As we delve deeper into the various stages of building a D2C brand in India, we’ve been taking you through the various key aspects of growing D2C brands. While our last episode talked about D2C brand building, in this fifth episode of the Learn With Simpl webinar series, we discussed Pricing and Promotion Strategies for D2C brands with a stellar panel of speakers including – Pankaj Garg, DailyObjects, Ishendra Agarwal, Giva, Sidhant Madan, MasterChow and Simpl’s Nitya Sharma who moderated the discussion.

The right pricing and promoting strategies can be a crucial lever to the success of any business. Still, when you think about it, pricing is more psychological than it is logical – which makes it a very subjective concept. While a person might be open to spending X on a certain product, they might think twice about spending the same on another product. This is because the price is relative to the buyer’s needs and desires.

“Pricing is emotional, behavioral and an important part of any business growth strategy”

Their Journeys

Founded 10 years ago, DailyObjects entered the space when there was no such thing as D2C. Pankaj noticed that on the one hand, buying good accessories for electronics was a bit of a hassle, while on the other hand, most accessories were just functional and not pleasing to the eye. That was Pankaj’s eureka moment for DailyObjects – he wanted to create accessories that are aesthetic and of good quality. Ten years later, we’re here with DailyObjects growing to become one of the largest brands in the electronics accessories space in India.

Ishendra Agarwal on the other hand was a serial entrepreneur, founding startups in multiple spaces before venturing into the consumer category. Before starting Giva, Ishendra spent a considerable amount of time as a management consultant and also worked at an early-stage venture capital firm to get a deeper understanding of the startup ecosystem. 

The idea behind Giva was that gap in the market where women couldn’t find jewelry at a more accessible price range – allowing them to buy multiple pieces to go with different outfits. Giva is now a household name for fashion jewelry with over 1.5 lac people visiting their online stores on a daily basis and around 35 exclusive stores apart from a huge presence on marketplaces and store counters.

The MasterChow journey was very different from the others – Sidhant moved back to India from abroad and wanted to start something of his own when he noticed a gap in the Chinese food market where there was cheap Chinese food and a very expensive 5-star experience, but there was nothing that was quick, affordable and wholesome. 

He and his co-founder then started a chain of restaurants that were successful but had to shut shop during the pandemic and that’s when the aha moment for MasterChow came in. As the restaurants had shut, Sidhant had customers calling in and asking for their sauces, which gave birth to MasterChow.

Key Takeaways on Pricing and Promotion

• The problem is not price, it’s perception. As a brand, you must be able to justify your pricing with your product or service.
• Pricing is a reflection of the audience you’re trying to target.
• Identify the perfect price to price your product at and then figure out your costs including marketing spends, overheads, etc. Your price needs to exhibit a value for money because India is a value market.
• Brand perception is key – you can’t start with lower pricing and then move to premium and vice versa.
• Price your products so that its accessible to your target market.

Wrapping Up

We ended this session with more detailed insights into the right pricing and promotion strategies for D2C business while Pankaj, Ishendra and Sidhant also took some questions from the audience as well.

For more insights into the Right Pricing and Promotion Strategies for D2C Brands, watch the webinar recording now!