F&N cashes in on eCommerce with online flagship store in MY

Fraser & Neave Holdings (F&N) has rolled out its flagship online store, F&N Life, to offer Malaysian consumers greater convenience, accessibility and value. F&N Life is set to complement F&N's physical distribution network to develop an omni-channel presence and enhance its market penetration.

With the new eCommerce site, consumers can place bulk orders on F&N products. In addition to the convenience of shopping, F&N Life will also provide product details and nutrition values, recipes and loyalty programmes to enrich the shopping experience. To celebrate the launch, F&N is handing out a 5% discount for all purchases made via the eCommerce site or mobile app, as well as free delivery within Peninsular Malaysia throughout January and February.

The company has also partnered with Touch 'n Go eWallet to offer a one-off RM5 cashback for every RM50 spent until 29 February. A+M has reached out to F&N for additional information about F&N Life.

F&N CEO Lim Yew Hoe said for the past few years, it has joined forces with various online marketplaces to reach new segments and consumers, and built a growing base of loyal online shoppers. As it recognises the huge potential of eCommerce and opportunities to drive long-term business growth, Lim said the company is ready to take its eCommerce business to the next level.

“At F&N, we create value by prioritising the needs of our consumers. We understand how convenience, accessibility and greater value have become important components in today’s consumer behaviour. Our effort to pursue an aggressive eCommerce strategy with the launch of F&N Life reflects our commitment to innovate and evolve with consumers’ ever-changing needs,” Lim added. According to him, the launch of F&N Life is in tandem with its promise of "Pure Enjoyment, Pure Goodness".

Meanwhile, TNG Digital's CEO Ignatius Ong said: “We are glad to be partnering with one of Malaysia’s oldest and most well-known brands. Spanning generations, there isn’t one person I know that isn’t familiar with essential products of F&N. It is through these partnerships that Malaysians get to benefit and save more in their daily lives.”

F&N Life also features newly-launched products such as the Sunkist orange juice drink; the Sunkist lemon apple flavoured mix juice drink; the F&N Ice Mountain classic as well as lemon and grapefruit flavoured sparkling water with zero added sugar; and the TEAPOT Squeeze Tube in pandan and gula melaka flavours. Consumers who are feeling nostalgic can also indulge in classic drinks such as F&N Sarsi, F&N Orange Crush, as well as F&N Ice Cream Soda which was exclusively unveiled for Chinese New Year.

Last November, Lim said during the release of its fourth quarter results that he expects the overall domestic market for F&B Malaysia to remain challenging amidst the continuous competitive pressures in the canned milk and the RTD beverage segments. “After the successful reformulation exercise, we will be sharpening our focus on commercial execution in preparation for 2020 Chinese New Year festive sales, which will be held earlier than past year,” he added.

F&N reported a 1.5% dip in fourth quarter revenue from RM505.9 million to RM498.3 million year-on-year (yoy) for its food & beverages (F&B) segment in Malaysia. The decline was due to slower sales post-festive season, the effect of pre-loading of products in the third quarter in anticipation of the sugar tax implementation, and exacerbated by haze that limited outdoor consumer and marketing activities.

F&N said this was partly mitigated by double-digit growth in exports revenue. Meanwhile, operating profit for F&B Malaysia dropped 27.0% to RM27.7 million during Q4 2019 mainly due to one-off and non-operating items. Excluding one-off and non-operating items, operating profit for F&B Malaysia grew by 6.5%. Overall, however, F&B Malaysia’s performance for 2019 increased from RM2.15 billion to RM2.16 billion due to higher sales of value pack types, higher trade spending, absence of a one-off export-oriented contract packing business in the previous year, and competition in the canned milk segment.

Its performance for 2019 was also underpinned by higher beverages sales from successful festive promotions during Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Harvest festival, continued efforts in strengthening and deepening the route-to-market, especially in East Malaysia. The successful reformulation of ready-to-drink products in Malaysia in response to the sugar tax introduction in July 2019 also helped boost its performance.