Derfor styres udenom "retail" (salg gennem butikker)

Her følger et par korte uddrag fra en længere artikel omkring det der i Network Marketing branchen kaldes "The Shift to Liquids" - d.v.s skiftet fra eks. vitaminpiller og pulver til juice-baseret produkter.

Uddraget giver et par indikatorer på HVORFOR flere ekstremt succesfulde selskaber benytter Network Marketing - og helt bevidst styrer udenom salg gennem traditionelle butikker/udsalgssteder:

Rejecting Retail

Direct sellers know that their products'' consumers roughly reflect the demographics of their distributors-above the age of 35 and usually female. They''re often the family caregivers, and their families rely on them. To reach those consumers in a way that makes their nutrition beverages stand out from the crowded field of competitors, company executives feel that direct selling stands head-and-shoulders above any other sales and distribution method.

TNI''s Whitney explained a line of reasoning echoed by others. "In a traditional product introduction, you would put the product on a store shelf and use advertising to explain to the public why they should purchase it," he says. "Just a few large companies hold sway about what is on the shelves and where it is displayed. With a product like ours, in the early years no one had heard the name noni, much less why they should buy. Direct selling was a perfect way to tell such a rich story, and we''ve found it to be very effective. In the last few years, several of our competitors have attempted to go retail, but no one is more than 10 percent of our size. We have repeat sales at the 90 percent rate. Direct selling is absolutely perfect for this kind of product."

XanGo''s Digles agrees. "It comes down to more than 500,000 passionate advocates worldwide," he says. "Word-of-mouth on XanGo juice, its taste and brand cachet have been a key part of our business. Customers try it, like it and keep coming back. That lets our distributors build relationships, giving consumers a sense of personal service."

4Life''s Tenney notes that his distributors'' familiarity with the consumers they serve is a huge benefit. "The primary advantage with direct selling is that you know who you''re speaking to," he says. "You have an audience who you''ve identified as a person who is interested in nutritional products, as opposed to putting the product on a shelf with an untrained clerk and not knowing the end user. We know the users of our products, what they''re looking for and their aspirations."

Hele artiklen kan læses her: http://lasseburholt.blogspot.com/2007/06/shift-to-liquids.html

MVH