Mondelēz Sees Online Grocery Growth Provide Competitive Edge

Mondelēz International is seeing its growing eCommerce business lead to share gains against competitors.

The confectionary, snack and food giant, which owns a range of popular brands including Oreo, Clif, Ritz and many others, shared on a call with analysts Wednesday (Nov. 1) discussing its third-quarter 2023 earnings results that digital channels are helping its brands outperform rivals, as consumers buy larger quantities per purchase.

“The shift is noticeable largely because those channels offer larger packs, both online and in the club channels, and that’s what consumers are looking for,” CEO Dirk Van de Put said. “We see our volume share going up overall due to the share that we are gaining, … so we feel pretty good about what’s going on there.”

Digital grocery purchases do tend to be larger. According to data from PYMNTS’ study “Tracking the Digital Payments Takeover: Catching the Coming eCommerce Wave,” created in collaboration with Amazon Web Services, grocery shoppers spend 32% more on digital orders than brick-and-mortar. Specifically, consumers spend $88 on their average in-store grocery purchase versus $116 on their average eGrocery purchase.

Additionally, a growing share of consumers are engaging with grocers via digital channels. The same study revealed that while only 12% of grocery purchases are currently made via mobile device or computer, about one in three shoppers said they are very or extremely likely to increase their online grocery purchases in the next year.

Online grocery is becoming a key area of focus even for companies that did not previously operate in the space. Take, for instance, restaurant aggregators such as DoorDash and Uber Eats. The former shared on an earnings call Wednesday that it is leveraging its built-in consumer base and labor infrastructure to hold its own against category leader Instacart.

“We have a strategic advantage because we have a network of consumers; we have a network of dashers already built out, and that’s allowing us to improve unit economics at a much faster pace,” Chief Financial Officer Ravi Inukonda said, noting that the grocery business’s gross order value (GOV) has doubled relative to last year.

Uber Eats, too, continues to add more grocers’ to its platform in an effort to capture some of the growth in the space.

Even in-store customers are increasingly supplementing their brick-and-mortar shopping with eCommerce purchases. The study  “Consumer Interest in an Everyday App,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and PayPal collaboration, found that 45% of those who purchased groceries in the last month did so both by using connected devices and via more traditional means.

Looking ahead, Mondelēz International plans to step up its digital efforts, although company executives declined to get specific about what is in store.

“In terms of digital, there is going to be an acceleration,” Chief Financial Officer Luca Zaramella said during Wednesday’s call. “We are looking into [it] as a major investment that is coming our way, and that is both capital and running costs, but it’s too early to talk about that.”