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  • Unilever to stem China losses with sweeping Alibaba partnership

    Unilever to stem China losses with sweeping Alibaba partnership

    Unilever has formed an exclusive strategic partnership with Alibaba Group on a range of ecommerce initiatives to boost the consumer-goods maker’s sales in China.

    The partnership, announced today, is seen as a significant expansion of cooperation between the two companies. Unilever first opened a virtual store on Alibaba’s Tmall.com online shopping website in 2011 and added a Tmall Global flagship store in 2014. The agreement also appears to be a response to retailers reducing their stocks of the FMCG giant’s products in response to a slowing economy in 2014.

    Unilever’s North Asia president, Marijn Van Tiggelen, said in a press statement that Unilever chose Alibaba over other internet firms in China, as it is the “leading internet company” with “not only an online store, but also a solution platform for online payment, e-finance, and ecommerce logistics”.

    Daniel Zhang, chief executive officer of Alibaba Group, stressed that the Unilever collaboration will go beyond product sales. The companies “will jointly innovate in big data analytics application, cross-border ecommerce, consumer protection and supply-chain management,” said Zhang in a statement.

    More specifically, the duo said they would work together to:

    • Expand Unilever’s distribution channels with an emphasis on giving rural consumers in the country’s less-developed regions more convenient access to Unilever products through Alibaba’s 1,000 county-level and 100,000 village-level Taobao Rural Service Centers and Alibaba’s logistics affiliate, Cainiao.
    • Develop cross-border ecommerce cooperation on Tmall Global that allows Unilever merchandising through government-backed free trade zones and bonded warehouses in China.
    • Optimise Unilever’s digital advertising strategy through Alimama (Alibaba’s marketing technology platform) and reach more consumers through online-offline retail integration.
    • Combat counterfeiting of Unilever’s brands by stepping up the company’s participation in Alibaba’s Blue Stars program, in which each product is tagged with a unique QR code that allows the consumer to verify its authenticity and origin.

    To mark the beginning of the new partnership, Tmall will host a promotion from 22 through 24 July featuring flash sales with 50 per cent discounts on popular Unilever products.

    Alibaba’s vision to build the “future infrastructure of commerce” meets Unilever’s development needs in China, added Van Tiggelen.

    Ecommerce accounted for 10.7 per cent of total retail sales in China in 2014, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, with ecommerce set to grow faster than the overall retail market.

    However, despite Unilever’s online storefront presence on Tmall, as well as on Alibaba rival JD.com, it still felt the pain of the slowdown in China last year when sales for two consecutive quarters were down by 20 per cent. This led to bricks-and-mortar retailers and distributors destocking Unilever products. James Allison, Unilever’s head of corporate strategy, described product visibility at the time as “not that great”. Unilever will issue its second-quarter and half-year results Thursday.

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  • Unilever Turns to Online Sales to Expand Presence in China

    Unilever Turns to Online Sales to Expand Presence in China

    Global consumer processed goods (CPG) behemoth Unilever is set to combat the slowdown in China head-on by strengthening its presence in the online market. The company announced last week that it will open a store on JD Worldwide, the cross-border platform of China’s largest online direct sales company.  The partnership with JD.com will allow Unilever to directly import its products into China instead of having to navigate the red tape involved in marketing and selling its products locally.

    Unilever already has a significant presence in China. It sells skincare brands like Dove, Ponds and Vaseline through JD.com’s direct sales website as well as Alibaba’s Tmall. According to The Wall Street Journal, Unilever’s sales on JD.com tripled over the last year and its total online sales in China reached $161 million. Now, the launch of its JD Worldwide store will add Unilever’s Lux haircare products for the first time to its Chinese product portfolio.

    Poor Economic Growth in China Dragged Down Sales in 2014

    Weak economic growth in China in 2014 was a cause of concern for global CPG giants like Unilever and Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG). Nearly all emerging markets weakened in 2014, but China stood out as economic growth slowed down to a 24-year low of 7.4%. Consumer consumption is closely linked to economic growth, which in turn impacts the growth of CPG sales.

    Slower-than-expected economic growth in China dragged down sales of personal care products in 2014, forcing Unilever to undertake a large-scale destocking across the country. The impact of destocking was particularly severe in the third quarter of 2014 and caused a 70 to 80 basis points headwind on Unilever’s total revenue growth. The company does not report its revenues from China separately. However, the extent of the impact of China’s economic slowdown on the overall performance of the company indicates that China accounts for a significant portion of Unilever’s worldwide sales.

    Online Expansion Could Prop Up Volumes in China

    The economic slowdown in China may have heavily impacted brick and mortar sales in the country, but online sales are picking up steadily. Online sales are estimated to have expanded by over 40% year on year in every quarter since last year. In the first quarter of 2015, online shopping is estimated to have accounted for over 10% of total retail sales in China. []

    These statistics underscore the significant scope in online shopping in China. Considering that online sales expanded by over 40% in 2014, which suggests that online shopping was less susceptible to the economic slowing, as compared to traditional shopping. Therefore, Unilever’s decision to expand its presence in China’s online market could help it partially circumvent the slowdown in the country.

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