A Season of Channel Evolution!

The direct selling channel has been working overtime the past few years to meet changing customer and market expectations without losing sight of what makes it unique. The Amazon Effect not only has posed challenges from a retail market and customer experience perspective, but what caught so many off guard was that some distributors would use Amazon’s platform—as well as others—to sell your products at a discount.

This has made it necessary for companies to work even harder in protecting both their brand and opportunity from those trying to game the system. Writer Courtney Roush talks with a few direct selling executives to see how they are battling fraud at all levels, and for many it starts with changing their product promotion strategies.

Pick up the printed issue in which this article is found.

Next, Noah Westerlund, Senior VP of Business Development for SUCCESS Partners, and writer Heather Martin talk about how this fast-changing, diversifying economy is also challenging companies to keep evolving. Westerlund says the way our channel responds to three specific market forces—competition from gigs, smart technology and hyper-segmentation—will make the difference between our survival and extinction.

In this issue, we are also pleased to feature HempWorx of MyDailyChoice. Co-Founders Josh and Jenna Zwagil founded HempWorx after Jenna started experiencing some health challenges. When she sampled CBD oil taken from their Kentucky farms, she found the answer she had been looking for. Her results were encouraging, and they soon added CBD products to the MyDailyChoice lineup, and in May 2017, the HempWorx brand officially launched. It has been a banner year for HempWorx, accumulating $100 million in sales for 2018. See their feature starting on page 54.

In closing, I wanted to mention how exciting it was to see so many of you at our 10th Annual Global 100 Celebration event on April 24, where we recognized and honored the top revenue-generating companies in the world, as well this year’s Bravo Award winners. We will have a complete roundup in our June issue, so stay tuned and thank you again for your support for another outstanding event!