Colgate-Palmolive has handed Palmolive’s D2C and ecommerce operations to Bombay Shaving Firm to speed up the model’s digital progress
The partnership comes as Palmolive struggles to realize momentum in private care, whereas ecommerce and fast commerce change into more and more essential for premium product discovery
Bombay Shaving Firm will handle consumer-facing promoting and buyer relationships, whereas Colgate retains management of product innovation, manufacturing, provide chain and offline distribution
Colgate-Palmolive India has partnered with D2C startup Bombay Shaving Firm
to drive the D2C and ecommerce enterprise of its private care model Palmolive, because the FMCG main seems to be to revive the underperforming model.
Underneath the partnership, Bombay Shaving Firm will handle Palmolive’s consumer-facing promoting and buyer relationships throughout D2C and ecommerce channels.
Colgate-Palmolive will proceed to supervise Palmolive’s trendy and common commerce enterprise, conventional promoting, product innovation, high quality, and provide chain.
“Our studying has truly been that the flywheel of a D2C model is barely totally different from the flywheel of the form of model that we’re used to doing,” Colgate-Palmolive India MD and CEO Prabha Narasimhan mentioned on the firm’s investor day.
“We did strive it on our personal and truthfully, I don’t assume we have been finest in school,” she added.
A Digital Repair For Palmolive
Palmolive has emerged as a weak spot in Colgate-Palmolive India’s portfolio, with Narasimhan describing private care as an “space of disappointment” and acknowledging that the corporate had “not executed an excellent job with Palmolive”.
Whereas Palmolive leads the premium handwash phase, Narasimhan mentioned the class stays comparatively small and provides vital headroom for progress.
Colgate-Palmolive is trying to faucet Bombay Shaving Firm’s digital-first capabilities to handle this hole. Narasimhan mentioned the FMCG firm didn’t perceive the D2C “flywheel” in addition to its companion and was trying to be taught from the latter.
The partnership has proven “early inexperienced shoots”, she mentioned, whereas cautioning that it stays at a nascent stage.
The 2 corporations already share a strategic relationship. Colgate-Palmolive Asia Pacific acquired a 14% stake in Bombay Shaving Company for ₹18 Cr in 2018.
It’s pertinent to notice that Bombay Shaving Firm’s guardian, Visage Traces Private Care, claimed adjusted EBITDA profitability in FY26, as its working income jumped 139% to ₹634.7 Cr and internet loss narrowed 97.4% to ₹9 Cr.
The partnership comes as Colgate-Palmolive will increase its concentrate on digital channels. Round 50%-60% of its promoting and promotional spending now goes in direction of digital, in accordance with Narasimhan.
Colgate-Palmolive can also be ready to soak up some near-term strain on margins because it will increase promoting expenditure and prioritises growth. “We intend to drive progress forward of profitability as we go ahead,” Narasimhan mentioned.
Notably, ecommerce and fast commerce are rising as essential discovery and distribution channels for premium merchandise, together with in markets past India’s largest cities.
In line with Inc42’s The Next Big Wave In Indian Ecommerce, Report 2026, India’s D2C GMV is anticipated to develop from $65 Bn in 2026 to $310 Bn by 2031, registering a 37% CAGR.
