For several years, Amway has been the largest direct seller in the world from the revenue point of view. 2012 was the year when Avon and Amway changed places at the top. While one company alone is never enough to show a trend an industry is in, the leader’s performance has always been interesting to follow to get some significant clues. And starting from 2014, Amway’s growth performance was not so bright… until 2018.
As the below table shows, things did not go well at Amway between the 2013-2018 period. To be more precise, its global sales went down from $11.8 billion in 2013 to $8.6 billion in 2017, a 27%-decline in five years.
Finally, Amway managed to reverse this trend in 2018, by increasing its global sales to $8.8 billion. However, company reported $8.4 billion for 2019, the worst figure in 10 years. In 2019, Amway celebrated its 60th anniversary.
Looking at Amway’s Growth
Markets:
Amway’s top ten markets, as reported, include China, the U.S., Korea, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, India, Russia, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Product Categories:
The nutrition category of vitamins, dietary supplements and weight management products continued to be the top sales category for Amway, representing 54% of its sales, up 1% from 2018. Beauty and personal care generated 25%, down less than one 1% from last year. Home products account for 20%, and “others” 1%.
Amway’s top-selling nutrition products are Nutrilite All Plant Protein Powder, Nutrilite Double X / Triple X Dietary Supplement, and Nutrilite Vitamin C Plus.
Amway prides itself with having 400 unique products and also with its Nutrilite brand being world’s top-selling vitamins and dietary supplements brand. Over 11 billion Nutrilite vitamin and mineral tablets and soft gels are sold annually, Amway says.
Looking at Amway in Some Numbers
* Operates in more than 100 countries and territories
* Employs over 15,000 employees globally
* Has 500 scientists, engineers and technicians in its 11 R&D departments
* Owns 6 manufacturing plants (3 in the US, 1 in each of China, India and Vietnam)
* Owns and operates nearly 6,000 acres (2,428 hectares) of certified organic farmland
* Holds in excess of 780 patents and has 220 pending patent applications
Appointment of a CEO 
Along with being Amway’s 60th anniversary, 2019 will also be remembered with the appointment of a “CEO”. Till then, Amway had been managed at the top, by the members of DeVos and Van Andel families. In the beginning of 2019, Amway announced Milind Pant as its Chief Executive Officer. Most recently, Pant was President of Pizza Hut International. In this role, he led 109 countries with more than 9,000 Pizza Hut stores. Prior to joining Pizza Hut, Milind Pant spent 14 years with Unilever in a variety of executive roles.
2020 and Beyond
Will Amway be able to maintain its leadership position in the global direct sales industry in 2020? Looking at close competitors’ recent performances, I would say, “Most probably.” The gap is too wide to be closed.
On the other hand, will it be able to come up with a record figure in 2020 to exceed the $11.8 billion of 2013? That’s very unlikely, especially given the situation we are all going through globally.
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