One of the key insights I’ve gained while building Banjaaran Studio is about distribution. I’ve realized that where and how you sell might be just as important as what you sell, especially when targeting what I like to call “Upper India1” – those approximately 4-5 crore Indians from the larger 14 crore India1 segment (Referring to the Indus Valley Annual Report 2025) who can casually spend ₹5,000 on discretionary items.
The Core Principle
When it comes to distribution, there’s no denying that brands like boAt have built massive success on marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart. Their playbook has worked incredibly well for mass-market products. Even brands like Mamaearth and WOW Skin Science initially leveraged marketplaces to scale rapidly.
But I’m beginning to wonder if that same approach works when building a premium brand. From what I understand, the distribution strategy might need to look quite different.
Here’s what I believe is the fundamental principle: if you want to build a premium brand in India, you must own your distribution. This isn’t optional – it’s the foundation everything else is built upon.
Your direct-to-consumer channel (your own online store) should be the primary focus, with everything else being supplementary. This means investing heavily in your own website experience, your own checkout flow, and your own post-purchase journey.
Why Owning Your Distribution Matters
When I say “own your distribution,” I’m talking about controlling the entire customer experience through your brand website or exclusive stores. Here’s why this is non-negotiable for premium brands:
1. Performance Marketing Cannibalization
When investing in performance marketing to acquire premium customers, not having complete data ownership could potentially dilute your efforts.
From what I understand, if your products are also listed on marketplaces, customers who discover you through your paid ads might check if you’re available on marketplaces they already trust. This could create a situation where you’re essentially investing in ads that ultimately drive traffic to marketplaces instead of your own platform.
Most marketplaces do not share customer data with you, so you lose valuable insights and the ability to build long-term relationships with these customers. You’re essentially paying to acquire customers for someone else’s platform.
2. Retention Economics
The economics of premium brands only work when you focus on retention. You earn real profits when customers purchase repeatedly, not from one-time sales.
Something important to consider is that all premium brands are fighting for the same 4-5 crore population. Bigger brands with much more marketing muscle and money are targeting this exact same audience. This means the customer acquisition cost for this segment is going to be very, very high – often prohibitively so for smaller brands.
This makes retention economics even more crucial. You simply can’t afford to constantly acquire new customers at these rates. You need to maximize the lifetime value of each customer you do acquire.
This requires direct access to customer phone numbers and email addresses – data that marketplaces simply will not share with you.
Without this data, you can’t build the personalized communication flow that premium customers expect, making sustainable growth impossible.
3. Premium Experience Control
Premium customers aren’t just buying products – they’re buying experiences. Every touchpoint needs to reinforce your brand positioning.
On marketplaces, you lose control over critical parts of this experience – from how your products are displayed to the post-purchase journey.
You can’t create the kind of immersive brand world that Upper India1 expects when your products are sandwiched between thousands of others.
Strategic Marketplace Considerations
While owning your distribution is critical, many brands would still want to go the marketplace route and here’s how I would approach it:
1. Be highly selective with marketplace partnerships.
If you must use marketplaces, only consider specialty curated platforms that focus exclusively on premium offerings. Avoid generic mass platforms that will commoditize your brand. Remember that your target audience isn’t casually browsing Amazon or Myntra for premium products – they’re seeking curated, exclusive experiences that reflect their discerning taste. The Upper India1 segment expects a shopping experience that matches their premium expectations.
2. Never cannibalize your direct channel.
Your customer experience and pricing strategy should always favor your own platform. Marketplaces limit your brand storytelling, restrict pricing control, and force you into a generalized shopping experience that contradicts what Upper India1 consumers expect. Never offer identical terms on marketplaces – this directly cannibalizes your direct channel where real brand building happens. Remember that on marketplaces, you’re just another listing, while on your own platform, you control every aspect of how customers experience your brand.
3. Use strategic product assortment.
For brands with deeper product lines, keep your hero products exclusive to your own channels. The products that define your brand shouldn’t be available elsewhere. Use marketplace listings of secondary products only to attract attention, then direct customers to your flagship items on your own platform where margins are better and you own the customer relationship. This creates a funnel where marketplaces serve as customer acquisition channels for your direct business, not competitors to it. By strategically selecting which products go where, you can leverage marketplace visibility without compromising your premium positioning or giving away your brand’s crown jewels.
Physical Retail Considerations
For premium brands targeting Upper India1, a strategic physical retail presence seems to matter. These customers probably expect to see your brand in high-end malls and exclusive boutiques.
I’ve been particularly impressed by how some D2C brands are approaching this. Take Bummer, for instance, which installed vending machines at airports. This was such a smart move because airports are high-density areas where premium customers frequently visit. These vending machines aren’t primarily revenue-generating points – they’re brand awareness touchpoints in spaces where Upper India1 customers are already present.
This is something I’m eager to experiment with for my own small D2C brand in the near future. I’m considering setting up small installations or kiosks in select locations – not primarily as revenue drivers, but more as brand presence touchpoints. The idea would be to create these spaces to tell our brand story consistently and create memorable experiences that might drive people to our owned channels.
It’s still early days, but I think these physical touchpoints could play an interesting role in building brand credibility with the Upper India1 segment.
Final Thoughts
I’ve come to realize that distribution isn’t just logistics – it’s a key part of brand strategy. When targeting Upper India1, controlling your distribution could be the difference between building a premium brand and becoming just another product on a shelf.
Based on my experience and observations, establishing your direct-to-consumer channel first, getting it right, and then selectively expanding with a deliberate strategy seems to be the most promising approach.
These are my thoughts as I navigate building Banjaaran Studio. I’m still learning and adapting my strategy, but the importance of owning distribution has become increasingly clear to me. I’d love to hear what’s worked for others targeting this segment.
Kveer, signing out.
