E-commerce Marketing Series: Mondelēz PH’s Emmanuel Cruz on Strengthening Your E-Commerce Approach by Understanding Consumer Behavior

With the prevalence of online shopping in the current business landscape, companies are beginning to gain traction by establishing an online presence that requires advanced payment solutions and sophisticated e-commerce marketing strategies to stay ahead of the competition.

With these strategies in mind, e-commerce marketing is more than just having a digital space to sell products online. Companies and brands still need to properly interact and meet the needs of their consumers behind screens.

Within our E-commerce marketing series interviews we talked to Emmanuel Cruz, Director of E-Commerce at Mondelēz Philippinesto learn more about his insights on how e-commerce marketing strategies should be driven by consumer behavior, as well as how e-commerce is impacting businesses and brands, and the trends that are dictating its future.

Pros and cons of e-commerce in the F&B industry

The e-commerce marketing landscape is incredibly dynamic, with the flexibility for brands and businesses to adapt to what’s relevant at the moment.

For Cruz, this is a challenge because strategies and plans are constantly changing, especially in the case of multinational corporations like Mondelez, where these changes require a lot of internal agreements and approvals, which can take a lot of time.

Additionally, he mentioned that there are other challenges as well, such as finding the right mix of inventory to differentiate the brand across platforms, the rising costs of fulfillment operations on new platforms, and investments in traffic, media, and even promotions.

These challenges may seem like a hindrance to many, but Cruz says they could become an opportunity in the online space if brands and companies act quickly to reap the benefits of the new platform.

“ This can be seen as an opportunity as most brands tend to enjoy the first-mover advantage when it comes to new platforms. Less competition means greater importance and even less investment needed,” he said.

Adapting to the growing e-commerce

As consumer behavior changes with the dynamic e-commerce marketing landscape, Cruz mentions that e-commerce marketing strategies should always be based on consumer and buyer behavior.

“When it comes to platform availability, assortment, pricing, content and promotions – all this should always depend on the consumer,” Cruz said.

To achieve this, Cruz said a robust, end-to-end omnichannel approach must be used to understand the interplay between offline and online consumer behavior.

Talking about how this should be applied, Cruz mentioned, “Online and offline strategies should be integrated, not siloed. The prevalence of online browsing and offline checking (and vice versa) is increasingly evident post-pandemic.”

This approach leads to an easier understanding of customer behavior, desires and interests, which means brands can seamlessly change and adapt their messaging, communications, promotions and recommendations. To improve this, Cruz said customer data needs to be maximized to increase basket size or assortment, improve repeat purchases and generally build customer loyalty.

“AI is making this even easier for brands, and even though we are not yet that deep in the use of advanced AI, we are still using data to gain insight and improve our operations to optimize our investments,” he added.

The future of e-commerce in F&B

When asked about his thoughts on the future of e-commerce marketing in the F&B industry, Cruz commented on the importance of social commerce as one of the biggest trends in F&B today.

As a rapidly growing branch of e-commerce that uses social networks and digital media to facilitate transactions, social commerce allows companies and brands to further expand their reach and reach younger or emerging consumers.

“However, as more brands join this platform, competition will become even fiercer, with brands going head-to-head on live platforms and in their promotions,” he added.

Moreover, Cruz also mentioned that brands and companies need to adopt a more seamless omnichannel approach as e-commerce platforms not only provide online sales but influence offline decisions and pre-purchase purchases.

“F&B brands must adapt to the upcoming changes in e-commerce marketing strategies as e-commerce platforms are becoming not only a point of sale but also a channel for brand and product discovery that influences offline purchasing decisions,” Cruz concluded.

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MARKETECH APAC leads the discussion on the future of e-commerce marketing strategies in 2024 and beyond, presenting E-commerce Marketing in Malaysia 2024 conference on July 25, 2024 at Sheraton Petaling Jaya i E-commerce Marketing in the Philippines 2024 conference on August 14, 2024 at Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria. Join us and become an integral part of a dynamic community committed to pushing the boundaries of innovation and driving unparalleled growth in the e-commerce domain.