DTC (Direct-to-Consumer)
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) is a business model where a brand sells its own products directly to end customers, bypassing wholesalers and retailers.
Direct-to-consumer means the brand owns the end-to-end customer relationship: manufacturing, marketing, selling, shipping, and support. There's no wholesale tier or third-party retailer between the product and the buyer.
DTC gained traction in the 2010s through brands like Warby Parker, Casper, and Away, and has become standard across modern e-commerce. For buyers, it usually means better prices (no retail markup), tighter brand control, and a customer-service relationship directly with the maker.
Portraits is DTC — we design the product, we run the production pipeline, we handle shipping, and we support every order. There's no third party in the middle of that relationship.
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