The cosmetics company known for its door-to-door campaign “Ding dong, Avon calling!” is set to create actual storefronts in the United Kingdom for the first time.
According to Avon, women wanted to “touch and experience” the things they were purchasing.
For many years, the worldwide cosmetics conglomerate relied on an army of door-to-door sales representatives who could demonstrate their wares firsthand.
However, the Covid epidemic has recently expedited the trend to internet sales.
In a 180-degree turn, the 137-year-old business is now adding actual locations to its arsenal of sales strategies.
In addition to the UK, it will open stores in Brazil and South Africa. In Turkey, it already has 63 outlets.
According to global chief executive Angela Cretu, the company is searching for methods to follow women “wherever they spend their time,” and the move represents a “exciting new chapter.”
Ms Cretu said the UK stores, which are set to open in the next two months, will be placed in “neighbourhood communities” rather than typical High Streets, and will be “mini beauty boutiques” presenting a selection from Avon’s range.
Avon has yet to confirm the number of new stores and their locations.
The John Lewis Christmas advertisement has divided opinion.
Avon was founded in the United States in 1884, but its headquarters were relocated to the United Kingdom in 2016.
Since 1967, the much-quoted Ding-dong, Avon calling! advertising has not been utilized. Nonetheless, the name is closely connected with door-to-door sales and an era of stay-at-home mothers, twinsets, and Tupperware parties.
Despite its forays into social media, retail expert Natalie Berg described the Avon brand as “a little dated.”
Ms Berg, on the other hand, believes that opening outlets could be helpful to the company.
“You can’t overestimate the power of human touch and community that you get in a physical store environment,” she said, adding that this was especially true for beauty goods, which are still mostly sold in stores.
Ms Berg stated that Avon will need to improve its in-store technology in order to compete with businesses that have substantially invested in virtual and augmented reality, as well as tailored services supported by digital technology.
However, she believes that local stores may have a “halo effect,” which means that they may assist shoppers in selecting things that they later purchase from sales representatives and online.
Following a tie-up in September that saw Avon items stocked at select branches of the pharmacy chain, the business is also extending its presence in Superdrug outlets.
According to Avon’s experience in Turkey, physical stores might enhance business for local door-to-door sales salespeople, who would be trained to handle the new locations as franchises.
“We want to give women the opportunity to open a business, especially in areas where it is not so easy for them to launch a start-up,” she said.
