// Avon to call customers into shops and live-streamed shopping events
// Avon reps are trained in a suite of digital tools
// CEO Angela Cretu said the brand wants to become fully “omnichannel”
Avon expects to call customers into shops and live-streamed shopping events as well as at their front doors in an attempt to improve its digital service.
The cosmetics company had to transform itself during the pandemic when a traditional “ding dong, Avon calling” from its five million sales representatives was no longer in demand.
Avon reps are trained in a suite of digital tools so they can send out brochures and collect orders via social media.
READ MORE: Avon sees surge in new rep sign ups amid Covid-19 pandemic
Products are delivered directly by Avon rather than its reps.
A total of 30 per cent of the company’s sales contacts are made online in the UK, up from less than 10 per cent before the pandemic.
Across the group, online sales are now nearly three times pre-pandemic levels.
Avon chief executive, Angela Cretu said the brand wants to become fully “omnichannel”, linking different methods of selling from stores to the doorstep, over the next three years.
She makes clear that reps will remain at the heart of the group’s plans, whether that’s running small boutiques, selling online or, potentially, creating outlets in department stores.
Most recently, Avon tried a Facebook Live event in the UK, giving training to reps and testing out selling products to them.
The trial run, led by Avon’s in-house team, is intended to lead to reps in the UK selling via such techniques with shoppers able to click on their screens to buy the products being demonstrated.
The move is an attempt to broaden Avon’s appeal to a younger audience attracted by the use of digital selling.
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