Bombay Shaving Company will manage Palmolive’s digital advertising and customer relationships, while Colgate-Palmolive retains control of products, supply chain, and manufacturing
BestMediaInfo Bureau18 Aug 2026
16:47IST
New Update
New Delhi: Colgate-Palmolive India partnered with Bombay Shaving Company to manage the D2C and e-commerce business of Palmolive as the FMCG company looked to improve the personal care brand’s digital performance.
As per a media report, Bombay Shaving Company would take charge of Palmolive’s consumer-facing advertising and customer relationships across D2C and e-commerce channels.
Colgate-Palmolive would continue to handle Palmolive’s modern and general trade business, traditional advertising, product innovation, quality, manufacturing and supply chain.
The move followed Colgate-Palmolive’s assessment that its own approach to building a D2C business had not delivered the desired results.
Speaking at the company’s investor day, Colgate-Palmolive India MD and CEO Prabha Narasimhan said the way a D2C brand grows was different from the model the company traditionally followed.
“Our learning has actually been that the flywheel of a D2C brand is slightly different from the flywheel of the kind of brand that we are used to doing,” Narasimhan said.
“We did try it on our own, and honestly, I don’t think we were best in class,” she added.
Narasimhan described personal care as an “area of disappointment” for the company and acknowledged that Colgate-Palmolive had “not done a great job with Palmolive”.
Palmolive held a leading position in the premium handwash segment, but the company saw the category as relatively small with room to expand.
Colgate-Palmolive was now looking to use Bombay Shaving Company’s experience in building digital-first businesses to strengthen Palmolive’s online operations.
Narasimhan said the company was also looking to learn from its partner’s understanding of the D2C model. She said the partnership had shown “early green shoots”, although it remained at an early stage.
The two companies already had an existing relationship. Colgate-Palmolive Asia Pacific acquired a 14% stake in Bombay Shaving Company for Rs 18 crore in 2018.
Bombay Shaving Company’s parent, Visage Lines Personal Care, reported adjusted EBITDA profitability in FY26. Its operating revenue increased 139% to Rs 634.7 crore, while net loss narrowed 97.4% to Rs 9 crore, according to the report.
Colgate increases focus on digital
The partnership also came as Colgate-Palmolive increased its spending on digital channels.
Around 50% to 60% of the company’s advertising and promotional expenditure went towards digital, Narasimhan said.
The company was also prepared to accept some pressure on margins as it raised advertising spending and focused on expansion.
“We intend to drive growth ahead of profitability as we go forward,” Narasimhan said.
E-commerce and quick commerce were also becoming more important channels for the discovery and distribution of premium products, including outside India’s largest cities.
According to the e-commerce report cited in thease from $65 billion in 2026 to $310 billion by 2031, representing a compound annual growth rate of 37%
Bombay Shaving Companydigital growthColgate PalmoliveeCommerceD2C business
