China The Retail and Shopper Specialists
Introduction Since 2010, the ecommerce industry in China has developed tremendously. Kantar Retail s China Digital Power Study was the result of strong client interest in better understanding the China ecommerce landscape. This first-ever China ecommerce industry benchmarking study was launched in 2014. Now in its second year, the study provides a comprehensive picture of FMCG manufacturers ecommerce performance, evaluates etailers performance, distinguishes the characteristics of leading etailers, and sets a best-in-class benchmark for China ecommerce. The specific goals of the study are to: Paint a comprehensive picture of FMCG online performance Highlight areas of focus for future ecommerce strategic planning and development Identify leading retailers in online retail across different business areas Pinpoint key areas or capabilities that manufacturers and etailers can build on and improve 2 Digital Power Study 2015
Study Methodology Digital Power Study questionnaires were sent out in April 2015 to more than 300 leading manufacturers, 200 of which responded and provided their insights into FMCG categories online business and etailer rankings. Respondents represented all levels of management for manufacturers ecommercerelated functions. Some of the responded companies are listed below. To accurately reflect the percentage of respondents ranking the etailers among the top 3, the results were tabulated on a two-year rolling basis. The results of the 2015 survey were compared with the results for 2014. Kantar Retail also partnered with Venn Data to mine FMCG online performance and category insights with 24-hour/7-day monitoring of all channels, all categories, and all commodities online sales, which contributed to the key findings of Part One of the survey. This study contains two parts: Part One: FMCG Online Performance Overview Part Two: etailer Rankings 3 Digital Power Study 2015
Part One FMCG Online Performance Overview Size of ecommerce in Different Businesses As a whole, ecommerce channels have expanded rapidly in all FMCG categories and related companies and played an increasingly important role in product sales and distribution. The baby category has seen the strongest online development. Last year, only 59% of manufacturers in this category reported that more than 10% of their sales came from ecommerce channels. In this year s study, 80% of manufacturers reported getting more than 10% of their sales from ecommerce. Food and Beverage 6% 10% 14% 11% 5% 25% 23% Nonfood Grocery 14% 29% 45% Health and Beauty Care 3% 19% 39% 26% 26% 59% Baby 80% ecommerce sales in nonfood grocery also increased sharply. Of the surveyed manufacturers, 45% said online sales accounted for more than 10% of total company sales, up from just 14% of manufacturers last year. Online channels accounted for a higher percentage of sales in health and beauty care as well. In this category, 26% of manufacturers reported that ecommerce sales accounted for 10% or more of total company sales volume. It was a different story for food and beverage manufacturers. For 63% of manufacturers in this category, ecommerce accounted for less than 1% of total sales volume. Nevertheless, the overall level was higher than last year. 58% 63% 43% 45% 9% Percentage of ecommerce channels in total sales volume of different FMCG companies 39% 26% 21% 33% 8% 10% 10% 2014 2015 2014 2015 2014 2015 2014 2015 <1% 2%-5% 5%-10% >10% 4 Digital Power Study 2015
Growth of Mobile ecommerce Business As online shopping habits change, mobile shopping is becoming the new driver in ecommerce development. In the first half of this year, 42.4% of mobile phone users in China shopped via mobile devices. Various etailers are working hard on their mobile layouts. Currently, sales from mobile devices for mainstream etailers accounted for over 40% of their total business on average. As the mobile business improves and mobile payment methods mature, ecommerce is expected to rise sharply. In the FMCG industry, mobile sales for 59% of manufacturers accounted for less than 30% of total online sales. For 29% of manufacturers, mobile sales contributed 30% to 50% of total online sales. For 12% of manufacturers, sales from mobile devices accounted for over 50% of their total online business. 23% 8% 18% 9% 12% 29% 59% 42% FMCG 16% 42% Less than 30% 30% to 50% More than 50% 60% 10% 30% Looking at specific categories, manufacturers in the baby category had the most robust mobile commerce. Sales via mobile of 70% of manufacturers accounted for at least 30% of total online sales in this category. The health and beauty care category ranked second, where 58% of manufacturers had mobile business exceeding 30%. Food and Beverage 70% Nonfood Grocery 73% Health and Beauty Care Baby Mobile as a percentage of your total online sales 5 Digital Power Study 2015
250.0 200.0 150.0 100.0 50.0 0.0 200.0% 150.0% 100.0% 50.0% 0.0% -50.0% -100.0% -150.0% -200.0% Online Category Sales and Growth In the first half of 2015, the FMCG categories of Foods, Personal Care, Alcohol, Household Cleaning, Nonalcoholic Drinks, and Pet Supplies demonstrated the biggest growth momentum. Sales Value Growth Rate 145.4% 127.0% Average growth rate 72.4% 57.7% 113.8% 77.1% 94.3% 83.3% 232.2 158.5 118.9 105.0 88.6 81.2 70.2 69.2 54.9 47.6 40.6 39.4 11.9 9.3 7.8 7.4 5.4 5.3 Category Sales Value (Billion RMB) and Growth Rate Source: Venn Data for the five months ended May 31, 2015; Kantar Retail research and analysis 6 Digital Power Study 2015
Online Category Opportunity Looking at the competitive landscape of FMCG subcategories, we see that some mature categories, such as Nut, Chocolate, and Infant Formula, are exhibiting slow online growth with share becoming more concentrated among the top 5 brands. Leading companies in these categories are making great efforts to protect and strengthen their market presence. The top 5 brands are driving very rapid growth in categories such as Tea, Laundry Detergent, and Soft Drinks, making it more difficult for new brands to enter. For categories such as Wine, Juice, Milk, and Candy, the landscape is still fragmented. The top 5 brands account for less than the average percentage of share, and plenty of new brands (mostly imports) are driving growth. 300% 250% HIGH GROWTH, LOW CONCENTRATION Opportunity for new and imported brands 42.6% HIGH GROWTH, HIGH CONCENTRATION Difficult for new entrants RTD tea 200% Juice 150% 116% 100% Candy Wine Eye shadow Powder Milk Nut Dental Rinse Laundry detergent Carbonated soft drink Hand Sanitizer Top 5 Brands Percentage Chocolate 50% LOW GROWTH, BB Cream LOW GROWTH, Infant Formula HIGH CONCENTRATION LOW CONCENTRATION Opportunity for industry leaders in 0% Lack of opportunity mature categories 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Subcategory Growth Rate Note: Bubble size represents sales value for the five months ended May 31, 2015 Source: Venn Data; Kantar Retail research and analysis 7 Digital Power Study 2015
C2C Operation Even though the C2C channel is highly fragmented, manufacturers in different categories have expanded their C2C businesses to various extents to seek new online growth opportunities in this gray market. 2014 2015 25% 30% The baby category performed best in this area (which is aligned with the large size of the C2C channel), with 30% of surveyed manufacturers saying they had designated staff to manage the C2C business. 15% 15% 16% Among manufacturers in the health and beauty care and food and beverage categories, only about 15% of respondents reported expanding their C2C business. 10% 8% 9% In the nonfood grocery category, 9% of manufacturers said they had invested significant resources in the C2C channel. Food and Beverage Nonfood Grocery Health and Beauty Care Baby Have you started a C2C business? Kantar Retail research and analysis 8 Digital Power Study 2015
Online Category Opportunity We also evaluated each category s online penetration by City Penetration. The darker the red, the higher the penetration. As the most mature category online, apparel has the highest penetration across each city tier. Purchasing foods, pet supplies, and household cleaning products is more popular in high-tier cities (Tier 1). By contrast, shoppers in lower-tier cities tend to spend more on consumer electronics, home appliances, and baby products online, which has a strong connection with the maturity of those categories. Apparel High Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4 Low Furniture & Décor Consumer Electronics Home Appliances Baby Products Foods Household Cleaning Cosmetics & Personal Care Pet Supplies Nonalcoholic Drinks Alcohol Category Online Penetration by City Tier Source: Venn Data for the five months ended May 31, 2015; Kantar Retail research and analysis 9 Digital Power Study 2015
Part Two etailer Rankings How etailers Were Evaluated Traffic, growth opportunity, and profitability Mobile platform performance Efficient and clear organization Most mature and professional team Commercial Organization and Capability Strategic Marketing Clearest company ecommerce strategy Best strategic partnership Power etailers Operational Best logistics and delivery Best buying team and category management Best website design, navigation, and product display Best new product launch initiative Best online shopper data analytics Best understanding of the digital path to purchase Most innovative digital marketing approach Best use of mobile and social networking Best investment in SEO and online advertising Digital Power 10 The Retail and Shopper Study Specialists 2015
The Best of the Best The Best of the Best The 2015 comprehensive etailer rankings were largely unchanged from last year. JD retained the top overall ranking and came out on top in each field. Its high-speed growth after it went public gave manufacturers confidence for business expansion. In addition, thanks to an improved self-built logistics system and clear mobile business development strategies, JD managed to defend the top rank. With a close gap of 2.6 percentage points, Tmall ranked second. In particular, manufacturers approved of Tmall s powerful platform strength, abundant internal and external resources, marketing capability, and data-driven insights. YHD took third place thanks to its performance in category management, particularly in food and beverage. JD Tmall YHD Amazon Suning VIP.com Jumei Womai sfbest.com Dangdang Rank 2015 2014 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 6 8 9 9 12 6.0% 4.2% 3.5% 10 11 3.0% 13.1% 8.9% 18.8% 71.3% 66.7% 73.9% JD has created huge sales volume for us in recent years. Due to the more guaranteed direct sales model and selfbuilt logistics, it has become the first choice of most brands and shoppers. Amazon, Suning, and VIP.com held their rankings from last year as well, though their gap with the top 3 was slightly wider. Focusing on foods, sfbest.com managed to rank among the top 10 etailers in the composite ranking, up from 12th place last year. Its strength in logistics and its fresh food proposition helped it impress manufacturers. 2015 Digital Power Study Best of the Best (Composite score is an aggregate of metric scores across five areas: Commercial, Strategic, Operational, Marketing, and Organization and Capability) 11 Digital Power Study 2015
Commercial Commercial In the comprehensive rankings of Commercial, the rankings of the top 4 etailers were unchanged from last year (JD, Tmall, YHD, and Amazon). However, we witnessed the rise of more vertical etailers, such as VIP.com and Jumei. Offline retailers have accelerated their Internet-driven transformation. Manufacturers approved of the online performance of some brick-and-mortar retailers, led by Suning Group and RT-Mart. Rankings of Suning and Feiniu rose this year. It is worth mentioning that, as an ecommerce platform built by SF Express Group, sfbest.com ranked among the top 10 etailers for the first time this year. Its strengths in logistics, especially in cold-chain delivery, won consistent praise from manufacturers. JD Tmall YHD Amazon Suning VIP.com Womai Jumei Feiniu Rank 2015 2014 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 6 6 9 7 5 8 10 9 11 13.6% 9.0% 5.7% 4.0% 2.8% 1.7% 87.6% 81.4% 91.0% sfbest.com 9 n/a 1.7% Commercial Overall (Comprehensive rankings of Commercial are based on the following indexes: traffic, growth opportunity, profitability, and mobile platform performance) 12 Digital Power Study 2015
Strategic Strategic Strategic comprises three metrics: clearest company ecommerce strategy, best strategic partnerships, and etailer likely to have the most influence in the next three years. JD s actions and post-ipo investment further defined its future development strategies. Its great determination in innovation and clear communication of strategies across levels with manufacturers gave manufacturers great confidence. It surpassed Tmall to rank first in Strategic this year. JD Tmall YHD Amazon Suning VIP.com Rank 2015 2014 1 2 2 1 3 3 4 4 5 8 6 6 20.3% 16.4% 10.2% 69.5% 80.2% 76.8% Meanwhile, Suning, Feiniu, and sfbest.com achieved higher rankings in this year s comprehensive strategic metric by virtue of their clearer ecommerce strategies and determination. Jumei Feiniu sfbest.com 7 5 8 10 8 10 6.2% 5.1% 5.1% Womai 10 8 4.5% Strategic Overall (Comprehensive rankings of Strategic are based on the following indexes: clearest company ecommerce strategy, best strategic partnership, and power etailers) 13 Digital Power Study 2015
Operational Operational Operational measures etailers based on their performance in supply-chain management, category management, Web page design, new product launches, and data insights. Based on its high service levels, JD held on to the top spot in this category. It received consistent praise from manufacturers due to its strengths in logistics and user experience. Tmall moved up one spot mainly because of its abundant new product launch initiatives and deep research into the shopper s path to purchase. Many manufacturers approved of the relative openness of Tmall s database. YHD fell from second to third in the rankings. Suning, VIP.com, and sfbest.com improved their rankings this year. Feiniu, which launched in early 2014, ranked among the top 10 etailers thanks to RT-Mart s established experience in operations. Rank 2015 2014 JD 1 1 Tmall 2 3 YHD 3 2 Amazon 4 4 Suning 5 7 VIP.com 6 7 Jumei 7 5 sfbest.com 8 10 Womai 9 7 Feiniu 10 n/a 4.0% Operational Overall 17.5% 13.6% 11.3% 7.9% 5.7% 32.8% 70.1% 67.8% 74.6% (Comprehensive rankings of Operational are based on the following indexes: best logistics and delivery; best buying team and category management; best website design, navigation, and product display; best new product launch initiative; best online shopper data analytics; and best understanding of the digital path to purchase) 14 Digital Power Study 2015
Marketing Marketing An etailer s Marketing measures its digital marketing capability, utilization of mobile fronts and social media, search engine optimization and online advertising investment. JD Rank 2015 2014 1 2 65.5% This year, manufacturers had high praise for JD s overall marketing investment, integration and application of internal resources, and diversified marketing methods. These factors helped boost the company s overall rank in this measurement to first. Tmall YHD Suning Amazon 2 1 3 3 4 7 5 4 14.7% 12.4% 58.8% 65.0% Following closely, Tmall still showed very strong overall marketing capability. Manufacturers approved of its diversified digital marketing methods and Alibaba s worldwide influence. VIP.com Jumei Dangdang 6 7 7 6 8 7 9.6% 4.5% 4.0% Suning and VIP.com also strengthened their online release strategies, which helped them increase their rankings this year. Womai Feiniu 9 11 3.4% 10 n/a 2.3% Womai of COFCO and Feiniu of RT-Mart ranked among the top 10 etailers in this measurement due to their group marketing strengths. Marketing Overall (Comprehensive rankings of Marketing are based on the following indexes: digital marketing capability, comprehensive application of mobile terminals and social media, and search engine optimization and online advertising investment) 15 Digital Power Study 2015
Organization and Capability Organization and Capability With the increasingly intense competition in ecommerce, companies must constantly optimize their organizations and retain and bring in talent to ensure competitive strengths and increase operational efficiency. JD Tmall Rank 2015 2014 1 1 2 3 58.2% 57.1% In 2015, JD and Tmall made positive adjustments in talent and organization and strengthened their service capabilities, which allowed them to achieve the top rankings in this measurement. YHD Amazon Suning 3 1 4 4 5 5 14.7% 7.9% 55.9% VIP.com 6 9 5.7% Jumei 7 5 5.1% Womai 8 7 3.4% Yixun 8 7 3.4% Dangdang 10 9 2.3% Organization and Capability Overall (Comprehensive rankings of Organization and Capability are based on the following indexes: clear organization and most mature and professional team) 16 Digital Power Study 2015
Conclusions Understand the Online Landscape The digital revolution is restructuring how shoppers access information and shop for consumer packaged goods. After 10 years of fast growth, ecommerce in China has become very holistic, presenting huge growth opportunities for both FMCG categories and etailers. It has been the best time for traditional FMCG manufacturers to embrace digital, move online, and make a difference. Categories like Infant Formula, Toy, and Diaper are the most mature categories online with slower growth and a higher concentration of sales going to the top 5 brands. Other categories, such as Food and Beverage and Household Cleaning, are expanding rapidly with limited leading online brands. Kantar Retail expects FMCG categories overall to grow more than 40% online every year until 2020. By then, the online market will account for 30% of FMCG companies total sales making it one of the most important channels for FMCG scale and growth. 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Online Sales as % of FMCG Sales 0.6% 0.8% 1.0% 1.4% 3.0% 4.7% 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 7.1% 2014 2015E 2016E 2017E 2018E 2019E 2020E 30.5% Source: Kantar Retail data and analysis 17 Digital Power Study 2015
Set Up a Clear Role for Your Online Business Companies need to address digital and ecommerce from the top and make the choices needed to defend their brand presence, share, and equity online. Undoubtedly, ecommerce helps FMCG companies achieve additional sales and build their brands. However, in the short term, obtaining additional profit through ecommerce channels has been difficult due to the increased operational costs and frequent price promotions within the channel. Last year, 62% of companies surveyed said additional profit was one of their top 3 ecommerce objectives. This year, the percentage dropped to 46%. On the other hand, penetration into lower-tier cities or markets became one of the important objectives of ecommerce operations in traditional enterprises. Its importance increased from fifth place in last year s survey to fourth place this year. More and more FMCG manufacturers are looking to market their brands and products in lower-tier markets with huge potential more quickly through ecommerce than through traditional offline channels. Rank 2015 2014 Additional sales channel 1 1 Brand building 2 2 Additional profit 3 3 46% Penetrating lower-tier cities or markets arkets 4 5 An efficient way to enter new brands/new 5 4 28% products into the China market The role of ecommerce in your business (Percent of Manufacturers Ranking 3 of 3 in Importance) 45% 81% 97% 18 Digital Power Study 2015
Identify the Winners to Work With As summarized here, JD, Tmall, and YHD are the top 3 players for FMCG manufacturers to work with. Manufacturers ranked JD as the best B2C etailer across Commercial, Strategic, and Operational areas, while Tmall ranked No. 2 due to a shortfall in Operational. YHD is still No. 3 in the ranking, but with a bigger gap behind the top 2 players this year. Suning and VIP.com have been outperforming other etailers in sales, user base, and their growing business strength. The relevant category players should not neglect sfbest.com, a newcomer to the top 10 on the strength of its logistics and fresh food. The Best of the Best Commercial Strategic Operational Marketing Organization and Capability JD 73.9 91.0 80.2 74.6 65.5 58.2 Tmall 71.3 87.6 76.8 70.1 65.0 57.1 YHD 66.7 81.4 69.5 67.8 58.8 55.9 Amazon 18.8 13.6 20.3 32.8 12.4 14.7 Suning 13.1 9.0 16.4 17.5 14.7 7.9 VIP.com 8.9 5.7 10.2 13.6 9.6 5.7 Jumei 6.0 2.8 6.2 11.3 4.5 5.1 Womai 4.2 4.0 4.5 5.7 3.4 3.4 sfbest.com 3.5 1.7 5.1 7.9 1.7 1.1 Dangdang 3.0 n/a 2.8 2.8 4.0 2.3 Percent of Manufacturers Ranking Among Top 3 etailers Note: Red shading represents the etailer s key strength Source: Kantar Retail research and analysis 19 Digital Power Study 2015
Key Business Areas for Collaboration To adapt to the rapidly changing demands of the ecommerce market, FMCG manufacturers are constantly adjusting their ecommerce propositions and strategies. Last year, the FMCG manufacturers surveyed were most concerned with their online partners brand positioning, business scale, and strategies. This year, the marketing capabilities of online partners were most valued, with online shopper marketing and digital marketing capability ranking first and second, respectively. These are the two most important areas for stronger collaboration between manufacturers and etailers. Rank 2015 2014 Online shopper marketing 1 3 Digital marketing capability 2 3 etailers brand positioning 3 1 Logistics and delivery capability 3 5 Shopper and category insights 5 4 etailers business size, growth, and profitability 6 2 Supply-chain management 7 7 4.53 4.5 4.42 4.42 4.4 4.38 4.32 In addition, to improve the online shopping experience and order fulfillment, manufacturers paid more attention to etailers logistics and delivery capability this year. That ranking rose from fifth in last year s survey to third this year. Website navigation and product display 8 8 Clear company strategy 9 6 Category management/buying teams 10 n/a etailers company organization 11 n/a 3.65 4.13 4.08 4.27 Manufacturers still looked for online partners to possess such core capabilities as brand positioning and shopper and category insights, which make data sharing and analysis far more important in this context. What matters most to manufacturers? (Percent of etailers Ranking 3 of 3 in Importance) 20 Digital Power Study 2015
Build a Sustainable ecommerce Team Strategic and organizational factors usually separate successful online leaders from the rest of the field. Ambiguity in roles and responsibilities plus a lack of staff resources and senior leadership support are key barriers that prevent most leading FMCG manufacturers from seizing digital and ecommerce opportunities. To achieve maximum operational effectiveness, an empowered and independent ecommerce team should be created with sufficient capabilities and decision-making powers to move initiatives forward. 26% 13% 18% 15% 26% 26% 10% 31% 34% Last year, we found that FMCG manufacturers were setting up and expanding ecommerce teams as much as they could and expanding their functions to serve and manage ecommerce channels more directly, effectively, and professionally. In this year s study, only 13% of surveyed manufacturers had not set up ecommerce teams. Manufacturers that had established professional ecommerce teams said they had added staff to varying degrees. Moreover, the ecommerce teams of 34% of surveyed companies had more than 10 full-time staff members. Those companies usually had ecommerce teams of around 20 staff fully dedicated to different roles, including sales, operations, trade marketing, digital marketing, and strategy. 1% 0 1 2 3 4 5 10 >10 2014 2015 Size of ecommerce Team 21 Digital Power Study 2015
About Kantar Retail We are the retail and shopper specialists. We are a leading retail and shopper insight, consulting, and analytics and technology business, part of Kantar Group, the data investment management division of WPP. We work with leading brand manufacturers and retailers to help them sell Our Purpose We help you sell more effectively and profitably Our Core Capabilities more effectively and profitably. At Kantar Retail, we track and forecast more than 1,200 retailers globally and have purchase data on more than 200 million shoppers. Among our market-leading reports are the annual PoweRanking survey and the Digital Power Study. Kantar Retail works with more than 400 clients and has 26 offices in 15 markets around the globe. How We Do It We connect a world-class set of retail and shopper capabilities and assets with pragmatic, solutionoriented people to grow client businesses Kantar Retail conducts benchmarking studies on the following subjects: PoweRanking of Manufacturers and Retailers (U.S., EU, and China) Digital Power Study (U.S., EU, and China) Category Leadership (currently available only in the U.S.) Trade Promotion Spending and Merchandising (currently available only in the U.S.) FoodservicElite Ranking of Manufacturers and Operators (currently available only in the U.S.) Industry Shopper Study Across Retailers (currently available only in the U.S.) Digital Power 22 Study 2015
China 11F, Henderson Metropolitan 155 Tian Jin Road, Shanghai, China Sherry.Zhu@kantarretail.com www.kantarretail.com Wechat: KantarRetail Copyright Kantar Retail 2015 This publication is the sole property of Kantar Retail and must not be copied, reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, either in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of Kantar Retail. The information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources generally regarded to be reliable. However, no representation is made, or warranty given, in respect of the accuracy of this information. We would like to be informed of any inaccuracies so that we may correct them. Kantar Retail does not accept any liability in negligence or otherwise for any loss or damage suffered by any party resulting from reliance on this publication. 23 Digital Power Study 2015