E-Commerce / DTC Pitch
Brand, margins, and customer lifetime value
How to pitch a direct-to-consumer brand — showing product-market fit through repeat purchase rates, demonstrating brand equity, proving unit economics work with rising CAC, and building a path beyond just Facebook ads.
Cover Slide
Brand name, category, and traction hook.
💡 What to Include
- Lead with your best metric
- Include a beautiful product photo
- Category and positioning in the tagline
⚠️ Common Mistakes
- No product imagery
- Tagline about the mission instead of the product
📝 Example
Evergreen — Premium sustainable basics that last. $4.2M revenue (Year 1) | 68% repeat rate | Raising $5M Series A
The Problem / Category Insight
Why the current options fail consumers.
💡 What to Include
- Focus on consumer frustration, not industry problems
- Show the gap between what exists and what consumers want
- Use consumer quotes or survey data
- Connect to a macro consumer trend
⚠️ Common Mistakes
- Industry-level problem (not consumer-felt)
- No connection to consumer trends
- Problem that's too niche
📝 Example
Fast fashion basics (H&M, Zara) fall apart after 5 washes. Premium basics (Everlane, Lululemon) cost $60-80 per item. Consumers want: quality that lasts + fair price + sustainability. 73% of millennials willing to pay more for sustainable products, but 62% say sustainable options are too expensive or too ugly.
The Product
Show your product — beautiful imagery is essential.
💡 What to Include
- High-quality product photos are non-negotiable
- Show the quality/price advantage visually
- Include third-party quality certifications
- Show the product line breadth
⚠️ Common Mistakes
- No product photos
- Feature list without quality proof
- Too many SKUs for early stage
📝 Example
[Full-page product photography] Evergreen basics: $28-45 per item • 100% organic Pima cotton (same mills as $120 luxury brands) • Designed to last 50+ washes (3x industry standard) • Carbon-neutral manufacturing • 5 core colors, 12 styles — capsule wardrobe approach Blind test: 82% preferred Evergreen quality over Everlane at 40% lower price.
Traction
Revenue, repeat rates, and customer love.
💡 What to Include
- Revenue growth chart
- Repeat purchase rate is THE key metric for DTC
- Show customer acquisition cost and LTV
- Include NPS and reviews
⚠️ Common Mistakes
- Revenue only (no repeat rate)
- No LTV/CAC
- Hiding customer acquisition costs
📝 Example
$4.2M revenue in Year 1 (from $0) 68% of customers make a second purchase within 90 days 3.2 orders per customer per year (avg. $85 per order) NPS: 78 | 4.8 stars (2,400 reviews) CAC: $32 | LTV (3-year): $420 | LTV/CAC: 13x 94% organic/referral. 6% paid. Zero wholesale.
Market Size
Size the category opportunity.
💡 What to Include
- Start with the specific category, not 'apparel'
- Show DTC share growth in your category
- Reference comparable DTC brand exits/valuations
⚠️ Common Mistakes
- 'The global apparel market is $1.7T'
- No category focus
- Unrealistic comparables
📝 Example
US basics/essentials market: $48B Online DTC share: 12% and growing 20% CAGR Sustainable basics segment: $8B (growing 35% CAGR) Comparables: Everlane ($200M rev), Allbirds (IPO at $2B), Bombas ($300M rev) Evergreen target: $100M revenue within 5 years = 1.25% of addressable market
Business Model & Unit Economics
Show the economics work — margins matter.
💡 What to Include
- Show COGS, gross margin, contribution margin
- Break down the unit economics per order
- Show improvement over time
- Include fulfillment costs
⚠️ Common Mistakes
- No COGS breakdown
- Ignoring fulfillment costs
- Gross margin below 55% for DTC
📝 Example
Avg. order value: $85 COGS: $23 (27%) Fulfillment: $7 (8%) Gross margin: $55 (65%) CAC (blended): $32 First-order contribution: $23 With 3.2 orders/year and $0 retention marketing cost: Year 1 contribution per customer: $144 3-year LTV: $420 at 65% margin = $273 contribution
Brand & Community
DTC brands are valued for brand equity — prove yours.
💡 What to Include
- Show organic social following and engagement
- User-generated content as social proof
- Community metrics (email list, SMS, loyalty program)
- Press and influencer mentions
⚠️ Common Mistakes
- No social proof
- Bought followers/engagement
- No community strategy beyond ads
📝 Example
Instagram: 85K followers (4.2% engagement — 3x category avg) TikTok: 12 videos over 1M views (organic, no paid promotion) Email list: 120K subscribers (42% open rate) SMS: 35K subscribers (8.5% click rate) UGC: 2,800+ customer photos tagged #WearEvergreen Press: Featured in Vogue, GQ, Fast Company, NYT Wirecutter
Growth Strategy
Show the path beyond Facebook ads.
💡 What to Include
- Show channel diversification plan
- Include retail/wholesale if relevant
- International expansion opportunity
- Show category expansion (new product lines)
⚠️ Common Mistakes
- Only paid acquisition plan
- No product expansion roadmap
- Retail without proving DTC first
📝 Example
Current: 60% organic/referral, 34% Meta/Google, 6% influencer Growth plan: 1. Category expansion: Outerwear (Q3), activewear (Q1 next year) — 3x SKU count 2. Retail: Target pilot (5 stores, LOI signed), Nordstrom conversations 3. International: UK/EU launch (high demand signals from waitlist) 4. B2B: Corporate uniforms and gifting ($500K pipeline)
Competition
Show your positioning in the market.
💡 What to Include
- Position on quality vs. price matrix
- Show customer switching data
- Highlight sustainability as a differentiator if relevant
⚠️ Common Mistakes
- Ignoring Amazon Essentials/Basics
- No switching data
- Competing purely on price
📝 Example
Positioned: Premium quality at mid-range price Fast fashion (H&M, Zara): Low quality, low price — our customers traded up Premium DTC (Everlane): Similar positioning, 40% higher price — 28% of our customers switched from Everlane Luxury (James Perse): Premium quality but $100+ per item — inaccessible for most Key differentiator: Only brand combining premium mill quality + sustainable + under $45.
Team
Brand-building and operations expertise.
💡 What to Include
- Show brand/creative leadership
- Supply chain and operations experience
- DTC growth expertise
- Include any celebrity/influencer partners
⚠️ Common Mistakes
- No fashion/brand experience
- No supply chain expertise
- Missing growth/marketing leader
📝 Example
CEO — Former VP at Everlane, launched 3 product categories COO — 12 years in supply chain at Nike, sourcing from 8 countries CMO — Ex-Allbirds growth lead, scaled from $20M to $100M Head of Design — Parsons graduate, 8 years at Cos/H&M premium line
The Ask
Funding for inventory, growth, and expansion.
💡 What to Include
- DTC needs working capital for inventory — address it
- Show inventory management discipline
- Tie to specific product launches and milestones
⚠️ Common Mistakes
- Not budgeting for inventory
- All spend on marketing
- No product expansion tied to funding
📝 Example
Raising $5M Series A • Inventory & New Categories (40%): Outerwear + activewear launch • Growth & Marketing (30%): Scale proven channels, retail partnerships • Team (20%): Hire VP Supply Chain, 2 designers, growth marketer • Technology (10%): Improve website, loyalty program Milestones: $12M revenue, 3 categories, retail in 50 doors, 75%+ repeat rate
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