In an exclusive interview with Fortune magazine, CEO of Avon talks about a marketing plan they hope will revive their sales.
Avon Products is betting heavily on an e-commerce and social-selling relaunch to get Avon back to profitability next year. The world’s largest direct seller of beauty products urgently needs to stanch an exodus of its famous Avon Ladies that has led both the size of salesforce and revenue in North America to fall by half in only a few years, and lose nearly $150 million.
Avon CEO Sheri McCoy (No. 27 on our Most Powerful Women list) sat down with Fortune for an exclusive interview, explaining why she thinks this initiative is so important and why she remains committed to the U.S. market.
Why the U.S. remains a priority even as some industry and Wall Street analysts say Avon should pack it in in its home market:
“To not compete in one of the largest markets in the world doesn’t make sense.”
“It’s the founding country of the brand- there are a lot of roots to the brand.”
“It’s easy to say, let’s walk away from it—I don’t think it’s the right thing to do.”
“Beauty and direct-selling in the U.S. are both growing: so it’s attractive from that standpoint.”
Why the