Ecommerce strategy for UK KBB brands and manufacturers
UK consumer goods and FMCG brands built their revenue through retail distribution. Most now face the same board-level question: how do we build a direct ecommerce channel without undermining the retail and grocery relationships that generate the majority of our revenue? Getting that question wrong is expensive. Getting it right opens a new commercial channel, improves margins and builds customer relationships that retailers will never give you.
Right Partners provides independent ecommerce and DTC strategy for UK consumer goods brands. No platform preference. No agency agenda. A clear commercial assessment of whether direct channels are right for your business — and if so, how to build them without the channel conflict that destroys retailer trust.
Three ecommerce problems UK consumer goods and FMCG brands face
These are not generic ecommerce problems. They are specific to the commercial structure of UK consumer goods brands selling through multiple channels simultaneously.
Building DTC without cannibalising retail and grocery accounts
The central commercial anxiety for any consumer goods brand considering DTC is whether direct online sales will undermine the retail, grocery and marketplace relationships that generate the majority of revenue. The answer is not a technology decision. It is a channel architecture decision — and it must be made before any build begins.
Protecting brand and margin on Amazon and marketplace channels
Amazon is simultaneously the largest sales opportunity and the greatest margin and brand control risk for UK consumer goods brands. Without a clear marketplace strategy — covering pricing discipline, listing quality, buy box management and brand registry — Amazon erodes margin and brand positioning simultaneously.
Building direct customer relationships in a category owned by retailers
Consumer goods brands that sell exclusively through retailers own no customer relationship and no first-party data. DTC ecommerce changes that — but only if the channel is built with customer acquisition, retention and lifetime value as the commercial objectives, not simply as an additional route to market.
What good DTC and ecommerce strategy actually looks like for consumer goods brands
Right Partners works with UK consumer goods and FMCG brands to define the commercial case for direct channels, design the channel architecture and govern delivery — in that order.
The first question is not which platform to use for DTC. It is whether DTC makes commercial sense for your brand at this stage — given your retail relationships, your margin structure, your customer acquisition costs and your operational capability. Right Partners builds the commercial case before any platform conversation begins.
The channel architecture — which products, at what prices, to which customers, through which channels — must be defined before any DTC build begins. A poorly designed channel architecture is the most common cause of DTC failure for consumer goods brands with existing retail distribution. Right Partners designs that architecture and manages the retailer communication process.
Amazon, Ocado and other marketplace channels are not alternatives to DTC — they are complementary. A consumer goods brand needs a clear and integrated strategy across DTC, marketplace and retail channels simultaneously. Right Partners develops that integrated channel strategy and defines the governance model for managing it.
A DTC ecommerce site without a customer acquisition strategy is an expensive product catalogue. Right Partners builds the customer acquisition framework — paid search, email, content and SEO — into the DTC commercial specification from day one, so the channel generates commercial return rather than just brand awareness.
Common questions from consumer goods and FMCG brands
The answer lies in channel architecture — defining which products, at what prices, to which customers, through which channels — before any build begins. A DTC channel that serves customers and categories not already well-served by your retail distribution does not compete with retailers. One that mirrors your retail range at identical prices almost certainly will. Right Partners defines that channel architecture and manages the retailer communication process before launch.
Further reading for consumer goods and FMCG brands
Talk to an independent ecommerce consultant for consumer goods and FMCG brands
Whether you are a UK consumer goods or FMCG brand considering DTC for the first time, building a marketplace strategy, evaluating a replatform, or trying to understand why your current ecommerce investment is not generating the commercial returns it should — book a free 60-minute conversation with Right Partners. No pitch. No platform preference. An honest commercial assessment.
Book a free 60-minute consultationNo obligation. No pitch. A straightforward conversation about your ecommerce challenge.