Procter to Test Online Store

Note also P&G's extensive use of contextual innovation centers to understand the consumer, in the WSJ:

Procter & Gamble to Test Online Store to Study Buying Habits
Procter & Gamble Co. plans to launch an online store that will sell key brands, aiming to study consumer buying habits as it counters moves by traditional retailers, which have reduced the variety of brands they carry.

P&G spokeswoman Tressie Long said the company sees the new online store as more of a "learning lab," where it can study consumers' online buying habits, rather than as a direct source of sales growth. P&G, which already sells its products online through the Web sites of such retailers as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., says it will share what it learns with retailers that carry its brands ... '