Nestle Ties Up With An E-Commerce Platform In China To Boost Sales

Global food manufacturer, Nestle SA has tied up with Alibaba, an e-commerce giant, in China in the hopes that it will help boost flagging sales. Nestle will be selling products on Alibaba’s Tmall.com that aren’t available in any Chinese stores.

Nestle In China

Nestle started trading activities in Hong Kong in 1874 and went on to establish its first sales office in Shanghai in 1908. In 1990 it opened its first factory in China in the Heilongijang Province, following which it went on to open a vast collection of manufacturing plants and partner with local Chinese brands.

In China, it sells global products like Nescafe coffee, KitKat confectionary and Maggi products as well as local products like Haoji chicken bouillon, Totole chicken bouillon, Yinlu ready to eat congee and ready to drink peanut milk and HSU Fu Chi confectionery.

Despite several local products, in the past few years Nestle sales have slowed. Consumers are moving away from Yinlu’s congee and peanut milk in favour of premium products, while others are moving away from packaged foods in general.

Looking To E-Commerce

In order to counter flagging sales, Nestle China has tied up with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s Tmall.com, a popular e-commerce website.

On the platform, Nestle China will be selling a range of products including 67 new products that have never been sold in China before. This move coincides with an e-commerce fair, celebrating the company’s 150^th anniversary which will offer discounts on 150 products on Tmall.com.

This is not the first time internationally that Nestle has looked to e-commerce to connect with customers; in India it tied up exclusively with Snapdeal for the re-launch of Maggi instant noodles.