Procter & Gamble

Coty Inc, the U.S. maker of Calvin Klein and Chloe perfume, will buy Procter & Gamble's perfume, hair care and makeup businesses for $12.5 billion in the biggest cosmetics merger in recent history. Coty would become the No. 1 perfume maker ahead of L'Oreal and No. 3 makeup provider behind its French rival and Estee…

Consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble Co. has settled a lawsuit alleging that the company used oversized packaging to make its Olay beauty products seem larger than they are. The civil complaint, which was filed by district attorneys in Riverside, Yolo, Fresno and Shasta counties in California, said the Cincinnati-based company violated California's slack fill…

Coty is on track to acquire Proctor & Gamble's beauty business in a $12 billion deal that would make the U.S. cosmetic company the world leader in perfume and hair care, sources close to the matter said. If the deal goes though, Coty would get its hands on brands such as Gucci and Hugo Boss…

Amazon.com is expanding its distribution centers in a new direction, one that's unlikely to please its competitors or third-party sellers. The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon has set up operations inside Proctor & Gamble's manufacturing warehouses, enabling it to fulfill products cheaper and faster than if the manufacturer shipped the items to Amazon's own warehouses. "The e-commerce giant is quietly setting up shop inside the warehouses of a number of important suppliers as it works to open up the next big frontier for internet sales: everyday products like toilet paper, diapers and shampoo," wrote the Journal.

Retailers are all about putting customers first nowadays, and with the holiday gift-giving season upon us, Walmart is doing just that. In an effort to make gift unwrapping as joyful as possible, the retailer is joining Amazon to promote "rage-free" packaging for a number of its non-food products, according to Business Week. Both companies are putting pressure on suppliers to eliminate excessive and cumbersome packaging materials, such as hard plastic casings enclosing electronics and wire ties used to secure toys to cardboard backings. In addition to being more environmentally friendly, the push can improve supply chain efficiency and customer

Hamilton Beach, one of the country's leading manufacturers of small kitchen appliances, recently utilized Padalog to create multiple interactive sales catalogs, spanning hundreds of products. By using the Padalog platform, Hamilton Beach was able to avoid the cost associated with developing an application from scratch and provide its sales force and customers with a nimble, customizable, and interactive product sales app in less time. CHICAGO, Oct. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- With hundreds of products in over 30 small kitchen appliance categories, the Hamilton Beach sales force was in dire need of a more streamlined and dynamic

Ever since the first e-commerce website appeared, manufacturers have been smitten with the idea of transacting directly with consumers in the digital realm. However, some of their early attempts at online retailing offered poor customer experiences and didn't support their relationships with retailers. These days it's a different story.

Perhaps you read earlier this month that Procter & Gamble sold most of its Zest soap business to a private equity company. After 60 years it was determined that this product line was no longer a strategic fit. Despite its various product extensions over the years (Aqua, Ocean Breeze, Marathon) and its combination tactics (Hair + Body), and the unique addition of ingredients (Hint of Honey), Zest no longer met Proctor & Gamble’s “secret sauce” criteria. No doubt this was a tough decision. I applaud the company for deciding to ultimately support their long-term brand purpose.

Fresh on the heels of a report from the Department of Commerce that December retail sales dropped 2.7 percent, more than double the 1.2 percent decline Wall Street analysts predicted, comes more bad news for multichannel retailers: 2009 doesn't figure to be any better. Such was the sentiment of a panel of retail experts during a session at this month's National Retail Federation Convention & Expo in New York.

Editor’s Note: This is the first article of a three-part series on becoming more proficient and adapting to the multichannel world. Parts two and three will appear in our June and September issues. Can you imagine a catalog/multichannel company not striving to become more efficient and effective in each selling channel in which it operates? Certainly not. This article focuses on the key issues and trends impacting multichannel selling today. It examines how you can improve your bottom line in each channel, cuts to the chase and identifies seven issues that smart direct sellers need to focus on this year. (You can also