There has been a lot of hype about the growing business opportunities in China. As a result, many companies have operated their businesses in the country. Some of them have been successful while some failed. The reason analysts say is that foreign multi-national companies have been slow in identifying the shift towards online shopping in China.
China’s e-commerce market has grown by almost 50% since last year. A research by Nielsen reveals that half of China’s consumers are purchasing groceries online compared to a quarter globally.
The research has questioned the survival of Fonterra in the market, which aims at enhancing product sales in China by tackling online challenges. However, the company has not announced about going online while announcing its distribution partnership with Chinese baby milk maker Beingmate Baby & Child last year.
Fonterra hopes that the tie-up will benefit the sales of its Anmum infant formula brand in China. Achyut Kasireddy, the company's vice president of greater China brands said, "Previously in China, physical reach was a key driver of success but that is rapidly changing with the growth in e-commerce and innovative marketing platforms." He said that products under the Fonterra brand that includes Anmum and Anchor already have strong online presence through various Chinese e-commerce platforms, including Alibaba's Tmall.com.
"In the case of Anmum, we saw positive results with online sales during its pilot phase and our partnership with Beingmate will take it to the next level," Kasireddy said.