Amazon Executive to Head Unilever's Beauty Business Amid Digital Push -- Update
26 Marzo 2019 - 06:23AM
Noticias Dow Jones
By Saabira Chaudhuri
Unilever PLC has appointed an Amazon.com Inc. executive to run
its beauty and personal-care business, tapping an industry veteran
with expertise in a broad range of consumer products and e-commerce
to lead its biggest division.
The owner of Dove soap and Ben & Jerry's ice cream said
Tuesday that Sunny Jain, currently Amazon's head of consumables,
would begin his new role in June. Mr. Jain replaces Alan Jope who
was recently promoted to be Unilever's chief executive.
Unilever has steadily shifted its focus toward high-growth
personal-care products and, more recently, beauty lines. Last year,
the company's beauty and personal-care division generated 41% of
group sales.
That expansion has been helped by a string of acquisitions of
high-end skin-care brands, including lines that appeal to specific
ethnic groups and feature natural ingredients. Last year, among
other deals, Unilever invested in Italian face-cream maker
Equilibra and bought U.S.-based deodorant business Schmidt's
Naturals.
Unilever has also been working to soup-up its digital
capabilities in manufacturing, distribution and marketing. It has
set up digital hubs to create data-driven campaigns and has an
in-house studio for digital marketing. Earlier this year, Unilever
said e-commerce represented over 5% of its business and was growing
strongly.
Mr. Jope said Mr. Jain's experience with consumer products and
online retail made him well-suited to the role.
While at Amazon, Mr. Jain was responsible for health, personal
care, beauty, grocery and baby products, among others. He joined
the online giant in 2013 after 16 years at Procter & Gamble
Company where he worked in new business creation, marketing, sales
and information technology.
Amazon, which started out life as a seller of books, has become
a consumer goods powerhouse, with analysts estimating the site
offers more than 100 of its own brands.
Those include the AmazonBasics brand, which makes everything
from suitcases to batteries, the Happy Belly brand of foods and the
Mama Bear baby-products brand.
Recently, Amazon has asked consumer-goods companies to create
brands exclusively for it, a move that would further increase its
foothold in the industry. The Seattle-based company has also
doubled down on beauty. The Wall Street Journal reported in March
that the e-commerce giant plans to launch urban grocery stores that
could offer beauty products alongside food.
Write to Saabira Chaudhuri at saabira.chaudhuri@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 26, 2019 08:08 ET (12:08 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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