D2C Brands Grew 15% in H1 (But At What Cost)

Ecommerce Playbook: Numbers, Struggles & Growth · Jul 28, 2026 · 22m

In this episode Richard and Steve break down H1 2026 performance data from across the CTC client portfolio, covering brand revenue growth, ad spend efficiency, incrementality testing results by platform, and the latest signals from the D2C Consumer Confidence Index.

Topics covered in this episode:

Median brand revenue growth of 15.2% in H1 2026

Why spend grew 28% while revenue efficiency declined

AppLovin incrementality results across 18 tests (average: 171%)

Meta incrementality: average 113.4%, with a wide spread across brands

Why AOV is a key driver of Meta incrementality outcomes

Consumer…