Digitally Native Vertical Brands (DNVBs), a term coined by Andy Dunn (CEO of Bonobos), have emerged in the past years, combining the growth of being an e-commerce company with the margins of a brand. Key attributes of DNVB are:
- Brands whose primary means of interacting, transacting, and story-telling to consumers is via the web
- It’s a brand, and that brand is vertical
- Focused on customer experience and on customer intimacy
- The brand has the potential to extend offline, eventually.
The DNVB report highlights the concentration of digital natives (young customers between the ages of 15 and 24 who have been using the internet for at least five years) has reached double digits in developed countries (13% in the US). Such consumer groups have become accustomed to online shopping and mobile phones, making them active consumers for DNVBs
Other key points covered in the report:
- Decreasing popularity of the mall coupled with growth in e-commerce propelling DNVB’s growth
- DNVB landscape
- The growth of digital commerce is still high for markets with a high volume of business transacted online
- Increased funding by venture-backed fashion startups
- Case studies of various market players in this space
