Raising the bar: JD working with Nestle to tailor wafer bar strategy for China

Nestle’s Cui Cui Sha is one of the brand’s signature items, and a snack that JD customers often purchase in bulk.

According to JD’s analysis of consumer feedback, they found that consumers preferred large packages of wafer bars for trips and family outings, as well as smaller wafer bars in a variety of flavours to be able to share easily.

At that time, Nestle did not offer those options, so JD helped Nestle design newer, larger packs containing more mini-sized wafer bars in a variety of flavours.

And to position the product to consumers as an ideal choice for outings, the package was designed in the shape of a backpack.

This has seemingly paid off, with sales increasing by 70% between June 1-18, compared to the same period of the previous month.

According to Rebecca Wang, Head of E-commerce, Nestlé GCRL “E-commerce in China provides a unique view into consumer desires, the depth of insights JD provides to Nestlé in China is invaluable in helping us provide consumers exactly what they want​.”

Coffee in China​

JD is the biggest online seller of Nestlé products in China, their popular products are Nescafé and KitKat.

In August 2019, JD launched Nestle’s Starbuck coffee on its platform, to bring in more options for premium coffee. Its current offerings in China include Nespresso capsule coffees and the Nescafe instant coffee range.

Apart from JD, Nestle will also start selling its 21 Starbucks-branded capsule and instant-coffee products on Alibaba’s Tmall, as well as to offices and hotels in tier-1 cities.

This move comes as Nestle experienced a slower first-half growth in China, its second-largest market.

JD also recently announced its Q2 financial results exceeded market expectations. It reported net revenue of RMB 150.3 billion (US$121.9 billion), an increase of 22.9% from Q2 2018.

They predicted growth rate of 20 to 24%, and a revenue between RMB 126 and 130 billion in Q3 2019.