recent thoughts on consumer behavior and technology shifts
AI is turning what used to be a relationship game into an intelligence game. The brands that win shelf space, retail partnerships, and community mindshare aren't just the ones with great products - they're using data-based prediction and automation to win access. In a category where channels are fixed, the advantage now lies in how intelligently you play them.
Going omnichannel has become critical for upstart consumer brands. It drives growth, revenue diversification, and stickiness - and it's what both private equity firms and strategics look for in an attractive target. The evidence is clear: early brands are expanding into channels like grocery, club, and mass-market in the U.S. and abroad much faster than ever before. You can view our case studies on this in our deck, profil...
Here's the challenge: retail can make or break a D2C brand. Overbuy inventory and you're stuck with dead stock. Forecast incorrectly and you miss sales. Get freight and logistics wrong and margins collapse. Launch the wrong product and it sits on shelves. The stakes are high, and the complexity is real.
The problem? Data transparency is terrible. Brands are still pulling information from clunky retailer portals, tying together PDFs with old emails, manually reconciling sales across channels. There's no single source of truth. Companies like Confido, Glimpse, and Floret are starting to solve this by bringing real-time data visibility and automation to retail operations - helping brands forecast smarter, manage inventory better, and ultimately scale profitably across channels.
In an effort to better understand this distribution dynamic, I spent a few months going deep with brands, brokers, distributors, and retailers. These conversations led me to key insights on the vertical AI omnichannel enablement opportunity:
1. Ample room for automation. Consumer companies are primed to adopt AI-native solutions that bring efficiencies across customer experience, marketing, finance, operations, and product development. Automation could meaningfully move the needle for overall revenue potential, driving faster growth and stronger unit economics.
2. AI can accelerate speed-to-shelf across channels. AI helps identify online trends in real time, allowing brands to quickly incorporate insights into products, customer experience, and marketing. In a world where trends change rapidly, staying close to customers is imperative.
3. Leverage AI to move across functions. The most compelling investment opportunities will use AI to bridge the data gap across finance, operations, and marketing. These teams must work in concert to launch and scale across distribution channels, but often work in siloed, non-AI-native tools.
Our early thinking: the biggest opportunities for cross-functional AI impact are in inventory management and replenishment; broker workflow tools; wholesale marketplaces; and cross-border commerce. Each represents a key stage in omnichannel expansion. AI will continue to unlock value creation in these areas and more investment potential will emerge over time.
I'll be continuing to track this space, both for potential investments and for our portfolio companies. If you're building here, let me know! If you want to learn more about Maveron's POV on omnichannel distribution, check out our full investment thesis here.