DTC Academy by Metrilo

About this Academy START HERE

Who is it for? How did we work it out? How to use it and what to expect?



Starting your brand with the right foundation is vital to its success. In this step, we guide you through the Fundamentals that need to be in place before you try to grow or even launch.



Going to market without proper product-market fit can be a huge waste of resources. In this step, we guide you through the complete process of product validation so you are 100% sure and ready to launch.



Having your Fundamentals and Validation in place is great, but your team needs to be in line with all that goes into the brand to do their job properly. In this step, find how to communicate your brand value, identity and appeal to your team so they manage to broadcast it in their work.


First purchase

Approaching the market and getting the first order from each customer is as hard for DTC brands as for any other ecommerce business. But for DTC it is a strategic step and not the end goal at all. In this part, you will find how to position yourself on the market and how to create the first-purchase experience so it's not the last.



The post-purchase experience is what sets brands like yours from resellers and Amazon. You have the power to become a part of people's lives, not just an invoice. Find out how in this section.



The success of your DTC brand is tied to the loyalty of your customers. You know you're operating in a niche and you have to drive repeat sales continuously because you cannot rely on constant new acquisitions. The last step in our framework outlines the best practices for customer retention for brands investing in the long term.

What is that DTC Academy all about?

This is a dedicated place where we share a growth framework for DTC brands as we have seen it work for our clients in a structured way. We put all the essential elements together in order to guide on your way to building your own product brand.

The categories built on the previous ones and drive your strategy forward. Feel free to explore it at your own pace but keep in mind some steps cannot be completed without having laid the foundations.

The origin of this Growth Framework

How did we come up with it?

First, we have been working with and consulting ecommerce business for the past 4+ years. We have seen the rise and fall of many online shops.

The really successful businesses - few among the numerous others - seemed to follow the same pattern. All of them had their own brand and ecommerce was their primary channel of distribution. They put a huge importance on customer experience and loyalty. Their customer centricity leads to healthy financials and this was the reason for their successful and sustainable growth.

Because our mission is to help ecommerce entrepreneurs succeed, we wanted to give that growth formula to more of you. We wanted to systematize it so it is easily accessible and replicable by all business regardless of the product.


The Growth Framework covers all strategic stages of an ecommerce business from concept to customer retention and financial stability. It outlines the requirements, the best practices at each step to ensure long-term success.

Most suitable for

Because it was born out of the experience of direct-to-consumer brands, the Growth Framework best fits this business model and helps brands looking for long-term business that are willing to work for customer relationships and differentiation.

Success stories

Some of our best clients have been implementing similar strategies which made us notice the common threads among them all and formulate the Framework.

It draws its guarantee for success from the positive examples of brands like Native, IHeartDogs, Vahdam Teas, Harper + Ari, Barrington Coffee, Naadam, Birchall Tea, Pure Pet Food, laagam, and others.

End goal

The Framework will lead you to building a brand that’s here to stay in the long term. In contrast to most ecommerce businesses that are in for the quick gain and often doing very bad financially, the Framework helps you grow in a sustainable, conscious, brand-aligned way so results are manageable and scalable.

How to go about it

We recommend going over the Framework and implementing the steps in order. Securing the first section - Fundamentals, for example, will give you a solid foundation for decisions at the next stages. And it’s hard to work on customer loyalty when you don’t have the more basic experience standards in place first.

  • For brands already in business - compare your current state with the Framework advice and if you decide to take some if it, make the necessary adjustments in strategy
  • For brands about to launch - build your strategy using the Framework as a skeleton

Do you need special tools and software?

Generally, no. As strategy, you can execute the efforts with your usual toolbox. For the data analysis (monitoring performance, results, trends), it’s recommended to use analytics software. Metrilo can do all of it, but of course, there are other options as well.

You've unlocked the entire DTC Academy!