On Holding raised its full-year 2026 guidance after direct-to-consumer sales climbed to 31% of total revenue, according to SGB Media. The Swiss running and lifestyle brand built its premium positioning on a simple mechanism: customers who pay more once will pay more again, especially when they buy from the brand itself.
On shifted inventory from wholesale partners to its own stores and website, where it controls price, presentation, and margin. The brand expanded its owned retail footprint and invested in digital checkout experience, avoiding the discounting pressure that wholesale partners often impose. According to SGB Media, the move allowed On to maintain list prices while capturing the full retail margin on nearly a third of its sales.
The mechanism works because premium physical products benefit from channel control. When a customer buys a $170 running shoe from a brand's own site, they attribute quality to the source. The transaction reinforces the brand's value proposition. When the same shoe appears at a multi-brand retailer next to discounted competitors, the price becomes a negotiation. On sidestepped that risk by growing the channel where price is a signal, not a obstacle.
DTC also compounds with premium positioning because owned channels allow On to bundle product education, loyalty programs, and repeat purchase incentives without splitting margin with a retailer. The brand reported that customers who buy direct have higher lifetime value and lower return rates, according to SGB Media. The investment in owned infrastructure pays back faster when the product commands a high unit price.
A small physical-product brand copies this by opening one owned sales channel before chasing wholesale distribution. Start with a Shopify site or a single retail location where you control the full customer experience. Price the product at the high end of the category and explain the premium in the copy: materials, construction, testing, origin. Do not apologize for the price. Present it as the cost of the thing you built.
Next, route early marketing spend to the owned channel. Run paid social ads that link to your site, not to a marketplace or a retail partner. Capture the email at checkout and build a list of customers who paid full price. Use that list to launch the next product or colorway before you offer it anywhere else. The repeat buyer who already paid premium becomes your proof that the price holds.
As revenue grows, resist wholesale offers that require discounting or MAP pricing below your site price. Only take wholesale partners who will hold your price and position your product as premium in their assortment. On did this by choosing retail partners who reinforced the brand's positioning rather than partners who moved volume at lower margins. According to SGB Media, the discipline allowed On to grow wholesale revenue while protecting the direct channel's profitability.
The pattern: own the channel, set the price, educate the buyer, capture the margin, repeat. On proved the model works at scale. A one-person brand with one SKU can run the same play on a $500 monthly ad budget by treating the owned site as the primary sales engine and wholesale as a secondary channel that follows the brand's pricing lead.
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