Direct to consumer (D2C) stories

First Media joins MMC as an LP, boosting the venture fund’s media-for-equity firepower with wider digital, social and TV ad reach for start-ups.

Plus-size outdoor champion Rebecca Dawson named among UK’s 100 most inspiring female entrepreneurs in Small Business Britain list.

UK start-up Rove has launched an AI market intelligence platform promising faster, cheaper global expansion for consumer brands.

Talkdesk unveils Commerce Orchestration and Consumer Goods Experience Cloud to coordinate AI-driven retail journeys end to end.

Patchworks debuts MCP integration layer to plug AI into retailers’ live systems, promising real-time workflows beyond basic recommendations.

Widdop launches its first direct-to-consumer eCommerce site for Softies plush toys, marking a major digital shift for the 140-year-old brand.

Jaded London taps Verde Digital for an SEO overhaul as it chases GBP £100 million in revenue and ramps up global streetwear expansion.

Forter launches Prism AI copilot and fresh benchmarks as agentic activity soars 2,107% and automated fraud attempts jump 202%.

Retail investors are tipped to rule UK wealth and fintech by 2026 as banks and digital challengers race to capture mass-market demand.

Coda unveils a unified leadership team and reshaped board as it fully integrates Recharge into a single global digital commerce platform.

BGF invests in UK-based PMC to accelerate global expansion and enhance its digital engineering and managed services across retail and commerce sectors.

THG Fulfil will install 430 Libiao T-sorting robots at its Manchester warehouse in September 2025, boosting capacity by 75% to process one million units daily.

Australian skincare brand Ultra Violette credits its rapid international growth to strong team alignment alongside new NetSuite tech, not just systems alone.

Nearly 80% of European brands plan to expand eCommerce beyond Amazon in 2025, embracing hybrid models amid rising costs and operational challenges.

Singapore's Travelgoogoo launches Travelgoogoo365, offering a £14 annual global eSIM membership with unlimited messaging across 123 destinations worldwide.

Cleeng has partnered with Primer to enhance global payment operations, aiming to reduce subscriber churn while boosting payment performance across markets.

Consumers increasingly blend online, offline, and social media shopping platforms. A report by Locus and Coresight highlights 65.8% utilising multiple touchpoints.

Hygraph and commercetools forge a partnership to enhance D2C eCommerce through integrative and flexible content management tools.

Apollo Supply Chain introduces 'alfa', an eCommerce fulfilment service targeting Direct-to-Consumer brands across India, aiming to augment delivery speed and logistics cost-efficiency.

Diversifying across multiple channels not only provides a competitive advantage but also helps brands hedge against potential downturns.