CHICAGO — Global stay-at-home orders led to unprecedented market share gains for several of Mondelez International, Inc.’s brands. Now, as economies around the world start to open, the company is transitioning to defend those gains.

During a virtual presentation on May 27 to the RBC Global Consumer & Retail Conference, Dirk Van de Put, chairman and chief executive officer of Mondelez, said current share gains are a byproduct of the company’s strategy that was adopted the year prior.

“…Market share gains that we saw last year have accelerated and are quite extraordinary,” he said. “I would say we're seeing the biggest market share gains in the history of the company.”

Business investments put on hold due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) during the first half of the year will be implemented during the second half of the year. The investments will focus on maintaining consumer interest in Mondelez’s products, said Mr. Van de Put. One such investment will be in e-commerce.

“We are strengthening our e-commerce capability; launching a number of SKUs (stock-keeping units), especially for e-commerce,” he said. “So, we want to make sure that it’s easy for the consumer to stay in our brands. So, all that combined give us high hopes that these market share gains will stick.”

Managing package sizes is proving to be a key part of the company’s e-commerce strategy.

“Consumers tend to buy bigger, larger pack sizes online,” Mr. Van de Put said. “So, you need to have special pack sizes, not all of them, but you need to have a good amount that really fits with what the consumer needs.”

During the first quarter, Mondelez introduced 20 online-exclusive SKUs and Mr. Van de Put said they have contributed meaningfully to growth. He added that the company’s margins on its e-commerce business are now the same as in brick and mortar.