Amway co-CEOs Steve Van Andel, left, and Doug DeVos
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DA, MI — Amway’s global sales grew by $500 million in 2013 to $11.8 billion, the company reported Tuesday, Feb. 4.
The Ada-based direct sales giant's revenues climbed 4.4 percent from $11.3 billion in 2012.
One of the state's largest private company, Amway's 21,000 global workforce includes more than 4,000 employees in West Michigan.
The annual sales figure includes revenue from other business holdings such as the JW Marriott and Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in downtown Grand Rapids.
Roughly 95 percent of the company's revenues are generated through direct sales. Of that segment, 94 percent comes from the sale of vitamin supplements, beauty care and household products through 3 million distributors around the world.
"This is our time to talk about the sales number but really it’s a compilation of the distributors meeting their particular goals,” said Amway chairman Steve Van Andel. “That’s really what drives our business.”
The markets with the most sales remain the same as last year: China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine and the U.S. They are listed by alphabetical order rather than ranking because the privately held company doesn’t release national data.
Vietnam could soon join the ranks.
“Vietnam is a market that is collectively growing pretty fast,” said Amway President Doug DeVos, noting the company celebrated its fifth anniversary in that market last year.
Amway also reported double-digit sales growth in Italy and Spain. But both DeVos and Van Andel say it's hard to extrapolate the uptick in sales as an indicator of Europe’s rebounding economy.
“We’ve watched ourselves over different economic cycles,” said Van Andel. “There are times when the economy is booming in different countries, and we may be a little bit flat. There are times when the economy is not doing so well and we are growing in different markets.”
China continues to be Amway’s biggest market, generating more than $4 billion, according to a Bloomberg report.
Sales of Amway’s eSpring water purifiers were “impressive,” last year, driven by growth in China and other Asian countries where pollution is a concern.
When the company launched the product in late 2012, it predicted first-year sales would top more than $500 million. The product has now become the world’s No. 1 selling brand of home water treatment systems, according to Amway, which cites a third party source.
Home products brought in 24 percent of revenues, which is up over 2012.
Beauty products including the Artistry line of cosmetics accounted for 25 percent of sales.
Nutrition products led by the Nutrilite brand generated 45 percent of overall revenues.
The healthy aging category is driving new growth in nutrition sales, with products such as Nutrilite Memory Builder dietary supplements.
Amway’s annual revenues have grown a total of 82 percent in the past seven years. That's the kind of long-term growth the Amway’s leaders focus on.
“We like that compound growth over time,” said DeVos. “Any step forward is pretty spectacular and it really has a big impact, especially when you relay it back to what that number means. It goes back to people. That’s what keeps us going.”
Shandra Martinez covers business for MLive/The Grand Rapids Press. Email her or follow her on Twitter @shandramartinez
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