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In this episode of Connected Thinking, Nhoon Ahmed-McGowan, our Senior Social Media Manager, sits down with Nicole Pilkington, Global Head of eCommerce at Barilla Group. Leading the digital strategy across 15+ markets, Nicole has driven online growth, shopper experience and performance across global retail platforms.
With eCommerce expected to drive 50-60% of FMCG growth over the next three years, our episode dives into:
• Turning creator storytelling into eComm conversion
• Building a global brand voice that still feels local
• Breaking down the silos between social and eComm teams
Can you tell us a bit about your background?
I've always worked in E-commerce. I find it really interesting because no two days are ever the same and the goalposts continually change. I like to think I challenge myself, and E-commerce feels like a really good fit for me because it puts me on a continuous learning path, figuring it out together with others. There's a real community there, both within an organisation and outside of one, which gives you a nice opportunity to build a community around a common objective.
I'm currently at Barilla Group within the global team. Before that I worked at Johnson & Johnson in their local and regional E-commerce teams.
Being in a global role is a real privilege because you get to upskill individuals around the world and really be part of their growth journey. As much as my role is growing the E-commerce business at Barilla, I take a real deep interest in growing the local teams around me.
For a long time, E-commerce in FMCG was treated just as a sales channel. Are we now seeing a shift towards it becoming more of a strategic growth engine for brands?
100%. The best example I have is from one of my top three markets: 73% of the company's growth came from E-commerce last year.
Previously, E-commerce was a channel that was growing and kind of interesting, but it was the little baby sister to your traditional in-store or discount retail channels. Now, if you want to grow as a business and as an organisation, E-commerce needs to be one of your key retail channels, with a considered approach to where you spend your time and investment.
E-commerce is a really interesting place to be because there are always a hundred things you can be doing, but you need to figure out what are the two to five things that are going to make a difference and how do you go after those.
Outside of the results I saw last year, industry forecasts are reporting that 50 to 60% of growth in the next three years is going to come from E-commerce. As brands, we really need to think about what role that plays for us and how we get there.
What does that evolution actually look like in practice?
It's about having a really clear approach but also keeping it simple. You can look externally for inspiration, and we should, but often that means we get a bit carried away thinking, "oh, this looks really good, I've seen a really good case study." Where I've found success in E-commerce roles particularly is having a really simple strategy of one to two pages: what are we actually trying to achieve, and how does everything we do relate back to that overall simple approach.
Social platforms are increasingly shaping product discovery before shoppers ever land on a retailer's site. How can FMCG brands better connect their creative storytelling with E-commerce conversion?
There's a huge opportunity. I saw a statistic the other day that 60% of users on TikTok are discovering new brands or products through the platform, even when they're not in a product discovery or research phase. So the opportunity is 100% there.
How brands capitalise on it really comes down to the product and category you sit in. I don't doubt that in the future, if I think about storytelling, creators and social commerce, the suitability of it will fit all categories. But today, for example, I work on pasta, bakery and condiments. I'm part of a weekly shop, I'm 60 to 80 items in a basket, and I'm pretty mundane. No one really likes shopping for groceries, so people try to do it as quickly as possible.
If I think about creator storytelling, there's a role they play in inspiring and getting brands at the forefront of people's minds, but it doesn't necessarily result in a purchase there and then. I completely admire all the beauty brands who can use storytellers and content creators to talk through the benefits of their products and then, due to the nature of the products they sell, the price point and the target market, often convert instantly. We've all probably had an Amazon shop where we've instantly bought a moisturiser or a mascara. It's not quite the same for grocery products yet, and I'm not denying we might get there in the future, but today it's about thinking about what role these storytellers and content creators can play and what that means in the total.
In an idealistic world, it would be a creator on a call cooking up their latest pasta recipe, talking about the benefits, the taste and why it might be really interesting to their followers. Then it would be me working in an E-commerce role, making sure that when anyone lands on a grocery website, my products are there, the brand is shown in a way that conveys the same message, and we're at the forefront of the search algorithm. That's what we think about as retail media, but there's often a missing connection between retail media and social or content creators.
I saw a really good quote which was: people like great content, and sometimes great content is an ad. I think it's 100% true. The best ads we see out there, you don't necessarily appreciate that it is an advert, but you're inspired to purchase. As a brand, it's about thinking about where the moment is when it makes sense for that journey to lead to a purchase, and where you can connect the dots later down in the journey.
E-commerce and social teams working closely together is increasingly important. What advantages does that collaboration unlock, and what creates silos in the first place?
For me, silos come out of structure. The way an organisation is created, in itself, often creates silos. Everyone's trying to achieve what they can within their role, and even at a leadership perspective there are different objectives at year end or start of the year. If you put a social objective and an E-commerce objective side by side, ultimately we're aiming towards doing the same thing, but they'd likely look quite different.
In previous roles I've worked in a digital marketing function where E-commerce sat next to social, and we sat next to data. It was one hub where in my regular team meeting I wasn't just discussing E-commerce, I was understanding what was happening on social, and we had one leader who really brought us all together.
It takes individuals to create those conversations, to take an interest and step back out of your specific role and specific deliverables. I remember walking past colleagues' desks and seeing different content being created, looking at our Instagram or our TikTok accounts. For me, that's a million miles away from selling products on a retailer's website, but ultimately we're trying to do the same thing. We're trying to create a competitive advantage for the brands we work for and make them part of the purchase set.
So silos are created by structure. Raising your head above where you are today and what your specific role looks like, and building those connections, has been really invaluable for me.
And what should brands avoid?
Not interacting with the different stakeholders you work with. Not thinking about the people outside of your immediate windows. And being quite close-minded on what you're trying to achieve.
The best results come from collaboration, from being curious but also being a little raw in saying, "I definitely don't know as much about social as you, so can you help me understand? Can you talk me through what you're trying to achieve?" Even if I have an unconscious bias of "okay, social's just for awareness," how do I ask myself the questions to challenge those thoughts and beliefs, to expand my knowledge set but also further develop what we're doing as a brand through that genuine curiosity?
So what not to do, for me, would be to not be curious and to not think about the possibilities of just opening up that headspace a little.
You lead E-commerce strategy across 15 markets. How do you balance global consistency in brand voice with local expertise?
There are always commonalities you can draw, and for me, in an E-commerce role, the way people shop online is very stereotypical across lots of different countries. But brand voice is a really interesting perspective, and it's something we're actively working on at Barilla.
We've recently moved into a global category organisation, which is really interesting. Having this global category matrix enables us to have, for the different global brands we own, playbooks, thoughts and approaches: one message, one voice, one brand. But working in a retail face and channel, that can be quite challenging because, yes, the messages we want to deliver are the same, but the message that's going to convert a shopper in store or online is sometimes quite different to the broader brand messaging.
We really need to think about how we draw synergies. Is it with the visuals we use? Is it with the claims or the words or the brand voice? The approach I have globally is that it's very much led by the local markets.
I like to use an analogy. If you think about a tennis player, the tennis player is on the pitch, but they have a nutritionist, a coach, lots of different functions supporting them. In a global role, your job is to be those support functions to make that tennis player perform as best they can on the day. The tennis player is your local E-commerce manager, your local digital marketer, your local marketing person. We're really there as the behind-the-scenes support functions.
We do want consistency, and you want to feel like you experience the same Barilla brand everywhere. That's one of our key goals. But in practice it doesn't always work that way. The local teams understand the shopper and the market way more than we ever will at a global level. So it's a very tight, locally coordinated approach within E-commerce specifically, supported by five key roles within a global centre of excellence. My role is to listen, learn and provide guidance, but also appreciate where the global tone of voice or global approach might not translate the way we want it to into retail, and to think about those nuances.
One thing worth adding: it's the same shopper. We talk about the retail shopper, but it's the same shopper. Their mindset is fundamentally quite different when we're sat at home, watching TV, browsing social or browsing the internet, compared to being in a retail store or purchasing on a mobile phone or website. We need to make sure that as a brand we're meeting the shopper where they are, as opposed to having one message that we put everywhere. The shopper might need a nudge in a different direction in order to result in that purchase.
How can brands build that connection, collaboration and curiosity in teams that are global, remote, or only in the office occasionally?
Leadership plays a really big role in this. If you're leading a function, you're setting the example. When I think about how I behaved in early roles, I was completely looking at the person above me and reflecting their behaviours because I thought that was what was correct. Of course, as you grow and develop in roles you find your own style, but anyone in a leadership role needs to be taking that omnichannel "how do I stay connected with lots of different functions" approach.
Earlier in my career I sat within an E-commerce team but also next to social and digital marketers. Just hearing what they were up to was really interesting. It's about building time for those connections. Everyone thinks of themselves as time-poor, but on a Friday morning, a 30-minute coffee where different teams join and you speak through what's new in your world, if you're already connected, can be really seamless. It doesn't have to be on a specific cadence, but creating those moments matters.
When we're in the office, we naturally walk past someone's desk or stand at the coffee machine to catch up. Working remotely, you fall into the trap of "I only need a meeting in my diary if it's going to deliver a really specific purpose," and we get trapped within back-to-back meetings. So for me, it's really about creating those moments in a virtual world to stay connected. Leadership also need to set that example and encourage knowledge sharing across departments, building connections beyond the people you strictly need to work with to include the people who are going to complement and help you.
We host an annual event I call "Leaders of Change", because I believe anyone working in E-commerce is a leader of change in an organisation. I get together all my E-commerce managers from around the world into one place for two or three days. But invited to that event are global social, global shopper marketing, global digital marketing and the global category teams. We bring those individuals into the community and create that forum. It would be very easy to keep it closed and only have E-commerce people in the room, and you might sit there and think, "okay, this is less relevant to me", but it complements that dissemination of knowledge across the organisation.
If you were advising an FMCG brand building its E-commerce strategy from scratch today, what would be the first three priorities you'd focus on?
My first priority would be: keep it simple. My global strategy is two pages. The first is "where to play" and the second is "how to win". There have been some small tweaks over the past five years, but it's pretty much remained consistent, and that's enabled us to get to where we are today. It helps you focus on the two to five things that are going to matter, and almost helps you take a pause on the 95 things you could otherwise be doing.
Secondly, getting really good content live that meets retailer algorithms, but also now LLM algorithms. It's almost forgotten, but it's such a simple piece that helps guide shoppers through purchase consideration.
And then my final one would be: don't forget the importance of people. An E-commerce strategy only works if the people working on it feel empowered and feel like it's something they can reach and achieve.
How should brands balance investment in E-commerce against traditional retail?
The natural thing to do would be to look at E-commerce as a sales percentage, which for us is still in single digits, but it's about thinking about the influence piece. We know that somewhere between 60 to 80% of in-store purchases are influenced through some form of digital touchpoint. For me, it's about thinking about the shopper as omnichannel and multi-touchpoint. I find it hard to believe someone would just be exclusive to online shopping. We do know there are people who are exclusive to in-store, but quite often people use both touchpoints.
There's sometimes a misconception that "oh, E-commerce is stealing my sales, they're taking away from my traditional retail." But it's not the case. It's where the shopper is, and we need to meet them at that moment and deliver the brand experience, as opposed to thinking about them as conflicting channels.
Favourite book or podcast you'd recommend?
I'm really into personal development, so my favourite book at the minute is How to Own the World. It's a guide to having a global perspective, but also a guide to investments. We're not talking about investing with loads of money; even if you're starting out with a pound, where's the best place to put that pound? I feel really passionate that this type of financial education doesn't happen in school, and it doesn't happen in many homes either. I've found a lot of value in this book, basically teaching me how to invest globally, which I'm finding really interesting.
Best piece of advice you've received?
In my first job, someone once told me your worst day is only ever 24 hours long. In challenging times, I always remind myself of that, because it's true. Each day is only 24 hours, and that's really helped me bring a lot of perspective into a challenging situation.
