Mondelēz adapts digital commerce as AI reshapes search

The business is moving beyond search-led growth as social commerce and agentic shopping gain ground.

Mondelēz International is reworking assortment, content, and media execution across digital channels as online growth becomes harder to sustain through distribution expansion alone.

Its digital commerce business is worth $3.5b, putting greater pressure on the company to sustain growth beyond expanding product availability across online platforms.

Kenneth Lau, Global Digital Commerce Excellence Lead at Mondelēz International, said search still drives most digital commerce sales, making keyword optimisation, paid search, and digital shelf visibility important. Social commerce, however, increasingly requires capabilities spanning affiliates, livestreaming and platform-specific assortments.

Agentic shopping could further change product discovery as consumers increasingly rely on AI to navigate purchasing decisions. Lau said brands will need to consider whether their products appear in relevant conversations and how they are represented.

Maintaining momentum also requires brands to differentiate online assortments rather than replicate products already available through supermarkets and convenience stores.

“Distribution expansion or early growth — that’s easy. How we keep up with that and innovation through that is going to be important,” Lau said.

In quick commerce, Mondelēz has introduced occasion-specific products, including last-minute Valentine’s Day packs and interactive Chinese New Year gift boxes, supported by search, retail media, and digital content.

The company uses digital shelf analytics to track assortment, search visibility, and content quality, allowing commercial teams to identify gaps when growth slows.

The convergence of quick commerce, social commerce, and retail media is also blurring traditional sales and marketing responsibilities. Lau said digital commerce teams increasingly need to coordinate functions covering assortment, content, media and activation.

Lau will speak at the Retail Asia Summit in Singapore on 29 September 2026.