Yesterday Avon pulled out of Ireland, lock stock and two smoking barrels. They shut down their Irish website leaving behind only a terse message.
If they had purposely arranged to cause more confusion and distress they couldn't have done it any better. Could it be that they did it this way because... they couldn't give a damn about their Irish market? Or the people they employed, who in many cases used their Avon business as their sole means of income?
Just how did those people find out? Well here's a little sample of the answers I received yesterday on Twitter and Facebook.
Donna: What?! I'm a rep and haven't heard anything!! [this was at 8pm and she saw it on Facebook]
Louise: Real shame. I was a rep. Never heard anything from them today. Contacted my Business Developer and she found out on the radio
VonFluffy: my friend only knows because I told her, she hasn't heard from anyone from Avon.. She's devo
Alairia: gutted for the reps.. to find out the way most did was not nice - no chance to prepare or get something else lined up
A former Avon rep contacted me directly, wishing to remain anonymous and said "Just wanted to give you a bit more info. I don't want to cause any hassle for my distributor by talking about it too publicly as she's taking it pretty hard.
Basically the area managers and distributors were told to dial in to a conference call at about 11am this morning. They weren't given any detail but assumed it was a normal conference call about new products etc. That's when they were told that, effective immediately, Avon would cease trading in Ireland.
The website was taken down pretty much instantly and they were told to start ringing around their reps. A lot of reps knew before their distributors even had the chance to call them, because press releases were out already.
That's was pretty much it. They were sent on their way with nothing more than that really."
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It's unclear how many people were actually involved with Avon direct selling. The Examiner put the figure at 400 yesterday, while the Financial Times estimated that there were as many as 5000 "Avon Ladies" in Ireland.
The rumour mill has been grinding about Avon for quite a while. Make no mistake - they're one of the biggest, richest and most lucrative cosmetic companies in the world. Their turnover is in billions (11 billion last year). Some of their products are good (some of them are not though) and the recent science behind their skincare was so solid it was used by other brands.
But they've had lots of problems lately. Their expansion into China has been plagued by bribery and corruption charges and their attempts to sell online have caused problems too. Attempts to compete with giants like L'Oreal were doomed. And yesterday Ireland bore the brunt of their cost saving measures.
Avon Outlines Further Steps of Cost Savings Initiative
New York, NY – April 8, 2013 – Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE: AVP) today released further details of the company’s previously announced $400 million Cost Saving Initiative by 2016.
The latest actions include a global headcount reduction of more than 400 associates across all regions and functions, and the restructuring or closure of certain smaller, underperforming markets, primarily in Europe, Middle East & Africa, including the exit of the Republic of Ireland market.
These actions, like those previously announced, are aimed at boosting efficiencies and concentrating resources on high priority markets and activities. The company expects these actions to be largely completed before the end of 2013.
One of the big problems for Avon seems to be their inability to break into the digital market effectively. In the US they're up against the giants of Sephora.com, Beauty.com and Drugstore.com and although they've tried to sell online it's not working well. They don't support their reps effectively online and so provide little incentive for them to push online sales. Their social media strategy hasn't worked either - their largest Twitter account only has around 40k followers while Sephora.com has 460,000 followers.
Now I know some of you loved them. Supershock Gel eyeliners are particularly loved and when I asked about the products you'll miss from Avon, four times out of five this was the product that was mentioned. Along with boob cream and that Argan Oil for hair that hasn't any Argan in it.
And if you're really desperate to stock up on Avon you can still get it through the UK for now - just use Parcel Motel to bring your stuff in through Belfast.
But I really hope you won't.
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