Glossary/Retail Media & Commerce/Direct-to-Consumer (DTC)
Retail Media & Commerce
Direct-to-Consumer (DTC)
Brands that sell straight to customers instead of through retailers.
By Brandon Mina·CEO, BrandPilot AI·Updated November 2026
Short answer
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) describes brands that sell straight to customers through their own websites, apps or stores instead of through wholesalers or retailers. Selling directly gives brands control over pricing, customer experience and first-party data. The trade-off is that they must fund their own customer acquisition, often relying heavily on paid social and search.