Some brands try to grow by doing more. The smartest ones grow by doing more of what already works.
Liquid Death is the perfect example. They didn’t stop at water, they turned a fanbase into an energy drink line and now wine collabs. It feels bold, but it’s actually simple: give people more of what they already love from you.
That’s the through-line this week. Quince is suddenly selling Dom Pérignon. Food and beverage ecommerce is unlocking categories that used to be off-limits. Checkout tools are squeezing more revenue out of the moments you already own. And operators are getting together to design journeys that make expansion feel effortless.
Because growth doesn’t have to mean reinventing everything. Sometimes it just means stepping into the next lane your customers are already in.
Inside the D2C Beat
🔥 The D2C Deep Dive: Liquid Death isn’t expanding products; it’s expanding culture. And that’s how you build a beverage empire in a flat market.
💰 Deal of the Week: Turn every return into revenue without adding another workflow to your day with Onward.
📞 Missed Calls: The rails are laid for category expansion. Wine today, whatever aligns with your audience next.
🎤 D2C IRL: If the goal is expansion, the journey has to be seamless. Here’s how operators are making it happen.
Your weekly look at the D2C brands setting the bar and what operators can learn from their playbook.
Liquid Death is entering a new era. What started as a tallboy of mountain water wrapped in metal and mischief is now a $333M powerhouse with retail momentum most beverage brands would die for. And instead of slowing down, they’re widening the aperture of what this brand can be.
The latest moves tell the story. Their new Sparkling Energy line taps the fastest-growing part of the beverage aisle, but without the sugary crash that defines legacy players. It’s clean, functional fuel for a consumer who wants performance without compromising their health flex.
Then there’s the collaboration no one saw coming… Liquid Death × 19 Crimes. A limited-edition drop that pushes the brand into nightlife, dinner parties, and social drinking occasions far beyond hydration. It’s a signal: their audience is growing up, and the brand is growing with them.
What’s most interesting isn’t the product innovation, it’s the discipline behind it. They’ve mastered the art of turning cultural attention into measurable growth. Their promo testing alone recently drove a ~19% retail lift, and awareness is still low relative to sell-through. Translation: there’s a lot of runway left.
Liquid Death doesn’t ask, “Can we play in this category?” They ask, “Why shouldn’t we?” Because once a brand becomes a lifestyle symbol, it stops being boxed in by its original category. Consumers will follow.
19 Crimes X Liquid Death Collab
💡Operator Takeaway: The lesson here is simple and powerful: category expansion isn’t earned by flavor innovation, it’s earned by brand conviction. Win trust first, then stretch into the spaces your customers already occupy.
Read more on their new Sparkling Energy drinks
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Onward
With Onward, retailers looking to provide a best-in-class customer experience can do so at no cost, improving repeat purchase rates all while reducing fulfillment and CX operational expenses. That includes Shipping Protection, Free Returns, 90-day Quality Guarantee, CashBack Credit and other perks. It’s a true order upgrade for your customers that can result in higher adoption rates and financial impact for brands.
Plus, with Onward, you’ll get access to an entire post-purchase suite, including returns app and order editing software that are completely SaaS-free.
🚨Friends Rate Discount: For Shopify brands generating over $3M in annual revenue, Onward can provide a $10K upfront to accelerate holiday growth — Larger brands may qualify for a larger upfront amount
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The D2C world moves fast. These are the stories worth your attention. The ones showing where strategy, spend, and consumer trends are headed next.
Quince adds wine to assortment through partnership with Drinks
Quince is officially entering the alcohol category, starting with a curated wine drop that includes Dom Pérignon, powered by DRINKS’ licensing, regulation, and delivery infrastructure
The move pushes Quince further into becoming a full “lifestyle” retailer, tapping into replenishable, premium categories consumers already gift and repeat-purchase
💡 D2C Takeaway: When infrastructure removes friction, expansion becomes a growth lever. Brands with strong trust and positioning can unlock high-margin, replenishable categories without reinventing operations.
Food e-commerce: What awaits the food, beverage, and CPG industry
New trends in F&B ecommerce highlight AI-driven personalization, unified fulfillment, and better onsite discovery that make it easier for shoppers to buy consumables online
These infrastructure upgrades remove the historical blockers that made alcohol and grocery tough online categories, opening the door for digital-native beverage dominance
💡 D2C Takeaway: The rails are now built for beverage brands to scale. Liquid Death is proving the playbook: bold storytelling only hits big when distribution and experience keep up.
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Where operators show up IRL. The top community events and conversations happening right now.
Operators Assemble: 2025 into 2026
This session brings together 25+ ecommerce leaders to walk operators through how the best Shopify brands design, map, and optimize the entire customer journey; not as disconnected touch-points, but as a unified revenue engine. Expect insights on eliminating friction, syncing CX with conversion, and how small gaps can derail big growth when demand is high.
Tuesday, December 16, 2025, 1-4pm EST | Webinar
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Building a Conversational Commerce Strategy that Converts
This event breaks down how leading brands are turning conversations into conversions by upgrading their support channels into revenue channels. Learn how to use live chat, automation, and personalized onsite guidance to boost AOV, reduce time-to-checkout, and create loyalty that compounds long after the first purchase.
Tuesday, December 16, 2025 | 1:30 - 2pm EST | Webinar
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