India’s D2C revolution: what actually builds brand loyalty

Forbes India, in partnership with DTDC, has launched an eight-part podcast series, Behind India’s D2C Revolution. The conversations with Open Secret, Plum Goodness, The House of Rare, mCaffeine, Go DESi, Wonderchef, Snitch and Epigamia track a structural change in Indian retail: the direct-to-consumer model is moving from a launch story to a loyalty story.

The trial-loyalty gap

A recurring idea in the series is the gap between a first order and a repeat order. A first purchase may simply mean a customer was curious. A repeat purchase is stronger evidence that the brand has earned a place in someone’s routine. Epigamia’s founders make this distinction explicit when discussing Greek yogurt and protein-led dairy: demand was never the issue, accessibility was.

That reframe matters because many D2C brands still measure themselves on acquisition. The series suggests the more durable metric is repeat behaviour—whether a consumer chooses the product again after the novelty fades.

Staying distinctive after discovery

mCaffeine’s Tarun Sharma describes the new challenge bluntly: “The challenge is no longer simply getting noticed. It is remaining distinctive after consumers have seen hundreds of similar claims.” In crowded personal care, getting a consumer to click is not the win. The win is being remembered when they see shelf after shelf of similar promises.

Plum Goodness takes a different route to distinctiveness: it refused the fairness-cream market. By aligning product with a clear value, the brand turned a no into a trust signal. The point is not moral posturing; it is that clear values can reduce the cost of competing on sameness.

Omnichannel is brand experience, not distribution

Snitch’s episode makes the case that fashion’s future is not online-only. Digital discovery brings consumers in, but physical retail offers something an app cannot—touch, feel and try. That makes a store a brand-building engine, not just a point of sale. The same logic appears in Wonderchef’s kitchen-appliance story: as expectations move from delivery in days to delivery in minutes, logistics becomes part of how consumers perceive the brand.

What to do about it

• Measure repeat orders alongside first purchases, and treat the gap as a brand signal.
• Use values or a distinctive position to survive the “hundreds of similar claims” problem.
• Design stores and logistics as brand experiences, not back-office functions.
• Watch Tier 2 and Tier 3 demand, where digital access and delivery are opening the next phase of growth.

For brand managers and founders, the series points to one practical shift: optimise for the second purchase, not just the first. The next D2C winners will be the brands that turn curiosity into routine.

Source: Forbesindia