Nestlé to nearly double online sales by 2025

Swiss food giant Nestlé expects to nearly double its e-commerce revenues to a quarter of total sales by 2025, by investing extra in marketing and technology.

Direct-to-consumer

Nestlé wants to stimulate internet sales mainly through its own online channels, writes Reuters. In doing so, the group is building on the success of its Nespresso coffee pads and Purina pet food, which are increasingly being sold directly to consumers through its own webshops.

“We plan to take online sales from around 13% in 2020 to 25% in 2025,” said Bernard Meunier, head of Nestlé’s strategic business units, marketing and sales. To this end, the company will significantly increase its investment in digital marketing. The size of the investment is not known, but Nestlé stressed that it will be able to cover the costs through its own resources and savings.

Last year, the food giant posted a total turnover equivalent to 80.2 billion euros. In the first nine months of 2021, the share of e-commerce in overall sales rose to 14.1% from 12.8% a year earlier.

Data collection

One of the reasons why large (food) companies try to sell their products directly to consumers is to collect data on shopping habits. Apple and Google have taken measures to prevent advertisers from tracking user data without their consent, and so companies are looking for other ways to get data.

Nestlé said its investment would generate 400 million ‘first-party data points’ – information collected directly from consumers. By analysing that data, the company can optimise its stock management and launch targeted campaigns to boost sales.