Turning Data into Gold — Own Your Customer Relationship - Sell Direct to Customers in India

Koeli Chatterjee
Sep 15, 2025
3 min read

Turning data into gold: Learn why brands must sell direct to customers in India to cut marketplace fees, own customer data, and grow profits.

In today’s hyper-competitive Indian market, the real treasure isn’t just products or delivery speed — it’s customer data. Turning data into gold means converting insights into repeat sales, loyalty, and brand growth. But here’s the catch: if you rely solely on marketplaces, that data isn’t yours. To unlock growth, you must sell direct to customers. This shift doesn’t just protect margins; it gives you full ownership of the customer relationship.

Ask yourself: do you know which customers will buy again? A direct sales channel lets you collect emails, phone numbers, product views and repeat purchase patterns. All marketplaces hold the data and you’re left guessing. Example A quick commerce app of your own puts segmentation, personalization, and retention firmly in your control.

The perils of the data black box — and how a platform to sell direct to customers solves it

Marketplaces often act as a data black box. A channel to sell direct to customers. removes the box: you see who bought, what they viewed, and when they churned. With a platform to sell direct to customers, you can run targeted campaigns, recover abandoned carts, and create loyalty programs that work. For Example brands that switch to their own quick commerce app report better re-engagement and higher LTV. Here are couple of examples

Mamaearth (D2C personal care brand): Mamaearth started on Amazon but quickly realized marketplace dependence meant paying high commissions and losing access to repeat buyers. By launching their own D2C website and app, they could sell direct to customers, collect email/phone numbers, and run targeted campaigns. Result: 50% of revenue now comes from direct channels — improving margins and brand loyalty.

Dominos India: Domino’s once relied heavily on food delivery aggregators. Today, more than 30 million Indians order directly through the Domino’s app/website every month, thanks to loyalty points, personalized offers, and faster refunds. By choosing to sell direct to customers, Domino’s built stronger repeat sales and saved millions in aggregator commissions.

Data-driven wins when you own the relationship via a quick commerce app

• Personalized marketing: Your own Web+Mobile app can fuels powerful personal recommendations.

• Retargeting & loyalty: Use your own D2C platform to send push, SMS and email that bring customers back.

• Feedback & product improvement: Collect reviews and iterate fast.

• Full funnel analytics: Track discovery to purchase inside your platform and remove conversion bottlenecks.

Why Turning Data into Gold Requires Selling Direct

Personalized Marketing

When you sell direct to customers, you know who they are and what they buy.

Example — boAt (consumer electronics): Initially marketplace-heavy, boAt built a strong D2C site. With owned data, they send personalized recommendations (e.g., earphones for gym users vs. audiophiles). This helped drive 20% higher repeat purchases.

Lower CAC, Higher LTV

Marketplaces force brands to reacquire the same buyer every time.

Example — Rebel Foods (Faasos, Behrouz Biryani): Rebel built its own app ecosystem. By selling direct to customers, it reduced dependence on Swiggy/Zomato for repeat orders, lowering CAC and increasing lifetime value per diner.

Actionable Feedback

Selling direct gives you unfiltered customer reviews and surveys.

Example — Lenskart: Their D2C model means feedback on fit, design, and delivery flows straight into product R&D. That’s harder to achieve if you only sell via Amazon.

4 Practical Steps to Sell Direct to Customers

Launch Your Branded Storefront: Platform like ECommNxt make it possible to go live with a ready to launch Quick-Commerce site and app in weeks — enabling you to sell direct to customers without a massive tech team.
Incentivize Direct Orders: Domino’s succeeded because they offered app-only rewards. You can do the same: loyalty points, exclusive bundles, or faster delivery for direct orders.
Deliver Experience That Beats Marketplaces: Speed, reliability, customer support, and issue resolution are critical. Domino’s promise of “30-min delivery” via their app is why customers stick with them directly.

Cost of Selling Direct vs Staying on Marketplaces

Marketplace Dependence: 30–40% commission per order, no customer data.
Custom Tech Build: ₹2–5 Cr upfront + ongoing maintenance.
Turnkey SaaS (like ECommNxt): ~Just 20% of custom cost, with built-in payments, CRM, loyalty, and delivery!