Unilever Sees Growth in B2B eCommerce Segment

Unilever has seen eCommerce become a driving force in the second quarter, with that now being 14% of turnover — a rise from 6% from 2019, according to half year results released by Unilever on June 26.

This came with growth in both the U.S. and Indian markets, though Chinese sales were affected by COVID lockdowns in that country for the Q2 2022 period.

Inflation is likely to continue increasing across various markets, and the company said it saw a rise in food service and out-of-home ice cream sales after markets reopened from lockdowns in 2021. However, tourism hasn’t bounced back to what it was yet.

The company said it had underlying sales growth in the first half of the year of 8.1%. Growth was “broad based” on all divisions, with prices negatively impacting some things.

Home care was particularly susceptible to this, as the segment saw rising costs and had a sales growth of 10.7%, with the highest pricing action. Meanwhile, foods and refreshment grew 7.3%, and beauty and personal care grew 7.5%.

PYMNTS recently wrote that in a bid to optimize supply chains and bolster service quality, Unilever Vietnam recently teamed with HDBank.

Read more: HDBank and Unilever Vietnam Partner to Finance Distributors, Retailers

HDBank is one of the largest banks in the country, and its services involve financing and banking services for distributors and retailers, who will also see some benefit from Unilever’s work.

Through the partnership, customers will reportedly be able to make cashless payments on their smartphones and make use of QR codes. Additionally, HDBank will offer more security and smart statement methods, and loans will also be offered at preferential interest rates without collateral.

According to HDBank CEO Pham Quoc Thanh, the partnership is likely to be consistent with Vietnam’s desire to add more cashless payments, supporting distributors and retailers in more remote areas.

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