D2C Business Model: When Uzbek Brands Should Sell Direct

B2C vs D2C: what actually differs

B2C simply means the customer is a private person rather than a company. A corner shop, a marketplace seller and an online store are all B2C. The label says nothing about who makes the product.

D2C narrows it down: the seller is the maker. A Tashkent clothing factory that sells through its own website, Telegram bot and showroom is D2C. If the same factory ships a batch to a wholesaler at a bazaar, the wholesaler's sales to shoppers are B2C, but the factory is not selling direct. So every D2C company operates in B2C, while most B2C sellers are not D2C.

Traditional chain vs selling direct

In the classic chain, goods move from manufacturer to distributor, then to a shop, then to the buyer. Each link adds a markup and does real work: storage, delivery, shelf space, advice. The manufacturer rarely meets the customer and knows little about why they bought.

In D2C those jobs move to the brand. You decide how the product is presented, what it costs, how complaints are handled and what happens after the sale.

What the brand gains

The biggest asset is customer knowledge. You see who buys, what they reorder, which products stall and which channel brought each person in. That feeds product decisions and makes ad spend more precise.

You also control the presentation. In someone else's shop your product may sit on a low shelf, explained badly by staff. On your own channel, you set the standard.

And you can test fast: release a small batch, read the reaction, adjust.

The costs hiding behind the margin

Cutting out middlemen returns their margin to you, along with their workload. Many manufacturers underestimate this, and the channel turns out pricier than expected.

• traffic: ads, content, blogger partnerships;
• order intake and customer support;
• storage, packing and delivery of small parcels;
• payments through Click or Payme, fees and refunds;
• keeping the website or bot running;
• collecting and reading customer data.

When direct selling makes sense

D2C suits products with a story or a distinct idea, items people repurchase (cosmetics, food, household goods), and anything that needs explaining. It also helps niche products that get lost on a general shelf, or brands that struggle to get into retail chains on acceptable terms.

Be careful with cheap, mass-market goods bought on impulse alongside other items: shelf presence usually matters more there. The same goes for products where delivery costs a lot relative to the price, or when nobody on the team can handle marketing and service. A hybrid is often the sensible answer: partners carry the volume, while D2C handles new lines and loyal customers.

Avoiding conflict with dealers

If your website sells cheaper than your dealer, expect the dealer to pull your product. Common fixes are equal prices across channels, bundles or lines exclusive to your own store, and routing online orders from a dealer's region through that dealer. Agree on the rules before you launch, not after the first complaint.

How to test it in Uzbekistan

The infrastructure is already there: ordering through Telegram, Click and Payme payments, official stores on Uzum. Pick one channel, start with a limited range, walk an order from payment to delivery and return, then calculate acquisition cost, logistics and repeat purchases. If the numbers hold up, expand.

Treat D2C as a separate business line rather than a side project. If you want help working out the economics, choosing channels and keeping dealers on board, markdev supports companies in Uzbekistan with marketing strategy and consulting. We are glad to talk through your situation.