Avon is the company that invented the direct selling/network marketing industries. Founded in 1886 by David H. McConnell as the California Perfume Company, Avon has since grown to an international organization with more than 5 million representatives worldwide.

McConnell founded his company after a stint selling books door to door when he realized that the perfumes he gave away as sales incentives were more popular than his inventory. It was the company’s first sales employee, Mrs. P.F.E. Albee, who pioneered the direct sales model, traveling by train and horseback to promote the company’s opportunity to house and farm wives throughout the country. The company’s business model offered women a chance to earn their own money in an era where the vast majority of women couldn’t find work outside the home.

By 1903, more than 10,000 women were selling Avon products.

As noted, today Avon is an international company that earns more than $10 billion annually worldwide. This growth has been made possible by the wide name recognition enjoyed by the company, but that isn’t the only factor.

Avon has aggressively added new product lines to target additional market niches including upscale jewelry, a youth line called mark., and clothing. Avon has also partnered with existing brand names like Curves and liiv botanicals in arrangements that are beneficial for both brands.

Today’s Avon isn’t a cosmetics, fragrance, and skin care company so much as it is a mall where each store’s content is available by direct sales.

In addition to its wide expansion of product lines and available brands, Avon is internationally known as a corporate sponsor of women’s charities.

Avon Companies Vision, Mission, and Goals

As stated on the Avon website, “The Avon Vision is to be the mlm company that best understands and satisfies the product, service, and self-fulfillment needs of women – globally.”  The company is run on the Core Values of trust, respect, belief, humility, and integrity.

The company’s deep commitment to its values is demonstrated by its second Corporate Responsibility report, which appears prominently on the company website. The report outlines the company’s goals in the arenas of environmental sustainability, governance, philanthropy, workplace safety and health, and supply chain, and gives specific measurements of Avon’s progress toward those goals.
The company’s corporate goals are ambitious, including raising the amount of money awarded through the Avon Foundation to $1 billion.

Company Management

Avon is currently headed by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Andrea Jung, who originally joined the company in 1994 as President of the company’s US Product Marketing Group. Before joining Avon, Ms. Jung was an Executive Vice President at Neiman Marcus.

In 2008, Ms. Jung was appointed Chair of the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations. She currently also serves on the Board of Directors for GE and Apple.

In 2009, Ms. Jung was ranked by Fortune as #5 on its list of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Business.” She is a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University.

Ms. Jung is joined by Vice President Charles Cramb and a team of Senior Vice Presidents.

Avon Products and Services

Avon sells several lines of personal care products ranging from cosmetics to skin and hair care as well as fragrances and a line of products for men. But Avon’s product lines don’t stop there.

Customers can purchase hair extensions and small portable grills from Avon. They can buy bathroom scales, shoes, and intimate apparel. They can receive coupons for a free two-week membership at Curves by purchasing selected Curves brand items like fitness gloves or footwear.

The company has also partnered with celebrities, who have put their names on specific Avon products. It has reached out to college-age women with a specific line of products named mark. And it has entered the fine jewelry market with offerings at price points ranging fro $89.99 to $179.99.

Avon appeals to men by offering an Interactive Video Game Sports Accessories Set or a Sharper Image digital camera from Avon.

Avon has clearly positioned itself as the go-to “store” for a vast number of its customers’ potential needs.

MLM Business Model: Avon Compensation Plan

Avon’s Compensation Plan stresses product sales over recruitment. The plan is very generous with commissions, with the potential to earn up to 50% depending on the size of each order placed.

In addition, representatives can “jump start” their Avon businesses by becoming Leadership Representatives and recruiting others as company representatives. Leadership Representatives earn commissions on the earnings of up to a 3-member downline.
The company also pays commissions on Internet sales made through its representatives’ personal websites.

Public Record
Avon has won awards and recognition worldwide for its philanthropy and corporate responsibility. The Avon Foundation has awarded more than $580 million to combat breast cancer, raise awareness of domestic violence, and help women and families in crisis situations.

Avon has been a Better Business Bureau-accredited business since 1949 and enjoys an A+ rating, and is also a member of the Direct Selling Association.

Miscellaneous Notes
There are several substantial advantages to choosing Avon when looking at direct sales opportunities. The company offers something to literally everyone in terms of its product line, making it easy to target specific market niches with Avon products. And because Avon is one of the most respected companies in the world, new representatives have little skepticism to overcome when they start their businesses.

However, Avon’s greatest strength – its name recognition – can also be a weakness in terms of breaking into the market as a new representative. Most local communities already have several active “Avon ladies,” which means that in order to be successful with the company, a new representative has to work to find ways to make him or herself stand out from the crowd.

Unfortunately, the websites that Avon currently offers its representatives don’t help with that effort. The sites are virtually identical to each other with very little room for personalization other than adding one’s name and a small paragraph on one page.

What this means, however, is that Avon can also be a tremendous opportunity for anyone willing to do the extra work necessary to brand themselves and create their own Avon-themed website. This is where Avon’s huge number of product lines becomes a bonus.

Representatives can position themselves as fitness experts, for example, and create a personal website around that theme which then links to the parts of the representative’s Avon sites which offer Curves-brand products.

With creativity, drive, and a willingness to use the marketing tools and tactics the Internet makes available, it’s still possible to enjoy a thriving business as an Avon representative.