Buoyed by an impressive performance in 2008, India?s leading direct selling (DS) FMCG company Amway India Enterprises Limited is targeting Rs 2,500 crore business by 2012 through wide distribution network, new products and marketing blitzkrieg, said William S Pinckney, managing director and CEO, Amway India.
Addressing a press conference here on Monday, he said the company has crossed Rs 1,000 crore turnover in 2008 to end up at Rs 1,128 crore with a massive growth of 40% as compared to the industry growth of 205 to 25%. ?Despite a slowdown in the last quarter of 2008, the company has achieved a remarkable growth,? he said.
He said that the market responded favourably to a few bold measures the company put into place in 2008. The company has received a strong response to a slew of products launched in 2008 which have great value as compared to the products of competitors in India. The company has streangthened its flagship categories such as nutrition & wellness and cosmetics and also forayed into energy drink market. We have also launched catelogue products to woo more customers under our brand, he added.
Responding to queries, he said the company trimmed the entry cost into the Amway business significantly, expanded infrastructure with a major focus on tier-II and tier-III cities. ?As usual the company will launch six to eight new products in 2009 too, basically on nutritition and cosmetics, which are considered to be potential areas,? he pointed out.
To a question, he said: ?We are optimistic on the Indian market. We are equally optimistic on achieving the Rs 2,500-cr target figure by 2012 with an annual growth of 25%. We will introduce number of products from our global platform which suitable for Indian customers.?
He said that the company has nearly 15 lakh distributors, of which nearly 62% are women. The company has added 100,000 distributors alone in 2008 and hope to rope in similar number of people in 2009. ?Those who want to earn additional income and those who have lost jobs in the recent months can join and grow through Amway in a big way,? he said.
Later responding to queries, he said the Indian Direct Selling Association, representing 16 direct selling companies as registered members, moved the Central and state governments to bring in separate legislation to protect the industry from spurious goods sellers and unauthorised companies, numbering into over 250. These companies on the pretext of branded companies like ours sells spurious goods causing a lot of distress to the organised players. Both the Central and State governments should try to find a champion through proper legislation or otherwise will hit the industry hard, he added.