Latest / The DTC Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Direct-to-Consumer Brands, Shopify, and E-Commerce Growth / How DTC Brands Use Community-Driven Product Development
Transcript
- Lucas: If these marketing conversations have sparked something you've actually used — a tactic, a framework, a pricing tweak — that's the whole point. But here's the thing: most brands treat customer feedback like a suggestion box. You collect it, you read it, maybe you act on a few comments. But a small but growing group of DTC brands is flipping that entirely — they're letting their communities design the product itself. Luna: You mean like, handing over the blueprint? That sounds risky. Lucas: It does, right? But the payoff can be enormous. Let me give you a concrete example. Outdoor brand Cotopaxi — they make colorful backpacks, outerwear, that kind of thing. Two years ago they launched a fanny pack called the 'Del Día Waist Pack.' Now, fanny packs are a pretty saturated category. What made this one different is that the design was crowdsourced entirely from their Facebook community — the 'Cotopaxi Crew' group, which has about 40,000 members. Luna: So customers picked the colors, the strap length, the pocket layout? Lucas: Exactly. They ran polls in the group on every design decision. Color combinations, fabric choices, even the zipper placement. And the results were striking. That pack generated three times the average revenue per unit in its first quarter compared to their other new product launches that year. And the return rate was about 40 percent lower than their typical apparel items. Luna: Lower returns — that's huge for margins. Makes sense though. If you helped design it, you know exactly what you're getting. Lucas: Right. And it's not just Cotopaxi. Glossier built its entire early product line this way. Their 'Phase 1 Set' — the Milky Jelly Cleanser, the Priming Moisturizer — those were formulated based on what their blog community, Into the Gloss, said they couldn't find in existing products. Glossier's first year revenue was around four million dollars, and they hadn't spent a dime on traditional advertising. The product was the marketing. Luna: But there's a difference between asking customers what they want and letting them vote on every detail. How do you avoid 'design by committee' — something that pleases everyone but excites no one? Lucas: That is the million-dollar question. And honestly, the brands that do this well treat community input as a starting point, not a final blueprint. Cotopaxi, for example, had their design team narrow down the options before putting them to a vote. So the community chose between three color palettes, not a hundred. It's guided co-creation — you're giving your customers a steering wheel, but you're still mapping the road. Luna: That makes sense. Otherwise you'd end up with a product that has fourteen pockets and no zipper. Lucas: Exactly. And there's a structural benefit here that goes beyond the product itself. When customers co-create, they become emotionally invested. They're not just buyers — they're advocates. Cotopaxi saw that community members who participated in the design polls were three times more likely to leave a review, and their repeat purchase rate within six months was nearly double that of non-participants. Luna: So the act of designing itself drives loyalty. That's a pretty compelling feedback loop. Lucas: It's a flywheel. The more you involve them, the more they buy, the more they tell their friends. And the best part is, you're building a product that already has a guaranteed audience. You don't have to guess whether there's demand — you know because these people literally asked for it. Luna: What about the operational side? If you're a smaller brand, managing a community and incorporating their feedback sounds like a lot of overhead. Lucas: It's not trivial, but it's more scalable than you'd think. Tools like Productboard or Canny let you collect feature requests and let users vote. You can run weekly polls in a private Slack or Discord. The key is to set clear boundaries — you're not asking customers to build the product, you're asking them to prioritize. Lush Cosmetics does this really well. They have a 'Lush Labs' program where customers can suggest and vote on new products. The winning ideas get made in small batches, and if they sell out, they go into full production. Luna: So it's like A/B testing, but with product concepts instead of headlines. Lucas: Exactly. And the risk is incredibly low. You're not ordering ten thousand units of something you're not sure about. You're making a hundred, putting it in front of the community that asked for it, and letting demand decide. The cost of community management is tiny compared to the cost of a failed product launch. Luna: I want to push back a little, though. There's a danger of your community becoming an echo chamber. If you only listen to your most engaged customers, you might build something that doesn't appeal to the broader market. How do brands avoid that? Lucas: It's a real risk. The people in your Facebook group are your superfans — they're not representative of the average buyer. Brands that do this well use community input for line extensions or limited editions, not their core product. Cotopaxi's Del Día pack was a limited run. Glossier's Phase 1 was their initial offering, but they didn't let the community design everything that came after. You keep your core line data-driven, and use community for innovation. Luna: That's smart. So community input becomes a sort of innovation sandbox. Lucas: Exactly. And honestly, if today was worth a coffee to you, that's the link — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. These conversations take time to research, and listener support is what keeps the show ad-free and independent. Luna: Yeah, it really does help. We put a lot into each episode, and knowing people find value in it makes the difference. Lucas: So back to that sandbox idea. Another brand that's been smart about this is MeUndies. They have a 'Prints' program where community members submit patterns, and the winning designs get produced. It's not a core product — it's a way to keep the product line fresh and give customers a sense of ownership. And it's worked: their monthly subscription retention is north of 70 percent, which is excellent for apparel. Luna: And the patterns are probably shared on social media by the people who designed them — free marketing. Lucas: Exactly. Each winner becomes a micro-influencer for the brand. They post about it, their friends see it, and suddenly you've got a campaign that costs you nothing but a few pairs of underwear. It's a really efficient acquisition channel. Luna: What about the data side? If you're running polls in a Facebook group, you're getting qualitative input, but are brands capturing quantitative data too? Lucas: The best ones are. Cotopaxi tracked which voters actually bought the pack, and they found that people who voted on the final color scheme had a 25 percent higher conversion rate on the product page. That's a signal you can use to target lookalike audiences. If you know the personality traits of your co-creators, you can find more people like them. Luna: So it's not just about the product — it's also a data play for acquisition. Lucas: Exactly. And the community itself becomes a focus group you can tap anytime. Want to test pricing? Put it to the group. Want to test a new subscription model? Ask them. It's a constant feedback loop that de-risks almost every decision you make. Luna: Is there a downside? I imagine some customers might feel used if you ask for their input but don't act on it. Lucas: Absolutely. The worst thing you can do is ask for feedback and then ignore it. That breeds cynicism. Brands need to close the loop — tell the community what you heard and what you're doing with it. Even if you can't implement everything, acknowledging their contribution keeps them engaged. Lush does this well: they publish a 'You Spoke, We Listened' update every quarter. Luna: Transparency builds trust. That's a good principle for any brand. Lucas: It is. And it's especially important when you're asking customers to invest their time and creativity. They're not just giving you a star rating — they're giving you ideas. Treat that with respect, and they'll reward you with loyalty. Luna: Let's talk about the practical first step. If a brand is listening and wants to start community-driven product development, what's the move? Lucas: Start small. Pick one product category or one feature. Set up a private group — Facebook, Discord, even a simple email list. Ask one specific question: 'If you could change one thing about our product, what would it be?' Then act on the most common answer. That's the seed. From there, you can build a more structured program. Luna: And measure everything. Track participation rates, conversion, repeat purchases. Lucas: Right. The beauty is, you don't need a big budget. You need a willingness to listen and a culture that says 'the customer can help us build this.' That's the hardest part — ceding control. But the brands that do it well end up with products that sell themselves.