A2Z of D2C - April 2025 Edition

Hey all 👋

March was an incredible month for us — with our latest launch, Shop Pass, you can now turn invisible website visitors to invaluable customers.

And no, this isn’t an April Fool’s joke.

Shopflo’s been helping hundreds of brands extract more $$$ from shoppers since 2021. Well, we took that one step further and can now help you extract more shoppers out of your website visitors.

This April edition is in full bloom, and here’s what we’re springing forward with:

🤝An exciting networking opportunity in NCR to meet fellow D2C founders and investors.

👀💰Shopflo’s latest launch will help you turn anonymous website visitors into paying customers.

🤩👌Amazing D2C ads to take inspiration from (read: ideas worth stealing)

💻D2C job openings – Your dream role might just be a scroll away.

And many more.

Alright, enough teasing! Scroll down to dive into the latest from our checkout world!

Curated with 💚,
Soundarya Athimuthu
Content Writer, Shopflo

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Before we jump into all that, here’s a quick look at Shopflo’s impact in March:

Shopflo Report Card

5741 hours

saved for Indian D2C shoppers in the last month (3% more than Feb 2025)

Rs. 271 Cr

In additional revenue for 800+ D2C brands (3.4% more than Feb 2025)

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An Event You Can’t Miss — To raise or not to raise?

If you live and breathe D2C and love a good, unfiltered debate, block your calendar.

April 17, 6 PM, South Delhi—this is the place to be.

India’s top D2C founders and VCs are coming together under one roof to answer the one question every founder has about startup funding. Should I, or should I not raise money? Expect nuanced revelations on topics like:

• The more you raise, the less you own—so how much control should you be willing to trade?

• As a bootstrapped founder, you're only accountable to yourself. But doesn’t a little external pressure help you grow?

• How do you know what the best funding decision is for your organisation?

Ready for an entertaining debate that’ll also give you clarity on the best path to scale your brand? No PR-safe answers, no sugarcoating—just raw, real insights you can act on.

Spots are limited, so RSVP now.

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The Latest and Greatest from Shopflo

Drumroll, please… Here are some BIG releases from Shopflo that are sure to lead to bigger results for you!

One Click Add-on

Ever had that moment at checkout when you wished you could add just one more thing—a gift wrap for a birthday order or insurance for peace of mind?

‘One Click Add-On’ makes that possible, letting shoppers enhance their purchase in seconds. No extra steps, no second thoughts—just a seamless way to personalise their order while boosting your AOV and conversions.

RTO Smart Automations

You know, with the RTO Intelligence suite, we have the superpower to identify risk scores and keep scam COD orders at bay.

But now, we have one more up our sleeve—the ‘RTO Automations’ feature, which can automatically block and restrict high-risk COD orders using smart rules based on cart value, product type, UTM source, pincode & many more.

Freebie Selector

Everybody loves freebies, but nobody wants to feel like the brand just handed them something they couldn’t sell—like a leftover piece they wanted to get rid of.

With ‘Freebie Selector’, customers get to choose what they want—whether it’s a specific shade, product type, or variant that suits their preferences—making them feel delighted, not disappointed.

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Shop Pass by Shopflo

Every day, countless shoppers visit your site, browse, and leave—some disappearing into thin air without a trace. But what if you could bring them back?

Meet Shop Pass, Shopflo’s powerful new product that does just that:

• Converts anonymous visitors into known customers

• Turns invisible clicks into real revenue

• Uses smart retargeting to transform “maybe later” into “buy now”

With Shop Pass, no more ghosting from high-intent customers—just more conversions, more sales, and more money in your pocket.

Something big is on the way… and it’s not just any app. Keep guessing or reach out to us to know about it.

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“Ad-miration Club”: D2C ads that deserve a standing ovation!

Remember when we said we’d round up the best D2C ads? Well, we kept our word and did our homework—welcome to the ultimate Meta ad hall of fame! Here’s what your peers are doing right—and what you can learn from them!

• The #ChoiceIsYours campaign by Rhea Kapoor x Zouk nails aspirational storytelling—it’s not just selling bags, it’s selling empowerment. By featuring influential women who embody strength and individuality, Zouk creates deep emotional resonance, turning a product into a statement.

zoukonline

A post shared by @zoukonline

• It all started when a content creator confidently mispronounced "croissant" as "Prashant," and the internet did what it does best—turned it into a full-blown meme fest. And Britannia? They went all in, rebranding their croissant, tweaking the packaging, and transforming an internet joke into real sales. Now that's a marketing masterclass D2C brands can learn from!

britannia.croissant

A post shared by @britannia.croissant

Here’s how the small business Ovenly India jumped on the trend and gained attention.

chef.raaghav

A post shared by @chef.raaghav

• Traya’s influencer marketing is like that brutally honest bestie who calls out your hair struggles, cracks a joke, and then actually helps you fix it. No wonder their reach is growing, just like the hair they’re saving!

bihariladka

A post shared by @bihariladka

• You don’t always need to sell. Sometimes, heartfelt storytelling and celebrating emotions around special festivals create the most memorable branding. Mamaearth’s Holi video and Diary milk’s ad prove that a little kindness goes a long way!

  ttt_official

  

  A post shared by @ttt_official

cadburydairymilkin

A post shared by @cadburydairymilkin

Spotted (or made) a killer ad? Send it over, and we might just feature it next!

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D2C Job Board

Bridging the gap between D2C talent and opportunity like it’s our major mission—because we know great teams build great brands. Last month, we listed cool opportunities from Dot & Key, Supertails, Peesafe, and Minimalist. Happy to share that some of those openings were closed.

Here are this month’s job openings:

• The Sleep Company - Ecommerce Executive

• Nestasia - Performance Marketing Manager

• Mother Sparsh - Assistant Manager, Ecommerce

Want to feature your job openings here? Reply to this email or DM me on LinkedIn.

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And that's a wrap! But before you go, tell us—what’s on your mind? What else would you like to see in the next edition? . We pride ourselves on the fact that our customers shape our product; there's no reason our audience shouldn’t shape our newsletter. So just hit reply and send it my way!

See you next month!

Until then 💚,

Soundarya Athimuthu

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Thanks for reading a2z of d2c by Shopflo! Subscribe for free and get future editions sent straight to your inbox.

A2Z of D2C - March 2025

With this edition, A2Z of D2C is march-ing back to life.

It’s happening!

A2Z of D2C, our dear old newsletter, had drifted out of sight in our endless list of priorities. But now, we’re bringing it back.

Why should you care? Excellent question!

Here’s what you’ll find in this edition of the newsletter:

• Top D2C agencies to help you fast track your growth

• New strategies to make more money lose less money?

• Relevant job opportunities in Indian D2C brands

• And more…

Let’s dive in, shall we?

Curated with 💚
Murugappan Meiyappan
Marketing Manager @ Shopflo

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Shopflo Report Card

5,573 hours

saved for Indian D2C shoppers in the last month (6% more than Jan 2025)

Rs. 262 Cr

In additional revenue for 700+ D2C brands (5% more than Jan 2025)

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Agency Spotlight

Shopflo can help you squeeze out more conversions from every corner of your Shopify store, but there are some business problems that do need human expertise.

For those, we highly recommend these Shopflo-certified agency partners.

1. Beyond Ads: A skin-in-the game performance marketing that only works with 30 handpicked brands at a time. Perfect for brands that want an agency that works like an extension of their internal team.

They live and breathe performance marketing - and care for clients as if they were part of the team. In the months we have worked together, he has set a standard for excellence.

— Hanna Strömgren Khan, Co-founder and CEO of Simply Nam, Leezu’s

2. Told You So: Perfect for mid-level brands that need a supporting arm to scale different aspects of their marketing. They have deep expertise in helping brands grow sustainably through Meta, Google, & Amazon. They also help with retention and UX design.

Two years with TYS and our brand is thriving! From performance marketing to stunning web design, they’ve been with us every step of the way. We’re now industry leaders thanks to their continuous support.

— Poonam Agarwal, Founder, Pink Supply

3. A3 Mediacom: A performance-driven digital marketing agency with a focus on brands in the personal care, apparel, and lifestyle industries. Perfect fit if you’re looking for fresh ad creatives or world-class retention strategies.

A3 Mediacom is a formally recognized Meta and Amazon business partner.

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The Latest and Greatest from Shopflo

Shopflo ships updates every single week — they don’t call us the most innovative checkout for no reason!

From quality-of-life tweaks to game-changing features, every update is designed to make your shopper’s experience smoother, while making your profits soar.

Most Shopflo features are designed to help you make more money. But there’s a twist with our recent releases — these were actually built to help you lose less money.

Weight-based shipping

Do you manage shipping rates based on product weight? Then this one’s for you.

Brought to you in partnership with Clickpost.

A/B testing

If you’re a marketer, chances are you’re obsessed with A/B testing everything.

Then you’d most definitely want to optimize your checkout.

RTO intelligence suite

Shopflo can now tell you the risk score of every order.

Depending on your brand’s COD revenue share, you can set a custom risk threshold to suit your preferences.

Pssttt… did you know? Word on the street is that Shopflo can now identify anonymous website visitors and help you turn it into revenue 🤫

Write back to us if you want us to confirm / deny the rumors.

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D2C Job Board

We’re opening doors for the whole D2C ecosystem.

Lowkey kicking ourselves for not having done this before, but here we go… we have an audience that includes hundreds of D2C founders and thousands of D2C professionals.

About time we connected the dots – go ahead and apply to these jobs.

• Deputy General Manager (Brand) // Dot & Key

• Customer Success Manager // Supertails

• Founders Office Associate // Peesafe

• Associate Product Manager // Minimalist

Want to advertise a job here? Just write back here or reach out to me on Linkedin.

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Closing thoughts? Let’s not get so sentimental — it’s not goodbye forever.

We’ll be back soon with our next edition!

Meanwhile, we’re curating a list of top D2C ads on Meta.

Send us your favorites in the comments: it could either be your own brand’s ads or something you screenshotted / saved while doomscrolling. We’ll feature the top contributions in the next edition.

Until then 💚
It’s been Muru.

iD Fresh Food: All Things Numbers & Technology

Brand Breakdown is Shopflo’s monthly 4-part newsletter, in which we deep dive into an Indian D2C brand, and understand its constituent elements to figure out what makes it tick ⏰

When you think dosa batter, few think beyond ID. A staple in Indian refrigerators, this is a brand that took a food item that was traditionally made at home, and standardized it for the masses. iD has been a debt free-company from the get-go. This week, we understand how the brand uses their investments, and how they manage to maintain freshness while running a zero-inventory model. 

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In the previous weeks articles, we’ve read the wonderful story behind the creation of iD, the ups and downs the company went through, and the innovative packaging that sets them apart. As we reach the last newsletter in the iD series, let’s kick it off by taking a look at the numbers. 

Although they were a profitable company, investments only came in 9 years later

A zero debt company, iD used it’s investments to scale operations

Although iD officially began operations in 2005, it took them 9 whole years to get an investor. A $5.2 million Series A Funding from Helion Ventures, followed by a $25 million investment from PremjiInvest, the private investment firm of Wipro Ltd chairman Azim Premji allowed them to move beyond Bengaluru and expand throughout India.

In 2013, they ventured into the UAE where they identified a huge target market in the Indian community settled there, and the area soon became their no.1 market in terms of revenue. “We understand the pangs of being away from home, in a foreign land. If familiar, home-cooked foods can bring joy and comfort in our fast-paced lives, we want to make that sense of happiness and wellbeing accessible and affordable for all. Just like it is made back at home.” said Musthafa.

In a Series D funding in 2022, NewQuest Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on emerging markets invested almost $68 million along with PremjiInvest. This round also saw the exit of Helion Ventures, their first investor. iD was their last exit in India and they left with a 10x return after a seven year investment.

iD plans on using the funding to establish new manufacturing plants across the globe. In 2021, they launched the world’s largest idli-dosa factory at Anekal in Karnataka. Its fully automated Giant Kitchen produces over 1 lakh kg batter and three lakh parotas per day. They currently have factories in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Dubai, and are looking to open three factories in the US soon. 

How iD leverages technology to ensure freshness

iD identified early on that consumers considered products with a shorter shelf life to be healthier. “We understood the customer mindset that motivated us to play with ideal shelf-life to bring to market the right products for Indian homes," Musthafa says. As a company that has positioned themselves as one with 100% natural, fresh products, maintaining high quality becomes equally tough and important. 

iD supplies to over 30,000 retail outlets. To run on a zero-inventory model, and supply to the right place at the right time, they leverage AI and ML technologies. Each store is integrated and geo-tagged, which helps the company with logistics, route optimization and freshness at scale. “The challenge is to have intelligence that detects and comprehends fast-changing, short-term variables along with slow-moving directional trends,” says Sujeeth Ravindran, CTO, iD Fresh Food.

Every store they supply to in geo-tagged, which allows them to supply efficiently

Considering iD’s high scale operations, the impact this technology-led approach has had is massive. The company has seen a 20% reduction in stock-out losses, 10% reduction in closing inventory, and 30% reduction in food wastage. “We use Kronoscope, a Fountain9 advanced solution, to help us with daily demand predictions and replenishment planning at all levels, and offer the same intelligence to all teams across the business, from a common base,” adds Mr. Ravindran.

Even with this heavy involvement of technology, the need for a human interface isn’t overlooked at iD. Since many time intensive tasks are already taken care of, the team has the scope to better utilize their time to address other critical issues, and respond to queries in real time. 

“iD runs on IT. We are not just a batter company, we are a fresh food distribution company that runs on technology” says Musthafa

From just batter, iD has scaled up to widen their portfolio to cater to consumers’ changing tastes and preferences

The future looks good?

Currently the company produces enough batter to make more than 1.5 million idlis every day, and they are expected to close FY22 at an annualized run-rate of ₹550 crore. "In two years time we should be a ₹1,000 crore company, 50% of which will come from international markets." 

When a company seems to be doing so well, the next question in everyone’s mind revolves around IPO plans. However, iD seems to not be in a rush to jump into that bandwagon.  “Not immediately. It is too early.”

This story of a batter company started by the son of a coolie who failed school, and overcame numerous hurdles to become a loved and respected brand in India and abroad, seems straight out of a business fairytale. As the company scales up and makes its mark in new countries, it’ll be interesting to see how they maintain this winning streak. 

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With that we wrap up iD’s Brand Breakdown. You can find the previous parts of the series here.

Coming up, we’ll be a covering a brand that is at the intersection of derma, skin care, and hair care, with a unique proposition built on a keen market insight. Stay tuned.

Write back to us for any suggestions, feedback, or collaborations! Happy to connect

iD Fresh Food: The Story They Weave Through Their Communications & Packaging

Brand Breakdown is Shopflo’s monthly 4-part newsletter, in which we deep dive into an Indian D2C brand, and understand its constituent elements to figure out what makes it tick ⏰

When you think dosa batter, few think beyond ID. A staple in Indian refrigerators, this is a brand that took a food item that was traditionally made at home, and standardized it for the masses. 

A brand communicates through its branding, campaigns, and its service. This week, we understand how and what iD values in its communication.

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Previously on Brand Breakdown, we discussed the adversities faced by iD, and how they turned them into lessons to implement. Few aspects that make iD such a loved company by those that use it, is their commitment to customer service, their unique packaging designs and the messaging in their campaigns. This week, we take a look at all of these. 

A product is known by the design of its packaging

When it comes to packaging innovations, iD has been a disruptor in the fresh foods business. In this article, we’re picking four of our favorite ones:

1. The Idly-Dosa Pack: Using packets of batter used to be a bit of a pain. You’d have to cut them open and transfer it into another container to store and use (spilling some in the process). The tub version wasn’t feasible financially and had its storage limitations.

   To avoid a messy encounter and keep it within the budget, iD’s packaging idea was inspired by a boat and a transformer toy. The shape of the packet is such that it serves as a pouch during transportation and storage, and a vessel during cooking when you open the zip lock.

   

   The design of iD’s Idly-Dosa batter package was inspired by a boat

2. The Grated Coconut: One of their latest innovations, after idly, dosa and vada, chutney seemed to be the only thing missing in their portfolio. And what is a good chutney without freshly grated coconut? Staying true to their philosophy of producing 100% natural products, after numerous experiments, iD decided to use nature’s own packaging for this product.

iD found nature’s original packaging to be the best option for their grated coconut

3. The Filter Coffee: The filter coffee product was ready and the packaging was being debated when Musthafa took a trip to Tamil Nadu with his family. Seeing the coffee being served in a cup and dabara, turned out to be the inspiration they needed, and they ended up incorporating a 3-D image on the packet.
   
   Another criterion based on which the package was designed was ease of travel. This sachet allows their consumers to carry their favourite filter coffee along with them while travelling. 

   

   The nostalgia-inducing  3D image of a cup and dabara on the packet was inspired by a trip to Tamil Nadu

4. The Vada Pack: One of their most innovative packaging designs to date is their vada batter pack. Vada, a crispy, deep fried, doughnut-shaped food made of lentils, is a South Indian favourite. But even for those with expertise, creating a perfect vada with a hole in the centre is a difficult task. 

   During the experiment phase, they tried numerous things including using a pepsi bottle with a hole created on the cap. Three years later, they finally nailed their final design, inspired by an umbrella, which allowed consumers to create perfectly hole-ey vadas by just squeezing the batter through the spout!

   

   The functionality of their vada packets allows consumers to make perfectly shaped vadas

   The marriage of design and functionality is what makes iD’s packaging stand apart. Specifically in the fresh food category that consists of high-involvement products, reducing human effort through packing is a game changer.

Through their campaigns, iD re-emphasizes their commitment to transparency

iD’s perception amongst consumers is generally one of a human brand. From Musthafa P.C’s #JugaadStory series on his LinkedIn page (a series of small stories behind certain innovations and decisions), to their customer service and campaigns, the brand has always remained transparent about their journey. 

The Meet Your Neighbour campaign that highlighted the importance of food that unites

Their most loved campaigns include #TheirLoveMixedWithOurs , Meet your Neighbour, and the iDeal Women series. Throughout these campaigns, the underlying theme has been the significance of home cooked food, and how it binds us. During the Meet Your Neighbour campaign, Musthafa sent letters to residential societies in three cities, emphasizing the joy of knowing your neighbor. 

On World Idly Day in 2022, iD kicked off their 5-day ‘TransparenSee’ campaign, which offered a real-time view into its batter factory located in Bengaluru. The entire process of batter-making was streamed, from the raw material feeding area, urad dal feeding zone, fenugreek feeding zone, water fixing zone, and grinding zone, to the batter ready zone, packing zone, chiller entry point and chiller exit point.

Customer complaints and queries are promptly addressed and even highlighted on Musthafa’s LinkedIn

Branding is a collective effort. Asking ‘why’ at each stage of the way, is the first step to innovation, and packaging is one arena where iD has innovated extensively. By reinforcing their values of transparency and trust through their media communications, iD has maintained the image of being a friendly, approachable brand. 

As they look towards the future, data and Ai have been playing an increasingly important part in their business model, especially when it comes to wastage and ensuring freshness. More about this next week. Stay tuned, it's the last one of this month!

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In the last edition of this month’s brand breakdown, we finish it off with iD’s investments, plans for the future, and how they utilize data in ensuring freshness. 

iD Fresh Food: How iD Turned Adversities Into Learnings As The Company Grew

Brand Breakdown is Shopflo’s monthly 4-part newsletter, in which we deep dive into an Indian D2C brand, and understand its constituent elements to figure out what makes it tick ⏰

When you think dosa batter, few think beyond ID. A staple in Indian refrigerators, this is a brand that took a food item that was traditionally made at home, and standardized it for the masses. Building a brand, especially in the fresh food industry entails a lot of misses and definitely some wins. This week, we take a look at some of the lessons iD learned the hard way. 

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Last week, we delved into the beginnings of the brand ID, and how Musthafa and the team took the company from a 50 square feet kitchen to one that is supplied to over 6000 retailers in Bengaluru.
The journey of growing this brand, however, wasn’t a smooth one, and the team faced a lot of critical challenges and learned their fair share of lessons along the way.

#1: The importance of food technology

In the hot summer of 2006, 4 months after they started operations, they got a call from a store manager in Bengaluru saying that there was a blast in his store that was caused by their batter. Musthafa and his team initially thought that the store manager was playing a practical joke. "We laughed. We said if you have a bomb blast in your store, please call the nearest police station, we don't handle bombs,” Musthafa recalled telling the store manager.

Once they realized that the manager was furious, they rushed to the store and were ordered to clean out his fridge and take their batter. "Batter ferments during summer. It expands, it forms gas and beyond a point, it explodes. We had no idea about food technology before we started this business. In fact, I learned about this term called fermentation after this incident," Musthafa said.

#2 Staying true to what the brand stands for
From day 1, iD positioned their product as 100% natural, and the company stayed true to their values of not adding preservatives to their batter even when faced with lower priced competitors. Chennai would seem like the ideal market for an idli-dosa batter product, but iD faced stiff competition from brands that were priced at Rs.10 vs their product that cost Rs. 45 at the time.

The operations of iD Fresh saw massive upgrades over the years, to shift to a completely mechanized chain

They weren’t even making enough money to pay salaries. However, instead of resorting to adding cheaper soda, to keep the batter fluffy, lower their costs, and keep up with competitors, they decided to shut operations in the city. We shut the factory, paid workers with the rental deposit, and went back to the drawing board,” Musthafa says. 

#3 Embracing innovation and moving beyond dosa-idli batter

Until 2010, iD was still a one-product, one-city brand. From there, they began experimenting with different products; most that were misses, but some hits. The parotta was one of them. However, finding the right technology that could master the thin layers unique to a parotta, proved difficult.

They turned to Greece.

Not because the country had even the remotest connection to parottas; but because they made pastries. This seemingly odd gamble paid off. They worked with the manufacturers of pastry-making machinery to customize their own parotta making ones that created the light layers perfectly. 

iD’s product portfolio widened from 2010 to include new innovations

Taking cue from the success of the parotta, they made a wheat version of it, and also grew to include chapatis, vada batter, curd, bread, coffee, paneer and even grated coconut. Keeping pace with the emergence of the popularity of superfoods, they created a range of healthier alternatives like ragi batter and wholewheat bread as well. 

Innovating their products, keeping their consumer base that is increasingly conscious of ‘eating right’ in the centre, is what guides the brand in their product portfolio expansions.

#4 Turning adversity into opportunity

The covid-19 lockdown period was a tough time for businesses, especially for restaurants and fresh food industries. iD’s B2B model took a hit, as retail stores were pulling down its shutters, but they re-invented their distribution model to end FY21 with 33% growth. 

They shifted to B2C started distributing their products to residential complexes directly, and added a feature on their website that allowed consumers to locate the nearest store that had iD products in stock

iD’s partnership with Big Basket helped widen their B2C business

"Our-direct-to-home delivery was a trust-based model. We left the product at the security gate and the consumers would pick it up and drop the money in the box at the gate or pay online. There was no monitoring and that got us great brand mileage," explains Mustafa.

Picking up from this model, they partnered with Big Basket to start a co-branded venture called ‘iD-Fresho’ which is aimed to further expand their B2C model to wider geographies. 

A brand that sticks to their roots sticks with its customers

The scaling of a business comes with unexpected adversities. iD’s courage to constantly stick to their brand’s ideals and values is what has helped build such a strong sense of trust amongst its consumers. 

iD’s learnings weren’t confined to product portfolio and distribution models, another aspect they’ve actively innovated on is their packaging. Stick around for next week’s newsletter to discover how iD approaches their packaging.

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Ever noticed the striking packing iD’s products come in? In the next edition of this month’s brand breakdown, we discuss the inspiration behind the unique and practical packaging designs adopted by iD as well as their much loved campaigns.