In the third quarter of 2024, the global direct selling industry saw mixed results. While certain companies reported positive gains, showcasing resilience and strategic growth, others faced setbacks, reflecting challenges in market conditions and consumer behavior. This article dives into the latest financial data from seven prominent players, offering insights into what’s driving these diverse outcomes.
Read on to explore the key factors shaping these contrasting performances.
Herbalife reported third quarter 2024 sales of $1.2 billion, down 3% year-over-year. Herbalife’s nine-month sales are 2% behind last year’s.
For the third quarter of 2024, the number of new distributors joining Herbalife increased 14% compared to 2023. This represented the second consecutive quarter of year-over-year improvement, after 12 quarters of recruiting decline.
At the regional level, sales in China declined by 16%, in North America by 6%, in Latin America by 2%, and in Asia-Pacific by 1%. The only region that did not report a revenue decrease was EMEA where sales were almost flat in the third quarter.
Commenting on the results, “Third quarter net sales were in line with our expectations, adjusted EBITDA1 exceeded guidance and distributor recruiting is up worldwide year-over-year. Our new business initiatives are taking root as we continue on our path to sustainable top-line growth,” said Chairman and CEO Michael Johnson said,
Also, during the investors’ call, Michael Johnson described their position in the business model some companies have chosen, saying, “While other companies today are looking for ways to eliminate people from their business, at Herbalife, we want to bring more people in. We are inclusive. We believe in the power of all people and we’re providing them with the opportunity to get healthy, make money and join a community. Once they join us, we’re doing more than ever to help them succeed.”
The company anticipates -3.0% to +1.0% sales growth in the last quarter and -2.0% to +1.0% in 2024.
For more on Herbalife’s 2024 third quarter performance, please click here.
Medifast announced the third quarter revenues as $140 million, a 41% decline from the same quarter of 2023 ($236 million).
Management said this was primarily driven by a decrease in the number of active OPTAVIA coaches, coupled with lower coach productivity. The total number of active coaches decreased 36% to 30,000 compared to 47,100, and the average revenue per active coach was $4,672, compared to $5,008.
Following the third quarter, CEO Dan Chard was optimistic for the future, saying, “Medical innovation has transformed the weight loss industry, so at Medifast we’re creating a health and wellness business of the future by meeting the unique needs of customers regardless of their approach to their health goals. With tailored plans, personal solutions and a focused approach to driving customer acquisition, we believe that our strategy can drive sustainable growth in the quarters and years ahead.”
Research commissioned by Medifast suggests the GLP-1 (a class of drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity) support market could grow to $50 billion or more by 2030, and Medifast has made this audience a core focus for their business.
The company expects fourth quarter 2024 revenue to be in the range of $100 million to $120 million.
For more on Medifast’s 2024 third quarter performance, please click here.
Nature’s Sunshine’s 2024 third quarter sales were up 3% to $114.6 million compared to $111.2 million in 2023, beating Wall Street’s revenue expectations.
“The third quarter delivered the highest sales volume this year. The strong performance was driven by robust customer growth in Japan and Taiwan, continued progress in Korea, and strong execution and customer activation in Central Europe,” said Terrence Moorehead, CEO of Nature’s Sunshine. “The positive momentum was somewhat offset by the macroeconomic headwinds in China.”
In fact, Nature’s Sunshine’s Asia region reported 6% sales increase, with Taiwan and Japan experiencing growth of 20% and 34% respectively, due to successful field activation initiatives. On the other hand, China’s sales declined due to macroeconomic weakness affecting consumer spending, posing a significant challenge to growth in the region. Also, sales in North America decreased by 3% in Q3, attributed to challenges following the digital platform upgrade and consumer spending constraints.
Nature’s Sunshine now expects full year 2024 sales to range between $443 – $448 million. Their 2023 sales were $445 million.
For more on Nature’s Sunshine’s 2024 third quarter performance, please click here.
Natura &Co announced its financial results for Q3 2024, reporting solid revenue growth: The company’s total revenue reached almost R$ 6 billion, a 17.4% increase.
It is important here note that because of Avon Products Inc.’s voluntary Chapter 11 announced in August, Natura &Co has deconsolidated the results from Avon Products Inc. and its international markets during this quarter.
This strong performance in the third quarter was fueled by both Natura’s (+19%) and Avon’s cosmetics, fragrance, and toiletry sales (+14%), the company said. This was partially offset Home & Style category’s performance.
“These third-quarter results demonstrate that the integration of Natura and Avon in Latin America, the Wave 2, is progressing well, and confirm that the reinvestments in marketing and technology since the beginning of the project are already improving sales performance,” said CEO Fabio Barbosa. “The integration of the brands in Mexico and Argentina in 2025 will also be crucial for advancing our margin recovery agenda. Wave 2 has already been implemented in much of the region, and we expect it to be completed by the end of next year. We will continue to use the learnings that we had in 2023 and 2024 to minimize disruptions in those countries.”
For more on Natura &Co’s 2024 third quarter performance, please click here.
The third quarter brought $430 million sales to Nu Skin, representing a 14% decrease from last year. This result was in line with the company’s guidance, the management said.
All of Nu Skin’s regions reported negative sales growth in Q3: Japan -12%, Southeast Asia/Pacific -13%, Americas -16%, Hong Kong/Taiwan -17%, Europe & Africa -23%, Mainland China -25%, and South Korea -29%.
“While we continue to face macroeconomic pressures and challenges within the direct selling industry, our immediate focus is to strengthen the Nu Skin core with a revised business model intended to improve channel activation and customer growth beginning with North America and South Korea this quarter,” CEO Ryan Napierski commented on the results.
Also during the investors’ call, he said, “In the U.S. where the direct selling industry faces ongoing pressures and many companies are evolving their business model to address the changing commercial landscape more towards social media driven product discovery and growing influencer and affiliate marketing, we are introducing a new sales performance plan this month and are exploring innovative ways to make it even easier for affiliates to share Nu Skin products via social media links.”
This new sales performance plan targets to combine affiliate marketing with the scaling power of company’s existing leadership-driven business model. By promoting growth in both direct consumer sales and team building, it is expected to have an enhanced focus on product selling and referrals. Nu Skin will start introducing this new plan in North America and South Korea this quarter to be followed by other markets next year.
Nu Skin expects $410 to $445 million sales in the last quarter (-16% to -9%), and $1.70 to $1.73 billion in 2024 (-14% to -12%).
For more on Nu Skin’s 2024 third quarter performance, please click here.
Oriflame reported EUR 131 million sales in the third quarter, down by 19% compared to Q3 of 2023 (EUR 162 million).
In Latin America sales decreased by 31%. The sales drop came from weaker recruitment, as management commented.
In Europe & CIS, Oriflame’s largest region, sales dropped by 17% due to again, fewer recruits. Most markets in this region had a negative sales trend versus prior year.
United Kingdom, “the incubator market” as Oriflame calls it, continued to show very positive sales and recruitment results.
In Asia, sales were down 19%. Here, India and Indonesia had improving sales trends while the situation in China and Vietnam was more challenging.
In Türkiye & Africa region, sales decrease was 23% due to significantly weaker local currencies in Türkiye and Nigeria.
Oriflame incorporated a subsidiary in South Africa during the third quarter and start of sales is expected in the second quarter of 2025.
For more on Oriflame’s 2024 third quarter performance, please click here.
USANA’s third quarter sales were $200 million versus $213 million during Q3 2023, decreasing 6%.
“Third quarter operating results reflected continued top line headwinds across many of our key markets,” said Jim Brown, President and CEO. “Our sales force continued to face challenges in attracting new customers as consumer sentiment remained cautious, including in our largest market, mainland China. Despite these challenges, we remain confident in our direction and continue to make progress.”
China reported 4% sales decline in the third quarter. Other regions’ growth performances were as follows: Southeast Asia Pacific -5%, Americas and Europe -7%, and North Asia -15%.
China is USANA’s largest market with 50% share in global revenues. Although it increased the active customers by 7% year-over-year in this important market, USANA’s sales declined by 4% due to a decrease in average spend, the management said.
For 2024, management announced their global sales target as $850 million. This was $921 million in 2023 (-8%).
USANA is planning to introduce additional products across its product categories throughout 2025 that are currently in development. Chief Commercial Officer Brent Neidig describes this as “a very robust product pipeline”.
For more on USANA’s 2024 third quarter performance, please click here.
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Hakki Ozmorali is the Founder of WDS Consultancy, a management consulting and online publishing firm in Canada, specialized in providing services to direct selling firms. WDS Consultancy is the publisher of The World of Direct Selling, global industry’s leading weekly online publication since 2010. Hakki Ozmorali is an experienced professional with a strong background in direct sales. His work experiences in direct selling include Country and Regional Manager roles at various multinationals. You can contact Hakki here.
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