P&G’s eStore: Where’s the consumer-centricity?
P&G’s eStore should be re-branded as the “meStore” as the ecommerce site/ experience seems to be all-about-P&G and nothing about the marketplace. For a company so grounded in both understanding the met and unmet need-states and developing/leveraging technologies across the organization, it is surprising that P&G launched an ecommerce site that seems to overlook the realities of retailers and consumers.
Retailers hold the “power” these days – leveraging their influence as to what is sold, merchandised, and promoted in-store and on their own websites. Retailers understand the power of “shopper marketing” and that a shopper enters the store with a job-to-do (e.g., nurturer, cook, hero, financial manager) and a shopping list (or at least some thought) of multiple products / multiple brands. A Retailer’s job is to make the shopper’s life easier by providing the solutions – the assortment of brands, SKUs, and prices and layouts – which are most likely to build a higher register ring and lead to future frequent visits. P&G seems to be undermining its partnership with Retailers by providing a “work-around” eCommerce shopping solution for consumers that limits brand and SKU choice. This action may dissuade consumers from higher grocery rings - which will ultimately drive down Retailers’ own dependence/loyalty to P&G.
If a particular brand or SKU is hard to find or recently discontinued, P&G’s “buy it direct” website makes perfect sense. But, consumers’ pantries and medicine cabinets are likely to be a hodge-podge of brands – and most likely not represent a family of brands which are all owned by the same parent company. “Forcing” cross-brand purchasing to take advantage of the $5 single shipping policy seems admirable but consumer brand loyalty runs skin-deep. $5 might not be enough of an incentive to throw-over a 10+ year relationship with one skincare brand for another.
My advice for P&G: consumer-centricity starts with understanding the “she, he, and/or family” which one targets - it doesn’t start with “me.”
