With the rapid online growth and the continuing problems affecting the manufacturing sector, it is time for manufacturers to bypass their retail compadres and step into the customer direct market. Although retail is partly struggling with the on- and off-line mix, the boom in digital commerce has impacted manufacturing less, as the solution has historically been an easy one. Manufacturers supplied dealers, who marketed the drug to end consumers at a mark-up

Selling directly has some very obvious advantages. It helps manufacturers to gather better feedback about their product for a start. This involves getting a deeper understanding of end-users through direct interactions, and managing the end-to - end experience, rather than offering an intermediary the ability.

Although the direct sales idea is not a new one, a number of direct sales brands have arisen and become popular over the past few years – which will help drive the growth of the sector. In reality, Forrester expects the market to rise by 18 per cent up to 2022 at a CAGR (compound annual growth). Hence, will manufacturers consider opening up new channels of sales to help not only fuel new business prospects but also profit avenues?

Selling directly ensures that the product of a supplier is not lined up next to that of a rival-or worse, in a less visible spot. Putting yourself up front offers more chances of conversion. It also discourages consumers from buying imitation stock by increasing their chances of buying original stock

All of this helps build customer relationships, and in a time when loyalty is dwindling and 86 percent of buyers will pay more for better customer experience, incentives like this should not be marginally ignored. Recently Episerver conducted research that showed that 59 percent of respondents want to study directly on a company site, and 55 percent want to purchase directly from brands – it's no wonder that this year's number of manufacturers investing in this avenue is expected to increase by 71 percent.

Through economies of scale, most producers are used to selling – larger shipments that enable consumers to purchase more products at a better price. Sales to customers directly mean retailing single units but potentially very voluminous, which is a very different business model. Manufacturers need to be prepared for this change and the potential cost implications regarding how they get the product to the consumer from the warehouse.

It won't be a simple change in direction to move into the direct sales room, and it will require significant amounts of time and investment to do it successfully. There are however ways to overcome the challenges outlined above, and thus pave the way for diversification.

Distributors should build their own labels to surmount conflicts. Majestic and Naked Wines is a perfect example of this-separate brands owned by one business but acting differently and selling. Marketplaces can provide attractive opportunities, too. This provides an excellent move in the direct customer sales world because while you might argue that you simply replace one sales channel with another; more control and data are given by marketplaces. Plus, they are a good alternative in the short term to no presence while more structured operations are being set up.

Own-branded, co-branded, and white-label platforms are also potential alternative strategies. Direct customer sales demonstrate how goods can be opened up to new markets across various channels.

Given the chaos currently underway in the manufacturing sector, it is not shocking that direct customer sales is seeing tremendous growth, with many seeing it as an opportunity to raise profit margins and inform product strategy. For others, it might be too big a risk for now, but the chance to get closer to the consumers might be too good to ignore for existing market players. Time is money and the longer producers think about the opportunities, the greater the profits they lose.