D2C x B2B Revenue Lines

Hey readers,

Welcome to the seventeenth edition of D2C Cents!

This edition? We talk about D2C → B2C

While everyone’s chasing the next viral reel, the smartest D2C brands are pivoting to B2B. They’re building massive wholesale revenue lines under the radar.

The "D2C Dream" is a hallucination. Founders spent a decade believing that if they just built a beautiful Shopify store and poured enough money into Meta ads, they’d own the customer forever.

But reality is different. Zuckerberg is your landlord, and he just tripled the rent.

With CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) rising 30% annually and LTV (Lifetime Value) compressing, smart D2C brands are changing their strategy

Instead of chasing thousands of individual buyers online, they’re targeting big business clients, like hotels or large companies, where one deal brings massive revenue.

They’re now using their strong D2C brand image and design to enter the much bigger B2B market.

That’s the real “genius pivot.”

But before the brands, which B2B category actually has the most opportunity?

Corporate gifting is the most accessible entry point: low MOQ, no custom infrastructure needed, and one festive season contract can change a brand's cash flow.

Hotels have the highest brand-building value.

Salons have the highest conversion-to-D2C rate.

Corporate Gifting

Nobody cares about branded pens now. Good corporate gifting is about status, story, and something worth showing off.

Phool (the flower-waste-to-incense brand) has a massive corporate-gifting business. They focus on premium gifting as their core category, with minimal packaging, gift-worthy items, and their own taste.

The Zappy Box clocks ₹20+ lakh MRR, with a large chunk from corporate gifting. Same brands you see on Instagram? They're bulk-supplying Fortune 500 companies. 

IGP runs a separate arm called "IGP for Business" that does corporate gifting at scale, gourmet hampers, gift cards, and personalized merchandise for enterprises. Corporate gifting now makes up over 10% of IGP's total revenue and is growing 20% YoY. 

Gobrionuts (snack brand) does 90% offline sales, 8% marketplaces, and the remaining 2% through its website,  with B2B bulk gifting as a major channel.

Even premium dry fruit brands like Farmley and Happilo do significant B2B corporate gifting during festivals.

Hotels

India is the fastest-growing market in Asia-Pacific for this category.

Kimirica is the poster child for this. Started in 2013, making luxury hotel toiletries. Now they supply 10,000+ hotels globally, Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Accor, and The Leela. Their B2B hospitality arm (Kimirica Hunter) does ₹300 crore in revenue.

But in 2019, they launched Kimirica Lifestyle, a D2C brand. Now they're on Nykaa, Amazon, Tira, and quick commerce. Top sellers.

In August 2025, Forest Essentials announced a landmark partnership with Taj Hotels, featuring refillable ceramic dispensers. Guests experience the product in-room, then search for it later.

Kama Ayurveda has partnered with high-end hotels and wellness resorts to position itself as authentic luxury.

Marriott International, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, and Accor increasingly prefer niche, design-forward brands over generic suppliers like Unilever.

Salons & Spas

Placing your shampoo in a 5-star hotel vs a salon serves two very different purposes.

• Hotels = Premium positioning. Guests use it once, remember the brand, and buy it later. It's brand building, not volume.

• Salons/Spas = Trial at scale. Every customer receives a 20-30-minute product experience. They feel it, smell it, and see results. That's why salon B2B is about conversion, not just awareness.

Kérastase built its empire on salon-first distribution, professional experience → retail pull.

Olaplex grew through stylists recommending it during treatments.

The D2C Pain is Real

• Facebook and Instagram CPMs are through the roof. Every brand is fighting for the same eyeballs. LTV/CAC ratios are compressing. You're spending ₹500 to acquire a customer who buys once for ₹800. 

• Revenue is unpredictable. Diwali spike, Valentine's bump, then crickets in February. Constant marketing pressure to "perform" every month.

B2B Advantages Are Obvious

More Hidden Benefits

Forced Product Trials at Scale (This Is Huge)

When Forest Essentials is placed inside Taj Hotels properties, every guest is forced trial. They didn't choose it, but they used it. 

Brand Credibility on Autopilot

"Used in Taj Hotels." "Trusted by 50+ corporates." "Official supplier to Air India."

It's social proof that would cost lakhs in influencer marketing. But you got it through one B2B contract. 

Geographic Expansion Without Capex

B2B partners in Tier 2/3 cities = instant distribution without opening stores or hiring salespeople. You're piggybacking on existing retail and corporate networks.

If B2B is so genius, why doesn't every brand do it? 

Moving from D2C to B2B is like moving from playing Tennis to playing Rugby, the ball is the same, but the rules are violent.

1. Operational Chaos

D2C operations are built for small daily orders. B2B demands bulk shipments, strict timelines, and tighter quality control. A single damaged batch can mean rejected shipments, debit notes, and major losses.

Each custom SKU means new packaging tooling (₹2–10 lakh per mould), new MOQs (often 5,000–10,000 units minimum), new artwork approvals, and new inventory that sits if the order doesn't repeat.

If the B2B order value doesn't amortise the tooling and design cost across the volume, your unit economics collapse, even on what looks like a big order. 

This is the silent P&L killer of B2B pivots.

Teams must balance large B2B orders without hurting core D2C customers.

2. The "Separate P&L" Nightmare

Brands often show high “revenue” but face cash shortages due to delayed payments.

3. Finding the "Right Channel" (Where is my TG?)

The biggest mistake is chasing any B2B revenue instead of the right B2B revenue.

You must place your product where your D2C Target Group (TG) already spends time. For skincare, that’s high-end salons. For snacks, that’s premium office pantries or co-working spaces like WeWork.

If the B2B order isn't large enough to offset the cost of the new packaging design and tooling, the "unit economics" collapse.

The "Genius" of the B2B pivot isn't just about extra revenue. It’s about Risk Mitigation.

In a world where consumer sentiment is fickle and "brand loyalty" lasts as long as the next discount code, B2B contracts provide the bedrock.

The winners in 2026 won't be pure D2C or pure B2B; they'll be hybrid. Consumer-facing for brand building, B2B for cash flow stability. The smartest founders are doing this quietly right now.

See you next edition - same time, deeper insights.

Until then, keep building strategically.
Abhishek