Food
Nestlé (Malaysia) Bhd expects to increase its e-commerce contribution to its revenue from the existing one per cent to 10 per cent within the next three to four years. This 10 per cent, according to its managing director, Alois Hofbauer would translate to some RM500 million.
“We are already the market leader within the nutritional, health and wellness segments in this country. Right now, it is not just about expanding but continuously strengthening our position,” he told Business Times on the sidelines of Lazada’s biggest online shopping event launch, the ‘Online Revolution’, this morning. “We already have our e-commerce platform, as well as ongoing partnership with Lazada and 11street.
Going forward, we will be increasing our partnership numbers within this space.” He explained that the Nestlé Malaysia catalogue alone amounted to the hundreds but it is difficult for physical retailers to carry all of them. “With an e-commerce platform, we will be able to offer all our products and to all corners of Malaysia. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the Klang Valley or Terengganu outskirts, we will be able to provide our products for you,” said Hofbauer.
He also stressed that this continuous increased demand would also mean a positive impact to all its stakeholders, from farmers who supply the raw products, to shareholders and to also the government as Nestlé is here for the long term. “We have seen some minor impact given the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and otherwise subdued economic landscape, but the foods and beverages (F&B) industry is resilient and we will continue to grow.”
The company registered a total turnover of RM4.8 billlion in its 2015 financial year and has been growing at a rate of five per cent, beating the F&B industry’s overall growth of two per cent, also in 2015. Hofbauer was earlier part of the five-person panel alongside Lazada Malaysia’s chief executive officer, Hans Peter Ressel; L’Oréal Malaysia’s business head of consumer product division, Manashi Guha; Samsung Malaysia’s head of consumer electronics, Jimmy Tan and Vinda Group’s commercial director, Tony Sperrin in discussing the impacts of e-commerce on Southeast Asia’s retail landscape.
“The growth in Malaysia in particular has been tremendous as we have seen a triple digit growth year on year on Lazada,” said Ressel. “We expect this momentum to continue because right now we are reaching further into the outskirts of Malaysia as we see a higher demand there versus Klang Valley. That being said, Malaysia will continue to be one our key markets.” The ‘Online Revolution’ on Lazada will run for a month from November 11 to December 14 and will feature the participation of over 1,000 brands and 55,000 international and local merchants.
