Del Monte's eCommerce marketing lead: 'There is so much untapped potential in the space'

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As the world continues to face challenges from the pandemic, businesses are now adopting a digital approach. According to the annual SYNC Southeast Asia report by Facebook and global consultancy Bain & Company, Southeast Asia’s digital retail share grew 85% year-on-year this year. ECommerce marketing head of Del Monte Philippines, Nicole Miller (pictured), told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that she saw "so much untapped potential" in the eCommerce space. "There is still so much room to grow and improve, especially since most Filipino shoppers are still used to shopping for groceries in brick-and-mortar stores," said Miller, who is also a panellist on MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's upcoming Digital Marketing Asia conference held from 9 to 25 November.

While eCommerce saw a spike due to pandemic-induced quarantines, Miller said the industry is still "barely scratching the surface" for the amount of food and beverage groceries bought online. As businesses are forced to adapt and go online, Miller is energised by her responsibility to bring Del Monte's products into the eCommerce space. She joined the company last November and according to her, Del Monte still has a lot of work to do in generating awareness for its official flagship stores in Shopee and Lazada. The reason being, other companies from the FMCG have had an eCommerce presence longer than Del Monte and hence, a headstart in the eCommerce space.

Some of the eCommerce opportunities that excite her include building direct-to-consumer channels and developing robust omnichannel capabilities. Miller added that brands also get to engage with and eventually monetise relevant online social communities. While these might all be easier said than done, Miller said eCommerce is definitely here to stay and "just keeps getting more and more dynamic". "It will definitely never be boring," she added.

While she enjoys the exciting nature of the eCommerce industry, Miller said her entry into this space was "a happy accident". Before Del Monte, Miller had the opportunity of leading and managing marketing campaigns with Shoppe Philippines. She was with the company for a year and Shopee's scale and speed gave her a crash course on the inner workings of an eCommerce giant. "Shopee also placed me in roles to effect positive change on both customers' and brands' online shopping experiences," Miller said.

During her time with Shopee, she led marketing planning, execution and analysis for key programmes such as ShopeePay; free shipping special, a revenue-generating seller programme; and welcome series, a new user acquisition initiative. She also led a team in charge of campaign planning and analytics for brands to drive growth via strategic marketing solutions. "This eventually became a springboard for my current role where I led eCommerce marketing for Del Monte Philippines," she added. Miller also worked as Ace Saatchi & Saatchi's senior strategic planner and Charlie's Hangar Surf Hostel's marketing manager.

When asked about the approaches to eCommerce, Miller said to keep it simple as it is a hybrid of both a sales channel and a brand-building platform. "Maximise it as such to create seamless consumer experiences with your brand that have an instant, direct link to sales generation," she added.

Join our Digital Marketing Asia conference happening from 9 November 2021 - 25 November 2021 to learn about the upcoming trends and technologies in the world of digital. Check out the agenda here.