Avon Products, Inc. is a US cosmetics, perfume and toy seller with markets in over 140 countries across the world and sales of $9.9 billion worldwide as of 2007.
The Avon Sales Leadership Program, launched in 1992, is Avon’s voluntary network marketing opportunity offered to all Representatives who enjoy helping others and who want to establish career-level earnings. Leadership Representatives recruit, train and mentor teams to work for collective success, and they earn bonuses from the sales of their team with Avon. Leadership Representatives are rewarded by the success they nurture in their downlines, thus seeking to ensure the integrity of the program and the company’s nearly 125 year tradition. This program was also a part of Avon's distribution strategy as it helped to increase its sales.
Avon includes a mixture of all four retail value proposition categories (selection, experience, convenience, price), they primarily focus on providing convenience for the customer. They understand that the world is getting more and more hectic and that individuals are looking for easier ways to shop. With online shopping in particular, customers are able to shop anytime and anywhere. If they are not pleased with their purchase, they could get a full refund. Sometimes right away if dealing face to face with a representative.
In the last few years, Avon set up a few stores in the U.S and Canada to grab more of the market. Grab more baby boomers and those who live in and around the neighbourhood. If individuals lived close in the area or are just passing by, it would get them interested in what is inside even if they do not know what the actual store is about.
And since most of the Avon stores or boutiques are small or medium size and fairly open (as seen in the picture), it becomes a little more inviting and personal. Visitors have more chance to interact with the employees, browse more and not feel rushed (ideally). As for employees, they could observe their customers and find out what products and things in the store itself work and what does not.
In addition, deliveries for the rest of their clientele would be a little faster since not everyone would be ordering online or through representatives.
Optimization of the physical supply chain: moving some production to lower cost eastern European countries, use of a new central distribution center that can rapidly ship goods to smaller, country specific warehouses.
Major infusion of new technology and other IT contributions: normalization of all key supply chain “metadata” (customers, items, suppliers, etc.) across regions and development of a unified data warehouse; new demand planning, production scheduling, and other supply chain planning tools (Manugistics)
Aggressive use of postponement strategies, making generic bottles of an item in the plant, later adding customer specific labels and other touches as part of distribution processes.
Much greater collaboration with suppliers, especially around new product design.
Change in some suppliers/sources to increase flexibility and lower inventory, even if per unit costs were slightly higher
The Avon Sales Leadership Program, launched in 1992, is Avon’s voluntary network marketing opportunity offered to all Representatives who enjoy helping others and who want to establish career-level earnings. Leadership Representatives recruit, train and mentor teams to work for collective success, and they earn bonuses from the sales of their team with Avon. Leadership Representatives are rewarded by the success they nurture in their downlines, thus seeking to ensure the integrity of the program and the company’s nearly 125 year tradition. This program was also a part of Avon's distribution strategy as it helped to increase its sales.
Avon includes a mixture of all four retail value proposition categories (selection, experience, convenience, price), they primarily focus on providing convenience for the customer. They understand that the world is getting more and more hectic and that individuals are looking for easier ways to shop. With online shopping in particular, customers are able to shop anytime and anywhere. If they are not pleased with their purchase, they could get a full refund. Sometimes right away if dealing face to face with a representative.
In the last few years, Avon set up a few stores in the U.S and Canada to grab more of the market. Grab more baby boomers and those who live in and around the neighbourhood. If individuals lived close in the area or are just passing by, it would get them interested in what is inside even if they do not know what the actual store is about.
And since most of the Avon stores or boutiques are small or medium size and fairly open (as seen in the picture), it becomes a little more inviting and personal. Visitors have more chance to interact with the employees, browse more and not feel rushed (ideally). As for employees, they could observe their customers and find out what products and things in the store itself work and what does not.
In addition, deliveries for the rest of their clientele would be a little faster since not everyone would be ordering online or through representatives.
Optimization of the physical supply chain: moving some production to lower cost eastern European countries, use of a new central distribution center that can rapidly ship goods to smaller, country specific warehouses.
Major infusion of new technology and other IT contributions: normalization of all key supply chain “metadata” (customers, items, suppliers, etc.) across regions and development of a unified data warehouse; new demand planning, production scheduling, and other supply chain planning tools (Manugistics)
Aggressive use of postponement strategies, making generic bottles of an item in the plant, later adding customer specific labels and other touches as part of distribution processes.
Much greater collaboration with suppliers, especially around new product design.
Change in some suppliers/sources to increase flexibility and lower inventory, even if per unit costs were slightly higher