Direct selling: A boon for the self-entrepreneurs

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Asha Gupta In a world where one-to-one contact is the in-word now and personalised communication takes the natter interaction to an altogether new level, commerce is seeing a new revolution on its shores now. With the advent of the direct selling model and stress on personalised interaction, companies have now found a big cavity of pushing their products directly to their customers, both devoted and potential. It is called 'Direct Selling'. A survey by the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (WFDSA), reported in 2007 that its 59 regional member associations accounted for more than US$114 billion in retail sales, which has been on constant ascendancy since then. With benefits of direct selling ranging from convenience of service it provides, personal demonstration and explanation of products, home delivery and generous satisfaction guarantee, the revenue model, say industry insiders is here to stay. With a haloed history, direct sales have been one of the mainstays of the commerce industry of the United States over the years. Starting out with Yankee peddlers selling their goods to the colonies, when the United States was in its infancy, the trend picked up with new business forms introducing direct sales into their sales plans to promote their goods. Taking over the retail market on the basis of their product advantages, convenience to the customer and because they had specialised knowledge of their distributors, the direct marketing sales force started being viewed as the 'star salesmen' of their brethren. With United States leading the charge of direct selling ventures across the world with revenue generation of approximately $29.6 billion by a sales-force of more than 15 million independent contractors, it is third-world countries like India, Brazil, Mexico, Thailand, Taiwan and Columbia who are oiling their economic mechanisms with direct selling methods and reaping substantial rewards out of it. Industry trends being bullish about the overgrowing dependency by firms on this method, experts feel that the method may well go on to become the mainstay of the selling processes of the future. An added advantage that the direct selling mechanism offers to its believers across the world is that while through the direct sales the economic contributions of jobs, personal income, investment and taxes can be maximised, it also chips in with social contributions like increased self-esteem, self-confidence, organisation and management skills which go a long way to add to the individual's family lives and well-being. A major benefactor of this socio-economic revolution has been the womenfolk across the countries who have taken upon themselves the dependability of the direct selling process and have given it a full go which as numbers will suggest account for generating more than a significant pie on the sales graph. The situation is more vivid across the third world countries where women neglected of their social, economic and political rights have changed the dominant subordinate male ideology of 'women to be confined to households', and have come out to become a noticeable force in the changing socio-economic affairs of the state. A glowing example of the fact being the conservative Indian social setup where through 'house parties' and 'door-to-door canvassing' women have realised their economic potential and social value. Over the border in Bangladesh where the position of the urban and rural women still remains archaic and deplorable even when the government is making efforts to bring them at par with their brawny counterparts, experts believe that the direct selling model can go a long way in getting economic and social equality for the fairer sex as it has done over the world for millions. While on one hand, the direct selling methodology can help the women-folk in Bangladesh get economic freedom for themselves, it can also give in an extra earning avenue for families who traditionally are dependant on agriculture for their sustenance and are constantly exposed to the vagaries of nature in this nature affected country. The advantages of direct selling for the Bangladeshi women are many. Right from having a flexible schedule where the womenfolk of the country can pick and choose schedules revolving around their household works to include the sales time, to bringing in other women of the community to discuss avenues to increase sales and achieve targets, they can be the masters of their own businesses in no time. While the world reels under acute economic conditions and with not much money pumping into the country, the direct sales avenue also adds an added advantage of international players coming into the market to push their sales up in the developing economy of the country. An encouraging example for the women workforce of Bangladesh can come from their Argentine counterparts where the women account for more than 94 per cent of the sales force of the direct selling industry. Paving way for economic emancipation across the country, the direct selling module is here to stay and as shown by the success story in India and Argentina, can very well go a long way in boosting the gross domestic product (GDP) of Bangladesh while changing over the fortunes of the women who are traditionally the 'nurturer' of the Bangladeshi household. (The writer is the Managing Director of Tupperware Indian Subcontinent. She can be reached at e-mail: AshaGupta@tupperware.com)