Direct to Consumer: Rite of Passage | Consumer Insights - Jan 2022

The rite of passage

Direct-to-consumer is the biggest trend in retail today, but it is proving difficult for investors to make money from this secular shift at present. The share price performances of the thirteen Direct-to-Consumer stocks that have listed on AIM or the main market in 2021 have been disappointing with only CMO Group, Marks Electrical and Virgin Wines trading ahead. It has not been much better for the DTC companies that listed prior to last year with the share prices of THG, boohoo, ASOS and AO World all having a torrid time in the autumn of 2021. 2021 saw 108 IPOs in London, and the pipeline remains open for business, including several more DTC companies where appetite does not seem to have been fully sated. GymShark is scheduled to IPO in early 2022, according to the media.

In this report, we highlight the cases, growth trajectories and strategies of the following DTC brands: CMO Group, Marks Electrical, Virgin Wines, ProCook, Moonpig, Artisinal Spirits, musicMagpie, Seraphine, Revolution Beauty, MADE.com, In The Style, Victorian Plumbing and Parsley Box.