P&G
just announced that they are carrying out a test-run of an e-commerce site for some of their brands (Olay / Pampers / Tide, among others). This site, intended for U.S. consumers, will be owned (and operated by) PFSweb, a company specializing in e-commerce: It is they who will fix the prices of the products. The company presents this as a "learning lab": they believe it will help them to better understand consumer behaviour on the web ... and plan to transfer their new knowledge to their current distributors: "
Ultimately, our goal in working with an experienced e-commerce business like PFSweb is to test concepts and programmes that can be reapplied with all of our online retail partners in ways that exponentially grow consumer affinity for our brands and mutually increase sales for P&G and our retailer partners”.
In the context of today's economy, where we see a very strong growth of private labels in the U.S., Procter innovates: It installs what could become a real P&G online shop, bringing its largest brands together under one roof. This is not the first initiative of its kind. Procter opened pop-up stores in Canada several years ago, its "Look Fab Studios", of which the essential features are:
- A partnership with a TV (CTV) channel: creation of 4 "LookFab Showmercials" offering beauty tips by celebrities;
- A dedicated website: www.lookfab.ca;
- 300m2 comprising 3 sections: body care / makeup / hair care;
- 13 "professional stylists" providing advice and offering “mini makeovers”, Cover Girl, Olay skincare, Pantene and Nice 'n Easy hair colour.
- All the services are free of charge and no products are sold: Everyone leaves with a bag of samples, a bottle of water and a copy of P&G’s beauty magazine, 'Red'.
Of course P&G, to spare its current distributors, maintains that that these initiatives are intended to benefit those same distributors, or are temporary. The truth probably lies elsewhere: the group tests stores under their name, where a number of its brands are grouped together. As it is out of the question to do so in the form of supermarkets, the pop-up stores and the web are places of choice for testing this type of concept (especially if the web store does not belong to P&G).
We are definitely dealing here with a new distribution channel AND a promotion of P&G as a brand.
