Unilever: understanding online buyers
Global HQ: London, UK
Founded: Unilever, 1926
Facts & Figures
Employees: 159,000
Annual revenue (global): $52 billion
There’s no question that the pandemic cemented the importance of online retail. It has long been a key priority for Unilever, and as it evolves, we want to make sure we are at the vanguard of driving the landscape forward.
In this wide-ranging project, we not only confirmed our existing thinking of how e-commerce shopping is evolving in the Netherlands, but we also identified new insights, ideas and trends to integrate into our thinking.
Unpeeling the layers in e-commerce to reveal brand opportunities
The research revealed that every online platform triggers a different shopper trip, and it identified which platforms offer the most potential for Unilever brands to appeal to new customers. A key insight was that online platforms are not all the same, and put simply, there is no one solution to online shopping for Unilever. Buyers are more mature in their habits today, and their behavior is constantly evolving. In fact, as Tamara Vieveen says: “There are many layers to e-commerce and that needs to be reflected in our strategy.”
The findings in this piece of research are used by the Unilever market research team, the category management team, marketing and account teams to understand current channel dynamics. They are important insights to be used for portfolio planning, product positioning, and ultimately, of category channel strategies. The findings are used as input for conversations with retailers and at a top-level, they have fed into strategic thinking across the market research team.
Today’s online buyer is more experienced and knowledgeable than ever, purchasing in different categories and from diverse channels depending on their needs, motivations and occasions. It is only by acknowledging and analyzing this that we can perfect our service so that the right Unilever products are always present, available, and prominent on the virtual shelf.
A long term collaboration
Unilever and CPS* have a long-standing working relationship that can be counted in decades, not years. Described as ‘two-way’, the Dutch division of the global FMCG player relies on the team at Consumer Panel Services GfK to alert them of new developments in the market and in consumer behavior that they should know about. At the same time, the CMI team knows they can contact CPS* whenever they have questions, issues, or challenges, or want to focus on a particular project.
*CPS: Consumer Panel Services (formerly part of the GfK group through 2023) is now YouGov