D2C pitch deck
Revenue growth is easy to buy in D2C. Investors want to know what is left from each order after the product, the delivery, the returns and the ads, and whether customers come back without being paid for again.
The numbers
Most D2C decks lead with revenue. Investors skip to the margin. Show these four and you have answered the questions that usually take the whole meeting.
What is left from an order at three levels. Definitions vary between brands, so say which you use. A common one: CM1 after product cost, CM2 after shipping, payment fees and returns, CM3 after marketing[1].
On the slide: a waterfall from order value down to CM3, in rupees per order. Percentages hide how small the money is.
The share of customers who buy again within a set window, such as 90 days. It is the strongest signal that the brand, not the ad, is doing the selling.
On the slide: by monthly cohort, so investors can see whether newer customers come back as often as early ones.
What you spend to win a customer, and how many orders it takes for their margin to cover it. In D2C it is often clearer to count orders than months.
On the slide: blended and by channel. Paid social, marketplaces, influencers and organic search behave very differently.
Cash on delivery orders are returned far more often than prepaid ones in India. One 2026 industry estimate puts fashion and apparel returns at 25 to 40% of orders[2]. Returns cost you shipping both ways and often the product.
On the slide: next to contribution margin, with the prepaid share. Improving prepaid share is a real lever investors like to see.
The same fictional brand. Profit per customer, added up over their orders. The first order loses ₹204 once the ad that won it is counted. Repeat orders earn ₹396 each because no new ad is needed, so the customer pays back on the second order.
Channels
A D2C brand in India rarely sells only on its own site. Marketplaces, quick commerce apps and offline retail each bring customers at a different cost, and investors want to see the mix.
Your own site gives you the customer data and the best margin, but you pay for every visit. Marketplaces bring demand you do not pay for up front, then take a commission and own the customer. Quick commerce can move volume fast; founders have reported paying commissions of 35 to 40% there[3]. Offline retail builds trust but ties up cash in stock and distributor margins.
Put a simple table on the slide: channel, share of revenue, margin after channel costs, and repeat rate. If one channel is more than half your revenue, say what you are doing about it.
Margins on these channels change often. Use your actual invoices, not published rate cards.
In the meeting
Slide by slide
The order follows the structure most investors expect, from Sequoia's original business plan outline[4] to Y Combinator's seed deck advice[5]. The notes are what changes for D2C.
Red flags
Investors give a deck a few minutes. DocSend found average review time fell to under three minutes in 2022[6]. These are the slides that use those minutes badly.
Astitva writes your investor story free from a short brief, in this order, then designs each slide in your own brand for 5 credits. A 12-slide deck is 60 credits.
No card needed. Packs from ₹299 or $3, no subscription.
Twelve slides in investor order with a contribution margin waterfall (CM1 to CM3), repeat purchase rate by cohort, CAC payback in orders, returns and prepaid share, and revenue by channel.
Layers of contribution margin per order. A common definition: CM1 after product cost, CM2 after shipping, payment fees and returns, and CM3 after marketing. Brands define them slightly differently, so state yours.
It depends on the category. Consumables like food and personal care should show customers returning within weeks; fashion and gifting repeat more slowly. Show your rate by cohort and the trend.
Yes. Astitva writes the investor story free from a short brief and designs each slide in your brand for 5 credits, with 50 free credits on sign-up.
Figures from these sources were current when this guide was written. Rules and benchmarks change, so check the latest version before you rely on one.