Walmart and Proctor & Gamble launch shopping trucks
by June 12, 2012 9:07 am 203 views
Bentonville-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. recently teamed up with its long-time supplier Proctor & Gamble in hopes of boosting P&G product sales through Walmart's online business.
According to the Cincinnati Business Courier, this new venture gives urban consumers a brand new shopping experience that uses big trucks, free samples and QR codes to generate online sales of P&G products.
The @PGMobile trucks look like a cross between the food trucks that are growing in popularity on downtown Cincinnati streets and the virtual drug stores that Cincinnati-based P&G (NYSE: PG) tested in four of Prague's busiest train stations last year, the Courier reports.
The mobile trucks allow consumers to scan QR codes next to pictures of P&G products they want to buy. They are then directed to Walmart's online ordering site. When an order totals $45, there is no delivery charge.
The trucks are deployed in Chicago and New York City, but P&G has not elaborated on plans to expand the initiative.
Chad Brizendine, a P&G brand manager, told Ad Age,“While I can’t elaborate on our plans going forward, we know reaching the urban consumer is a big opportunity for us and we are committed to finding the right to better serve this consumer.”
The mobile truck venture was launched June 4 and is expected to run for one month. P&G has been using Twitter to direct consumers to the location of its trucks and vote on where it should go next. As of Tuesday (June 12) @PGMobile has picked up 190 followers on its Twitter feed.