The Distribution Rebellion · Moat & Competition
The DTC Reckoning Landed in 2022, When Apple Repossessed Facebook's Cheap Customer Machine
The story is that DTC brands hit a wall in 2023. Wrong year, wrong cause. The reckoning landed in 2022, when pooled median operating margin sank to -0.9% — because Apple's privacy change had already quietly repossessed the one asset these brands actually rented: Facebook's ability to find the next customer cheaply.
8 min