Company: CHD
Filing Date: 2025-02-13
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000950170-25-019801
Chunk: 16

Company: CHURCH & DWIGHT CO INC /DE/
Filing Date: 2025-02-13
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 16
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 Inc., Pfizer Inc., Bayer AG, NBTY, Inc., Koninklijke Philips N.V., Unilever PLC, Sanofi, Pharmavite LLC, Edgewell Personal Care, Panoxyl, Starface and Peach & Lily.  Many of these companies have greater financial resources than we do, and these competitors, as well as new market entrants, may therefore, have the capacity to outspend us on advertising and promotional activities and introduce competing products or adopt new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, more quickly, successfully and effectively, and respond more effectively to changing business and economic conditions than we can.  

Our products generally compete on the basis of performance, brand recognition, price, value or other benefits to consumers. Significant price competition may require us to reduce the prices for some of our products to price levels that do not offset manufacturing cost increases, to respond to competitive and customer pressures and to maintain market share. Increases to our prices, as a result of inflationary pressures or otherwise, could cause declining sales of products whose prices we have increased.  In response to inflationary pressures and other factors, we have raised prices on many of our products across our global portfolio of brands in recent years.  Ongoing periods of high inflation or increased costs resulting from higher tariffs imposed by the U.S. or other countries could lead to additional price increases on these or our other products, adversely impacting demand for our products.  Advertising, promotion, merchandising and packaging also have a significant impact on retail customer decisions regarding the brands and product lines they sell and on consumer purchasing decisions.  A newly introduced consumer product (whether improved or newly developed) usually encounters intense competition requiring substantial expenditures for advertising, sales promotion and trade merchandising.  If a product gains consumer acceptance, it normally requires continued advertising, promotional support and product improvements to maintain its relative market position.  If our advertising, marketing and promotional programs, including the use of digital and social media to reach consumers, are not effective, our sales growth may decline.  

•A continued change in the retail environment and changing consumer preferences could cause our sales to decline.  

Despite increasing shifts to e-commerce, sales of our products remain highest in the traditional mass merchandiser, food and drug retail stores, and our products are also sold in club stores and dollar store channels.  However, alternative retail channels, including direct to consumer, e-commerce retailers, hard discounters, subscription services and buying clubs, have become more prevalent and the volume of consumer products