2022 Product Sampling Digitization Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Introduction of the Industry More than 800 new-age brands from India bade farewell to middlemen in the past few years and took the direct-to-consumer (D2C) route. The D2C model has witnessed a massive uptick across the country as it enables brands to bypass the intermediaries to reach consumers faster and cater to them more efficiently. The recent outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic hit the traditional retail sector hard, making brands realise the importance of shifting towards a D2C model. FMCG giants such as Johnson & Johnson, Himalaya, Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Lakme and others, which have dominated the Indian market for decades, are now challenged by young startups like Mamaearth, The Moms Co, Bey Bee, Azah, Nua and Pee Safe, among others. India's retail trade is still largely offline, and online FMCG sales on the internet make up less than 5% of overall trade. Unorganized stores, on the other hand, account for nearly 87% of the share of FMCG sales. So, e-commerce can help create a very strong business till a certain size, and after that brands go offline as an additional strategy. D2C brands born on the internet are rapidly setting up retail stores and selling through supermarkets and neighbourhood shops, as they sense the vast potential of the offline sales channel. Relying on any one channel is not wise in the continually evolving market space. Consumers spend half of the time searching and looking online, and the other half visiting and experiencing in-store, so no matter if you started with an online business or an offline business, you have to go in the other direction to capture their attention. Therefore, brands are turning to the omnichannel model. The progress registered in the field of information and communication technologies has induced significant changes in the purchasing behaviour of the consumers who 1