Dan Frommer: Adopting new shopping behaviors – Well Made E127

For many Americans, COVID-19 lockdowns started in March, prompting a surge in ecommerce spending — five years' growth in three months. This stark jump in ecommerce has left a lot of industry experts asking how new ecommerce businesses can successfully launch in the midst of a pandemic, where does the ecommerce experience still falls short, and if the pandemic has permanently changed how we shop. 

To answer all these questions, we're talking to Dan Frommer. Dan is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of The New Consumer where he researches and writes about why and how people spend their money. (You may remember him from Episode 94.)

On this episode, Dan and Stephan reflect on the sudden uptick in ecommerce shopping since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (2:14). With more people buying their groceries online, Dan discusses what's still missing from the grocery ecommerce experience and why Trader Joe's says they're not going online (8:49).

Starting a new business is never easy, but launching in the midst of a pandemic comes with its own challenges. Dan makes a case for launching, even if in-person marketing is off the table (29:29). As more folks are making purchasing decisions online, the notoriously high acquisition costs of DTC brands could continue skyrocket if companies don't get creative (24:01).

Dan talks about finding your people on the internet and the value that can come from a niche brand (31:36). We've seen huge legacy brands like PepsiCo explore direct-to-consumer recently. While DTC is barely a drop in the bucket of their overall business, Dan talks about the value this kind of direct business has for massive brands (36:18). Finally, he talks about the growth of The New Consumer and his plans to grow his audience in the future (41:30).

Also mentioned in this episode: 

• Instacart starts self-serve ad platform to connect brands with shoppers
• Ep.86: Chasing the Sun with Aishwarya Iyer, founder of Brightland
• Ep. 126: Decolonizing spices with Sana Javeri Kadri, founder of Diaspora Co.
• Ep. 125: Making it onto the grocery list with Chris Kirby, founder of Ithaca Hummus
  
• Matt Newberg, Hngry blog
• Inside Trader Joe's podcast
• Ghia and the new sobriety
• Why natural deodorant is suddenly everywhere
• Orchid Bertelsen, Head of Digital Innovation at Nestle
• Matt Mullenweg's tweet about blogging
  
• Anne Helen Peterson, formerly at Buzzfeed
• Stoop, a newsletter app