Peyush Bansal's Top Tips for Scaling D2C Brands in India

It’s not performance marketing. Not channel strategy. Not even discounts. It’s trust.

At Startup Mahakumbh 2025, Peyush Bansal, CEO & Co-founder of Lenskart, delivered a wake-up call to founders overwhelmed by the frenzy of “growth hacking.” Addressing a packed room of D2C operators and startup founders, Bansal made one thing clear: stop obsessing over online vs offline — focus on your customer. 

“Go 20 levels deep into understanding your user,” he said. “If you're not solving a real problem for real people, no channel can save you.”

Forget the jargon. Forget the chase for virality. If you’re building a D2C brand in India, Bansal challenged the crowd to ask just one question: Do your customers love your product enough to tell ten others about it?

Peyush Bansal's Hard Truth: It's About Trust, Not Growth Hacks

In a direct, no-nonsense style, Bansal didn’t glorify blitzscaling or shower praise on omnichannel buzzwords. He delivered a hard truth that cut through the fluff of India’s startup hype culture:

“Getting a sale is easy. Getting a quality sale is very difficult.”

With that opening line, Bansal shifted the conversation from top-line growth to trust. He urged founders to stop chasing growth metrics and instead focus on customer retention. According to him, the secret to building a lasting D2C brand lies not in performance marketing or funding rounds—but in a deep understanding of your customer.

Go Deeper—20 Levels, Not 2

Startups often talk about data, but Bansal argued that most fail to dive deep enough.

“You need to go 20 levels deeper, not just two—to understand why someone is buying, and more importantly, why they’re not.”

He called out the superficial obsession with online vs offline debates and the overuse of the term “omnichannel.”

“You make your whole org omnichannel, but you don’t make the customer omnichannel,” Bansal pointed out. “The word is often misunderstood. Just follow the customer, not the concept.”

Instead of building channels, he said, focus on building clarity. Study every friction point. Track why a lead dropped off. Pay attention to the exact moment a customer decided to walk away.

The D2C Ecosystem Is Maturing

Bansal’s advice resonates at a time when the  India's D2C Landscape is moving beyond vanity growth to sustainable, customer-driven success. As GoKwik’s Q4 FY25 report shows:

• Prepaid orders rose by 3% quarter-on-quarter, with UPI emerging as the preferred payment mode.
• Credit-based payments remained steady, indicating a more measured shopper, prioritizing ease without overextending finances.
• Average Order Value (AOV) dipped by 1.5%, with prepaid AOV dropping 2.5%, suggesting shoppers are still purchasing—but more consciously.
• Fashion’s share of orders fell from 25% to 22%, while Beauty & Personal Care maintained its share at 25%, signaling beauty's evolution into a lifestyle staple.
• Women’s contribution to D2C purchases grew, while men’s dropped by 2%, reflecting a rise in the female shopper base.
• Tier 2 cities showed a notable AOV increase, from ₹1274 to ₹1311, while Tier 1 cities saw a slight dip.

“Q4 FY25 wasn’t festive, yet demand surged. That’s the D2C stickiness founders dream of,” said Chirag Taneja, CEO of GoKwik. “Consumers trust the product, the brand, and the experience. This is what long-term value looks like.”

Fix the Root, Not the Surface

Bansal shared examples of how Lenskart grew by fixing core issues, not just superficial ones.

When long queues frustrated customers, Lenskart didn’t just speed up billing; they re-engineered the entire queue system. When specs broke in transit, they invented a clip to secure them inside the case.

“We realized specs were breaking because of micro-movements during logistics. So, we designed a clip that could withstand turbulence. That’s how deep we went. That’s what it takes.”

Flip the Org Chart: Put Seniors on Retention

Bansal challenged a common startup practice: assigning senior leaders to customer acquisition while junior staff handles retention.

“Top executives focus on winning new customers. But once the deal is done, junior staff takes over. That’s flawed,” he said.

He proposed a radical shift: let junior teams sell, and assign retention to senior leaders.

“You can’t reduce CAC unless your senior-most leaders serve existing customers. That’s how you build a brand customers love.”

Don’t Settle for ‘Okay’—Exceed Expectations

When someone asked if today’s consumers had become irrational, Bansal responded decisively:

“Why should customers settle? If you don’t exceed expectations, someone else will. That’s not irrational—it’s just reality.”

He reminded founders that today’s customers have more choice, more voice, and zero loyalty for mediocre experiences.

Play the Long Game, Not the Fast Click

Bansal made a strong case for long-term thinking over quick wins.

“Everyone loves performance marketing because it’s instant. But SEO-like strategies that take time are far more sustainable,” he said.

He warned against over-relying on quick wins and encouraged founders to build value-driven growth that isn’t reliant on constant customer acquisition.

“You can’t keep paying to acquire customers forever. The only way out is to make your existing customers love your service so much that they bring in the next ten.”

The Takeaway: Stop Selling. Start Serving.

Peyush Bansal didn’t pitch a hack. He offered a mindset shift.

“Make your culture about service. Not sales. Then you won’t need to chase customers—they’ll chase you.”

As the startup world continues to celebrate headlines more than habits, Bansal’s message stood out for its raw honesty and customer-first thinking. For any founder building in the D2C space—or any consumer-facing venture—his advice wasn’t just useful—it was a blueprint for sustainable growth.

With funding winter still casting a shadow, and consumer spending shifting from indulgence to intention, his advice couldn’t be more timely.

As Bansal said, “You’re not building a D2C brand. You’re building a relationship.”