Saffola edible oil maker Marico has been focusing on building its food portfolio and a house of D2C brands. With portfolio expansion, the FMCG giant’s go-to-market strategy (GTM) has evolved. The company currently sells across modern trade, e-commerce, B2B, and general trade. For its food business, Marico is identifying the right food outlets in the top cities of the country and glueing them together, thus ensuring that the salesmen target and sell the right portfolio to the right outlet.
In terms of product pricing and SKU size, he said that the GTM strategy on a broad level depends on the category and brand positioning.
For its healthy food D2C brand True Elements, in which Marico last year acquired a 54 percent stake, the retailer is largely focused on e-commerce and is available in very select modern trade stores. But premium products too can be retailed across general trade by maintaining a balance with limited volumes and distribution. For its premium portfolio, Marico is leveraging modern trade across key cities at the initial stage, followed by going beyond top markets.
In contrast to Saffola, which retails at a price point as low as Rs 10, the FMCG giant is a mass distributor and is available across a large number of outlets. D2C go-to-market strategy: “A business is digital by nature because the majority of its business and sales come from the D2C network or through e-commerce.
It is important to understand that a D2C brand should have a critical mass digital presence. Otherwise, the company loses its core consumers. Furthermore, after building a consumer base beyond e-commerce, the D2C brand should ensure that it offers relevant and lower-priced SKUs to its offline customers.