P&G Starts Online Subscription Service for Tide Pods
July 19 2016 - 12:00PM
Dow Jones News
For decades Procter & Gamble Co. has relied on retailers,
from local groceries to giants like Wal-Mart and Amazon, to sell
its razors, shampoo and diapers. Now the consumer-products giant is
looking for ways to cut out the middleman.
Blindsided by the success of the upstart Dollar Shave Club, an
online subscription service that chipped away at the dominance of
Gillette razors, P&G executives say they are focusing not only
on what consumers buy, but how they buy.
The results are experiments like one just launched in Atlanta
called the Tide Wash Club, an online subscription service for the
dissolvable Tide Pods capsules that are the company's
highest-priced laundry detergent. It offers free shipping at
regular intervals.
Another new offering: Tide Spin, an undertaking P&G is
calling the "uberization of laundry," in which customers in parts
of Chicago can use a smartphone app to order laundry pickup and
delivery from Tide-branded couriers.
With the ventures, P&G is delving deeper into the business
of connecting consumers directly with the products it makes,
especially a new generation less loyal to the company's big brands.
Last year, P&G began promoting its Gillette Shave Club to
compete with Dollar Shave Club and similar services.
"It's not just about the product, it's not just about the
function, it is about the entire experience," said a person
familiar with the company's thinking. "You need to look at where
the consumer is going, at where technology is going and at what
might disrupt your business."
Privately, P&G executives acknowledge the company was caught
off guard by success of Dollar Shave Club, which started in 2011
and says it now has 3.2 million subscribers. "It was probably on
the radar but we weren't necessarily having the right conversation
around what might disrupt us," the person said.
A P&G spokesman said the company uses "every opportunity we
can to learn about consumer habits and practices and our
experiences on Tide are consistent with this."
Write to Sharon Terlep at sharon.terlep@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 19, 2016 11:45 ET (15:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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