The Verticale, a social commerce platform, has shifted away from a DTC marketplace model and pivoted toward eco-friendly brand partners to offer users an interactive and humanized shopping experience. The platform facilitates access to socially responsible brands and delivers brand stories through videos from the founders. To meet the needs of modern millennials and Gen Z consumers, The Verticale relies heavily on content, and one of the main features of the new platform is founder videos. The company addresses the challenge of greenwashing in social commerce through brand scorecards that provide detailed information on sustainability efforts. However, Forrester’s Sucharita Kodali warns that consumers are becoming increasingly conscious of greenwashing. The platform charges brand partners an onboarding fee and a take-rate off the sale when users leave the platform and purchase products directly from the brands’ websites.
The Verticale, an e-commerce site that previously operated as a DTC (direct-to-consumer) marketplace, is relaunching as a social commerce platform with a focus on sustainability. Founded in 2021, the platform aims to help shoppers discover socially conscious brands that align with their values. Rather than selling products directly, The Verticale will now facilitate users’ access to eco-friendly brand partners and provide additional information about their products through designated brand pages, founder videos, and influencer recommendations.
The pivot towards social commerce comes at a time when socially conscious shopping behavior is on the rise, and consumers are increasingly willing to pay more for environmentally friendly and socially responsible products. In a February 2023 study by McKinsey and NielsenIQ, products with ESG (environmental, social, and governance) claims such as “cage free,” “vegan,” and “eco-friendly” saw an average cumulative growth of 28% between 2017 and 2022. Furthermore, a Forrester study found that over half (51%) of Gen Z respondents between the ages of 18 and 23 conduct research on a company’s CSR (corporate social responsibility) stance before making a purchase.
The Verticale will charge its brand partners an onboarding fee and a take-rate off the sale when users leave the platform and purchase products directly from the brands’ websites. The company’s relaunch includes 30 brands, including Ayurvedic skin-care brand Aavrani, zero-waste haircare brand Superzero, and sustainable sneaker brand Cariuma, among others.
According to The Verticale’s CEO Jaclyn Grauman, the company’s decision to rebrand itself stemmed from consumer feedback indicating that customers preferred checking out on the brands’ websites. By transitioning to a social commerce platform, The Verticale aims to provide an improved shopping experience for its users while supporting eco-friendly and socially responsible brands.
The Verticale, an e-commerce site that previously operated as a DTC (direct-to-consumer) marketplace, is undergoing a significant shift to a social commerce platform. The site has always been heavily focused on content, and now aims to offer users an interactive and humanized shopping experience by facilitating access to eco-friendly brand partners and delivering brand stories through videos from the founders.
One of the key drivers of the platform’s transition was consumer feedback indicating that customers preferred checking out on the brands’ websites. According to The Verticale’s CEO, Jaclyn Grauman, the consumers’ desire to validate product specifics like price and color, as well as their preference for purchasing from the brand’s “hyper specialized” e-commerce stores, contributed to the disconnect. Additionally, all consumers surveyed perceived the platform as a place for brand discovery, but ultimately preferred not to be disintermediated from the brand.
The shift to a social commerce platform is intended to improve the shopping experience for users and support eco-friendly and socially responsible brands. The platform is working with 30 creators and tastemakers, including Amy Liu and David Komisarchik, to raise awareness about its rebranding, and has added new brand partners to its existing roster with names like multivitamin brand Ritual and swimwear brand Andie Swim. The vetting process for brand partners is based on specific criteria, including zero waste, ethical production, and clean ingredients, among others. The site carries scorecards to show how each brand meets that specific criteria.
The new business model operates as close to break-even as possible, with The Verticale charging brand partners an onboarding fee and a take-rate off the sale when users leave the platform and purchase products directly from the brands’ websites. The site sells goods priced between $80 to $100 (on average) and offers an invite-only platform. The pivot to social commerce comes at a time when socially conscious shopping behavior is on the rise, and consumers are increasingly willing to pay more for environmentally friendly and socially responsible products.
The Verticale’s new social shopping experience is intentionally designed to feel community-oriented and drive interactivity. The company is giving creators dedicated pages to promote product recommendations on The Verticale in the coming weeks. The platform’s most successful marketing channel has always been its email newsletters, which it plans to leverage heavily going forward.
To deliver brand stories, The Verticale relies heavily on content, and one of the main features of the new platform is founder videos. Each brand page has an embedded 10- to 15-second video from the founders, introducing themselves and their companies and encouraging shoppers to ask questions about the brand and its products.
The Verticale’s pivot to social commerce is a strategic move to adapt to consumer preferences and meet the needs of modern millennials and Gen Z consumers. By facilitating access to eco-friendly and socially responsible brands and delivering brand stories through videos from the founders, the platform aims to offer an enhanced shopping experience that aligns with its users’ values.
The Verticale, a social commerce platform that recently pivoted away from a DTC marketplace model, faces the challenge of convincing consumers that the brands on its platform are not just greenwashing. While the platform addresses this challenge through its brand scorecards, which provide detailed information on sustainability efforts, Forrester’s Sucharita Kodali warns that consumers are becoming increasingly conscious of greenwashing.
Kodali notes that about a fifth of U.S. consumers seek out socially conscious brands, citing a growing awareness of wastefulness and carbon footprint. However, she suggests that having actual CSR reports or an auditable paper trail would be valuable for brands. The Verticale aims to meet the needs of modern millennials and Gen Z consumers by facilitating access to eco-friendly and socially responsible brands and delivering brand stories through videos from the founders. The platform plans to add more videos to various brand products over time.
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