Nestlé expands its product range on Alibaba

Swiss food manufacturer Nestlé wants to boost its online Chinese sales and that is why it will considerably expand its product range on Alibaba. As a consequence, the company expects its online turnover in China to grow a lot over the next few years. 

Catch up

Nestlé’s director for Asia and Africa, Wan Ling Martello, believes that by 2018, China’s eCommerce will be larger than Europe and the United States’ online turnover combined. That is why it will now sell an additional 67 items through Tmall, Alibaba’s online sales platform.

Nestlé needs to invest in Chinese online sales, because the country’s turnover growth slowed down tremendously in the past few years and Nestlé was not quick enough to implement new trends. For instance, the Chinese consumer has been buying a lot more online recently and his eating habits have become healthier. 

“We need to make sure the consumer’s needs in this particular market are met more quickly than in other markets“, according to Nestlé’s director for food and drinks in Greater China, Reinhold Jakobi. “We have spent the last two years catching up to our competitors.”

Last year, Nestlé’s growth in Greater China reached 6 %, up to 7.1 billion Swiss francs (6.4 billion euro), while the country’s online turnover doubled. Global eCommerce contributed 3.9 % to Nestlé’s total turnover last year.