So after dipping its toes in the f-commerce water, consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble has taken the f-commerce plunge, opening up a new Facebook store selling 29 of its top brands, from Always to Zest. In the fast-evolving world of social commerce, we think this fully fledged f-commerce store featuring a 47-page catalog of products from P&G is big news, signaling a new era of Facebook-centric social commerce.
Just two months after trialing a new partnership with Amazon – to whom P&G outsourced all the heavy lifting for an experimental f-commerce store selling their UK cosmetics brand Max Factor, P&G has renewed it’s vows to the e-commerce giant, and is using Amazon WebStore and Amazon logistics to deliver a f-commerce experience; trustworthy brands delivered to you by the most trustworthy e-commerce player in the market. A smart “standing on the shoulders of giants” move from a company that has limited e-commerce experience. Other brands take note.
So what’s in it for P&G? Well, the f-commerce store cracks the DTC (direct-to-customer) nut for the brand manufacturer (in an elegant non-threatening way to retailers), it also helps the company learn about brand users and their shopping habits, and critically it helps P&G reward brand followers for their loyalty, and stimulate word of mouth. Whilst P&G’s store is currently just that, a store, expect to see the company use f-commerce for live shopping, event shopping, and tryvertising initiatives to support new product launches (as it already has done with Pantene).
For other f-commerce solution providers such as Alvenda, Payvment and Wildfire, Amazon’s foray into f-commerce with WebStore powered Facebook stores is both an opportunity and threat – an opportunity because it signals a growing market, in which specialized players may out-innovate and outpace the Amazon leviathan that’ll be spinning a lot of plates. A threat because f-commerce specialists will have to own a cast-iron “reason to choose” over the number one e-commerce solutions provider on the market.
But back to f-commerce HQ at P&G: the consumer goods company is using the Facebook store to generate PR for its Pampers brand, naming (perhaps temporarily) the store the PampersWebStore, in a tilt of the hat to Amazon WebStore, and perhaps the newborn nature of the initiative (Press Release Below). But check out the store – and you’ll find 28 other P&G brands on sale.
- Always
- Ausssie
- Bounce
- Bounty
- Camay
- Charmin
- Cheer
- Crest
- Downy
- Dreft
- Era
- Febreze
- Fekkai
- Gain
- Gillette
- Head & Shoulders
- Herbal Essences
- Ivory
- Olay
- Old Spice
- Oral B
- Pampers
- Pantene
- Puffs
- Safeguard
- Scope
- Secret
- Tide
- Zest
Our opinion? The era of f-commerce has just come of age.
P&G’s Press Release: October 3, 2010
There is no doubt that moms and dads spend a great deal of time on Facebook and today, Pampers announces it will make purchasing some of their favorite Pampers and P&G products a little easier by launching access to Facebook shopping capabilities via the Pampers Fan Page. Starting today, parents can buy Pampers brand diapers and wipes (plus an assortment of other P&G brand products including Tide, Oral B, Olay, and Pantene just to name a few) via the Pampers Facebook page, a community of more than 350,000 fans. The e-commerce capabilities are powered by Amazon.com, which will provide customers with the Amazon.com transaction experience they have come to know and love; free shipping on all orders over $25 and free two-day shipping for all Prime members.
The announcement arrives just a few months after the brand’s success with its Facebook pre-sale of Pampers Cruisers with Dry Max, which sold out its 1000-pack allotment in less than an hour. The e-commerce capabilities will first be leveraged by Amazon.com. While Pampers is the first P&G brand to introduce a gateway to e-commerce shopping capabilities via a Facebook “shop now” tab, P&G plans on expanding this offering to other brands’ Facebook pages and retailers in the coming months.
“The launch of the Facebook e-commerce capabilities via the Pampers fan page presents another example of how Pampers strives to be there for parents where they live, work and play – in this case, at one of their favorite online communities,” said Jodi Allen, vice president of North America Baby Care at Procter & Gamble. “We are so thrilled to have such a dynamic, active community on our Facebook page, and want to find ways to provide benefits to our most loyal fans. Plus, we are also excited to be the first P&G brand to launch these resources and are looking forward to rolling this out to other brand Facebook pages in the future.”
The Pampers Facebook Fan Page offers an active community, contests, promotions, and now e-commerce, and is accessible at Facebook.com.