MLM: Personalized Sites to Provide In-person Service
Published: Sunday, October 01, 2000
market, more and more companies are looking for ways to cash in
on the explosion of Internet
consumers.
According to Michael May, senior analyst at Jupiter Communications, an Internet research and consulting firm based here, 5% of the nutritional supplements market and 4% of the beauty and personal care market are expected to shift online by 2003. Greg Badishkanian, VP of equity research at Salomon Smith Barney, says this market constitutes $4.5 billion in sales.
In a recent conference call hosted by Salomon Smith Barney, Badishkanian said direct-selling companies can tap into the Internet market by encouraging their representatives to own and operate their own online stores.
“These online stores will sell either niche items or very broad product offerings,” Badishkanian says, adding that the online consumer is “very demanding” and will require prompt deliveries.
He says that in order to be successful in this market, direct sellers can add same-day delivery service, which will allow sales reps to cross-sell products to the customer at the point of delivery and establish a relationship.
Joe Mariano, senior VP and legal counsel at the Washington-based Direct Selling Association (DSA), agrees that direct sellers must utilize the Web to personalize the Internet shopping process. He says that allowing representatives to have their own Web sites lets them take orders and maintain a personal feeling between the company and the consumer. It also allows salespeople to personalize their own home pages with their names, addresses, and phone and fax numbers, he adds.
“The key will be to deliver the same measure of personal service over the Internet that we’ve delivered apparently so well in person,” Mariano says. “They should and will bring the personal service of direct selling to the Internet.”
Although companies such as Amway and NuSkin have already set in motion Web strategies for their sales forces, May says there hasn’t been the aggressive adoption of Internet personalization that was previously expected.
“There is no greater source of personalization than actual
people,” he says. “When the agent is his or her own merchandising manager, she can do an awful lot to engender loyalty and craft offerings that are relevant to her own personal customer base.”
However, in reference to research conducted by the Direct Selling Association, Mariano says the primary reasons for direct-selling companies to develop and sustain Web sites are to promote company products, create new income opportunities, and recruit and communicate with sales reps.
“In a few years, we predict that more than 50% of the survey respondents will be selling products directly to these ultimate retail customers on their Web sites,” Mariano says.