Tag Archives: Avon

Avon closing in Australia and New Zealand

 

It was less than a decade ago that cosmetic’s direct selling company was the largest and most successful direct selling company in the world, an honour now owned by Amway. This week comes the shocking news that Avon is closing down in Australia and New Zealand.

Direct selling is having significant challenges with rapid changes in technology and having to compete against the likes of Amazon and EBay, and this has been reflected in Amway’s own sales downturns the past 4 years. Something that may have turned around.

Amway Australia seems to be still having some success, with 10 new Platinums and Founders Platinums recognized last month, and recent new Diamonds Patrick and Joyce Mahakkapong and Hemant and Smitha Sahela.

Artistry, Amway’s premium cosmetic brand, continues to rank globally as one of the top 10 of all premium cosmetics brands.

It’s sad to see Avon’s struggles, but I’m sure the nearly 24,000 Avon reps in Australia may represent an opportunity for Amway?

What do you think?

Amway tops the DSN Global 100 as world’s biggest direct selling company

For the first time, Amway has topped Direct Selling News’ “Global 100” list of the world’s top direct selling companies. With sales of US$11.3billion in 2012, Amway passed Avon, which dropped to second at $10.7 billion. Herbalife was a distant third at $4.1billion. The top 10 are –

  1. Alticor (Amway) $11.3B USA
  2. Avon Products, Inc. $10.7B USA
  3. Herbalife Ltd. $4.1B USA
  4. Vorwerk Co. KG $3.3B Germany
  5. Natura Cosmeticos SA $3.2B Brazil
  6. Mary Kay Inc. $3.1B USA
  7. Tupperware Brands Corp. $2.6B USA
  8. Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. $2.2B USA
  9. Oriflame Cosmetics SA $2.0B Luxembourg
  10. Belcorp Ltd. $1.9B Peru

(updated as incorrect) Amway sales exceed $12 billion, surpassing Avon to be the world’s #1 direct selling company

I’ve heard unofficial claims for some time, but now it’s confirmed – Amway has exceeded $12 billion in sales for the 2012 IBO fiscal year (September to August). For the same period, Avon reported sales of  $US10.8 billion.

In 2006 Amway’s sales dropped slightly for the first time in many years, settling back to $6.3 billion. In reponse Amway set the ambitious goal to reach $12 billion in sales in 2012, an almost doubling of sales in only 5 years. They have done it.

The Bangkok Post reports that for the first time in more than two decades, all of the top 10 Asia-Pacific markets have experienced growth. In October, Amway North America announced to IBOs they had achieved 33 consecutive months of growth in that market – it’s oldest. Figures for the official 2012 Amway financial year will not be released until February, but it is clear that Amway is now the world’s #1 direct selling company

Congratulations to Amway, Amway employees, and Amway IBO’s around the world!

Update: A reliable source is telling me that the sales figure reported in the Bangkok Post is not accurate. Another reliable source has however confirmed the claim about surpassing Avon.

Update 20120207: Official figures are out and my source was correct, sales were $11.3 billion, not quite reaching $12 billion, and they’ve still beat Avon for #1!

Amway smashes through $10 billion

I’ve received a lot of queries about this and I’ve confirmed from reliable sources that Amway exceeded $10.2 billion in global sales for the 2010/2011 IBO financial year. Note that this is not the official 2011 sales figures – which should be self-evident since the year isn’t finished yet!

In 1999/2000 Amway/Alticor switched to reporting sales for a calendar year, to match the Alticor financial year. These are the figures Amway/Alticor releases every February. The IBO financial year however runs from September to August (matching the original Amway Corp financial year), and sales for this period are still reported internally and to Amway field leadership. It is at those meetings that the $10.2 billion figure has been presented. The Alticor figures that will be published in February will include revenues from other Alticor interests, such as Amway Grand Plaze, Fulton Innovation, Gurwitch products, and others. A few years ago they were reported as being around $100 million and they are probably higher today. This means that when Alticor’s official sales are published in February they’ll likely be higher than $10.2 billion.

This is, obviously, a huge milestone for Amway, particularly given global financial circumstances. Another question that has arisen is whether this now makes Amway the #1 direct sales company, surpassing Avon? Given Avon did $10.9 billion in 2010 it’s unlikely. Furthermore, as a public company, Avon reports their sales quarterly so it’s relatively simple to calculate their revenue for the October 2010 to September 2011 period, shifted  just one month from the Amway sales. The result? For September 2010 to August 2011, Amway did $10.2 billion. For October 2010 to September 2011, Avon did $11.5 billion.

So no, Amway is not yet #1, but it is catching 🙂

Amway sales grow 9.5% to $9.2 billion

I posted yesterday on Amway North America’s stunning retention rate. Today it’s been followed up by the announcement of Amway’s global sales for 2010 – $9.2billion! Amway said

“… growth was fueled by strong 2010 results in China, the company’s largest market, as well as healthy gains in India, Korea, North America and Latin America.

Nutrilite, which has been the world’s largest nutritional brand for some years, chalked up nearly $4 billion of the sales, confirming Amway as a true “wellness company”. While specific figures aren’t provided, it’s good to see the North American marketing growing again. As I noted yesterday it’s already been reported that growth in that market was around 5%. Not surprisingly, alas, even after that information was released I’ve seen two separate Amway critics claiming Amway sales in North American was continuing to slide! (speaking of critics, I’ve come across some new information which further confirms the dishonesty of one well known Amway critic on the internet – more on that soon!)

But back to focusing on the good news, let’s put this figure in perspective. Sales increased by $800 million. That increase in sales is more than the total 2009 sales of all but the top 16 direct selling companies in the world. It’s more for example than the total reported 2009 sales of MonaVie ($785 million) and in the middle of a recession! It also puts Amway closer to direct selling leader Avon, who registered 6% growth and $10.9 billion in sales for the year.