased online shopping from the coronavirus pandemic.

There are a few takeaways here. The first being that the digital transformation has impacted not only online retailers, but also the postage industry. With millions of online orders being completed daily, mail carriers have become overwhelmed. Raising prices is one way to lessen the impact.

Second, your direct to consumer business needs to make a game plan on how to account for these upcoming price changes. Consider how they will impact your business model. How will you handle charging customers for shipping & handling?

Will you continue to offer free shipping? Or perhaps you could increase the threshold that brings customers to free shipping. 

If USPS price increases are impacting your business, I'm curious to know how. Drop me a note at grace.g@profitwell.com and we can chat. 

PRODUCT

No kitten around here

Litter-ally nothing smells worse than soiled cat litter.  

If you agree, let me introduce you to PrettyLitter. 

Image Credit: PrettyLitter Instagram

Touted as “the world’s smartest cat litter,” PrettyLitter traps odor instantly and eliminates moisture so you never have to smell that stank again. 

Another cool plus: PrettyLitter changes color to tell you when your cat has a potential health issue. With cats being notorious for hiding illnesses, this feature is a huge benefit. 

Make the switch right meow → purchase PrettyLitter here 

LEARN

Here's what else I'm reading:

Here we go... PIVOT!!

Ipsy, the subscription beauty retailer, pivoted when the pandemic first hit to focus more on personalization—driving more shoppers to its Glam Bag subscriptions. As a result of this pivot, Ipsy's new customers grew 60% month over month since mid-March to end of July. Additionally, it generated more than triple the revenue during this period compared to the 2.5 months pre COVID-19, according to Digital Commerce 360. Despite people not dressing up, Ipsy found a way to make beauty and skincare products still relevant. When the tough gets going, your business needs to get creative in order to do well. For more on Ipsy's pivot → click here for the full story. 

Our complete guide to DTC

The market is moving to direct to consumer mainly because of changes in consumer expectations, advancements in technology, and shrinking margins from multichannel retail. Level your brand's DTC model → read our full DTC guide.

Dropps makes waves

Dropps, the DTC cleaning product company, was named the fastest-growing private company based in Philadelphia on Inc. magazine's annual Inc. 5000 list. Dropps has seen steady growth over the past few years, but the founder and CEO attributes recent growth to the coronavirus pandemic. The DTC model has no doubt been a catalyst for Dropps' success and helped the company against big laundry. If you want to compete against big players, do something different. For Dropps, different meant DTC. For more on how Dropps' DTC model accelerated growth → click here

That's all for this week's edition of the DTC Download. For the weekly hook up, straight to your inbox, visit index.profitwell.com to sign up. And, of course, if you have news or ideas you'd like to share, send me a note at grace@profitwell.com

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