Short, sharp, occasionally uncomfortable observations on Indian D2C. Written for operators, not scrollers.
An 8x ROAS can be a losing business. Returns strip the revenue side, discounts strip the margin — and the platform counts both as wins. The number agencies celebrate is measured at the ad account, not at the bank.
Watch contribution margin per order and blended CAC instead. They're harder to compute and impossible to fake. That's the point.
If your dashboard says 8x and your bank account says otherwise, believe the bank.
Every unnecessary sale teaches your customer one thing: wait. Discounting rents revenue from next month and calls it growth.
The brands that win D2C in India hold price on the product and discount only the first purchase — acquisition moments, not slow weeks. If you can't sell at full price, the problem is the offer, the proof, or the product. Not the price.
Full-price customers are the business. Everyone else is sampling it.
The heated debate has a boring answer: sequence. Marketplaces are where scale lives — built-in demand, trust, and logistics your own site will pay years to match. Your website is where margin and data live.
Win marketplace velocity first: it funds the business and builds the review base. Then build direct with the profits. Founders who go site-first usually end up buying expensive traffic for shoppers marketplace sellers already convert for free.
Marketplace pays the bills. Your site builds the moat. Do them in that order.
Impressions, reach, engagement rate — these aren't results. They're what gets reported when money can't be. A partner worth keeping can tell you contribution margin, CAC by channel, and what every rupee returned.
One question ends every agency meeting: "How much money did this make?" If the answer starts with "engagement," you have a vendor. If it starts with a number, you have a partner.
Report cards are for impressions. Bank statements are for businesses.
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