P&G says it enlisted 5,000 shoppers to help guide the design and development of their "ideal" online shopping site. The eStore features many of the bells and whistles of such leading e-commerce sites as Amazon.com, including product ratings by consumers, purchase recommendations based on products placed in the shopping cart, and free shipping over $25.

While the eStore sells P&G's household, beauty, and grooming brands directly to consumers, it serves another even more valuable purpose for the company. Its main function, says P&G, is to act as a "living learning lab," both to develop e-commerce innovation, and to garner continuous feedback and what consumers like and want.

That's all well and good, but with lower prices and direct-to-consumer sales, what about its retail distributors?