Mondelēz partners with China’s Alibaba to support $1bn global e-commerce goal

10-Apr-2016 - Last updated on 11-Apr-2016 at 11:39 GMT

China is Mondelēz’s biggest market in Asia.(left) Stephen Maher, President of Mondelez China; (right) Jing Jie, Vice-President of Alibaba Group Source: Mondelēz

Chinese consumers are able to buy a fuller range of Mondelēz products, including Oreo Colorfilled, an online platform where people can customize their own Oreo packaging, thanks to the Mondelēz’s latest partnership with Alibaba.

Alibaba is the largest e-commerce company in the world, according to Mondelēz. The partnership allows Mondelēz products to be sold through its flagship store on Alibaba’s Tmall.com.

The global snacking company said in a statement: “Mondelēz International will also increase its investment in Tmall.com by launching exclusive products to expand consumer reach.”

First partnership with a Chinese e-retailer

Mondelēz’s spokesperson Valerie Moens said the company’s initial success of selling its products on Tmall back in 2011 gave it confidence to enter a strategic partnership with Alibaba.

“We’ve been selling our products on Tmall since 2011 and it has been very successful. In fact, in 2015, our sales volume quadrupled on Tmall,” she said.

In addition to Oreo Colofilled, the Tmall online store also sells TUC, belVita, Trident, Oreo, Cadbury, Chips Ahoy!, LU, Toblerone, and Cote d’Or.

“Leveraging Alibaba’s consumer insights, we’ll also be able to target consumer groups more effectively for new product launches,” Moens added.

Generating $1bn global e-commerce revenue

When Mondelēz announced in September last year that it wanted to generate over $1bn of e-commerce revenues by 2020, the company’s global e-commerce revenues amounted to less than $100m, according to Moens.

With 2015 adjusted net revenues of $4.3bn, Asia Pacific represents 16% of Mondelēz’s global revenue, Moens said.

Mondelēz refused to disclose its China e-commerce revenues, but Moens told ConfectioneryNews China is the company’s biggest market in Asia, and it generated about $1.1bn in net revenues there in 2015, representing high single-digit growth compared to 2014.

Moens added Nielsen data shows Mondelēz is number one in biscuits in China, number two in gum and number three in candy.

“In terms of size of the e-commerce market, today, we estimate that approximately 10% of snacks are being sold online in China and it’s growing fast,” she said.