The direct sales sector grew by 9% in Spain, driven by the need of customers for more personalized attention and contact established through social networks.
There is no doubt that the evolution of e-commerce It has experienced a strong boom especially in the last two years as a result of the new needs that emerged after the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, as the pandemic situation improves and the confinement and opening measures of stores are relaxed, more and more users are opting to make their purchases through the direct sales model.
Although the advantages offered by electronic commerce are many, and more and more consumers are opting for online purchases, the interest of users for a more personalized attention when making their purchases is also growing.
Consequently, the business model of direct selling, in which products and services are sold directly to the consumer, becomes an upward trend. This has led to this model reaching a business volume of more than 700 million euros last year thanks to the 5.7 million orders that were placed throughout the year.
The cosmetics and personal care, nutrition and well-being, home equipment, fashion and accessories, jewelry, home care, telecommunications and culture sectors have emerged as the main sectors in which the commitment to direct sales is gaining more relevance .
According to the data of the Association of Direct Selling Companies (AVD), Spain is one of the main markets in which it is betting the most on this business model, occupying the sixth position in Europe in terms of turnover with a penetration of 31.5%.
Not surprisingly, last year, direct sales in the Spanish market reached a sales volume of more than 765 million euros, with more than 15,000 daily orders through a network of 258,739 independent professionals. These sales made it possible to exceed 5.7 million orders per year at an average order price of 82 euros.
In the opinion of Gema Aznar, president of the AVD and General Director of Mary Kay, these data show the enormous potential that direct sales has in our country, reaching the level of other European countries, and “A great role to help boost new entrepreneurs who see a tailor-made project in direct sales and offer customers a product adapted to their needs and innovative”.
Direct selling accelerates your digitization
At this good moment that direct sales are going through, its evolution and the impact that new technologies have had on it is unquestionable. This has led companies to accelerate their digitization to offer this personality of the deal. Likewise, up to 25% of sellers have adapted to the language and online spaces by betting on social networks for the development of their business, while 29% do so with other platforms.
As a result, more than 80% of direct selling customers reach distributors through social media.
Now, in times of pandemic, sales through this model have grown between 5% and 9% depending on the product category. And the outlook suggests that we will continue to see an increase in direct sales in the coming years.
Consequently, in addition to this commitment to digitization, companies will intensify their investment in R + D + i, which contributes to the development of cutting-edge products and the increase in the volume of launches. In 2020 alone, an average of 302 new products were developed, of which 29% were launches, 45% extensions and 26% innovations.
With this, from the AVD they point out that direct sales can contribute to embarking on a professional career, therefore, those under 30 years of age account for 20% of the sector; while 83% of the distributors are women under 40 years of age.
