Amway India’s online sales up from over 33% in Feb 2020 to 70% at present: Ajay Khanna

Based in Ada, Michigan, USA, Amway has maintained its global presence since its founding on the same property in 1959. The company’s reach spans six continents, with a presence in over 100 countries and territories. Despite the changes that have occurred over the past 60 years, Amway continues to be guided by its four Founders Fundamentals and six company values. In 2021, it remains one of the largest family-owned companies, a rare attribute in today’s business landscape.

In conversation with Adgully, Ajay Khanna, CMO, Amway India, talks about Amway’s flagship brand Nutrilite’s value proposition. He explains that it combines its plant-based approach, trusted quality, comprehensive product range, scientific expertise, and customer education and support to provide effective and reliable need-based recommendations to meet the health and wellness goals of discerning consumers.

How does Amway differentiate itself from other companies in the nutritional supplements market in India, and what unique value does it offer to customers?

Amway takes great pride in its enduring reputation as a trusted provider of a wide range of world-class health and wellness products in India. Fueling this commitment is Nutrilite, the world’s No. 1 selling vitamins and dietary supplements brand. With a rich heritage spanning over 90 years, Nutrilite has pioneered and perfected the plant-based approach to supplementation that brings together the Best of Nature and the Best of Science. Some of its key differentiating factors include:

As a front-runner in this field, what sets us apart is our approach to providing holistic need-based solutions, which encompass not just the supplementation, but also the dietary, exercise, and lifestyle guidance to empower individuals to reach their health and wellness aspirations, and help them live a better, healthier life.

Our ‘Quality by Design’ approach of formulation development and supply chain, with traceability of active ingredients to their origin, are the practices that are pioneered and still exclusive to Nutrilite brand standards. Also, there are no artificial colours, flavours, or preservatives used in Nutrilite products. Botanical ingredients should have traceability to their origin and most cases certified by Nutrilite’s internal auditors across the globe. In India, Amway has 14 Nutricert (Nutrilite Certified) farming partners spread across six states to actively source ingredients to support Indian and global requirements.

• Nutricert is the process of ensuring that farming practices are performed as per standards defined and followed by Nutrilite at its own farms as well as farmers are fairly paid and there is no child labour involved in farming practices.
• With a global track record of conducting over 500,000 tests annually, we leave no stone unturned in ensuring that every product meets the highest standards of excellence. In India, Amway products are tested for 46,000+ parameters from its raw material to the finished good stage.

As for the purity of ingredients in the product is concerned, we can confidently say no one in the world cares or invests as much as Amway does to ensure the purest ingredients are taken and manufactured in the safest way so that people can have confidence in their vitamins and supplements.

• Amway’s exclusive traceability process helps ensure pure, safe, and effective product ingredients. In line with their seed-to-supplementation philosophy, we develop many products with natural ingredients grown and harvested on 6,000 acres of organic farmland worldwide – using sustainable, chemical-free methods.

More than 800 scientists, engineers, and technicians work to conduct world-class research and product development, with over 750 global patents and patents pending.

Comprehensive range of products and solutions: As one of the leaders in the health and wellness space, we have always strived to cater to the evolving needs of our consumers through Nutrilite offering a wide range of products and need-based solutions developed for people across all age groups and varied needs. Witnessing the rise in awareness around healthy living, where health-conscious consumers are more inclined towards shaping diets and lifestyles the world over, we are focussed on promoting Healthy Weight and Healthy Living with an aim to provide individuals with a pathway to a healthy life with strong root cause management of Gut, Liver and Insulin resistance.

• Our differentiated approach to Gut Reset and helping people develop healthy habits backed with strong behavior science is unique to the Healthy Weight & Healthy Living approach. This is further supported by highly impactful Healthy Living Solutions like Bone-Joint management, Muscle Health, Heart Health, etc. These will continue to remain a big focus for the company and significant expansion is likely to happen to further strengthen our Healthy Weight & Healthy Living approach focused on Ayurveda-first approach.

Keeping in mind the wants of Indian consumers, Amway India has indigenously developed products under the subcategory – Nutrilite Traditional Herbs Range, exclusively made from Indian traditional herbs. The ingredients used in the traditional herbs range are DNA fingerprinted to ensure the right species and quality of herbs. Additionally, to enable transparency, our products have labels that can be scanned to provide ingredient traceability, confirming their efficacy, potency, and safety.

Amway is a highly environmentally sensitive organisation, and we ensure that at every stage of product manufacturing and operation sustainable practices are used, like, renewable energy and zero discharge from the manufacturing plant.

Another differentiating factor is our business model with a strong network of 5.5 lakh Amway Direct Selling Partners, educating and delivering individualised customer support, enabling people to make well-informed decisions regarding their health and well-being.

What roles are digital marketing and e-commerce playing in the growth of the nutritional supplements market in India, and how is Amway leveraging these channels to reach and engage customers?

It is truly remarkable to witness the significant role of digital marketing and e-commerce that has transformed the market landscape by allowing brands to expand their reach, engage with consumers, amplify brand awareness, and provide a seamless and convenient shopping experience. In line with the ever-evolving digitalisation trend, Amway has progressed significantly towards a ‘Digital first’ approach to effectively reach and engage with our valued customers. As an integral part of our digital marketing strategy, there is a lot of focus on the top of the marketing funnel with the objective of establishing a strong brand presence and raising awareness, targeting our potential consumers.

To accomplish this, we have strategically leveraged prominent digital platforms like Inshorts, TOI, PhonePe, InMobi, Meta, and more for our campaigns with platform-specific creatives to spotlight our products and their USPs to build awareness, sustain and enhance visibility for new products amongst health-conscious consumers, especially the youth. Further, to effectively reach potential customers and drive conversions, we have been extensively using Google properties like Search, Display, Discovery, and many others, alongside targeting affinity segments and in-market audiences. The impact of our strategy is clearly reflected in our recent digital campaign featuring Amitabh Bachchan, which has garnered 45% of new and reactivated buyers, increasing net-brand value by 26% and the total buyer base went up by 9%. We also have been leveraging moment marketing and user-generated content to further help the brand engage with existing customers and reach new consumers.

Additionally, our Amway Direct Selling Partners have been leveraging their online communities built around common passions such as health, beauty, fitness, cooking, and more to engage with their customers and reach potential consumers.

Our digital marketing initiatives are well integrated with our company-owned website (www.amway.in), where we offer a direct channel for our Amway Direct Selling Partners and their customers to browse and purchase. There has been a significant shift in our online sales, with a remarkable increase from over 33% in February 2020 to 70% at present. By actively engaging in these initiatives, we strive to provide seamless online experiences, offering informative content, effortless product accessibility, and personalized recommendations. Through these channels, we aim to enhance customer convenience and foster deeper engagement, forging an unbreakable connection with our target audience.

How is Amway addressing concerns about the accessibility of nutritional supplements and what initiatives are in place to make these products more widely available?

We have a unique business model that allows us to establish and nurture a strong relationship with our customers. In line with this, we have an extensive network of 5.5 lakh Amway Direct Selling Partners in India, who build businesses based on their passion, serving customers in urban markets as well as Tier 1, 2 and 3 cities across India. Keeping up with our commitment to making the products more accessible, we have devised an omnichannel strategy, and as a part of this, Amway products are easily accessible to a diverse customer base through pick-up centers across key business markets and the company website.

Furthermore, overcoming the language barriers, we have taken the initiative to introduce our website in multiple languages, including Hindi, Bengali, and Tamil. By offering access to nutrition information and relevant products in their native languages, we aim to ensure that customers can easily understand and engage with our content, regardless of their language preference. Our platform is integrated with logistics systems to streamline order processing, inventory management, and fulfillment to ensure last-mile delivery backed by a robust network supported by 25 warehouses that cater to over 17,000 pin codes.

Through these concerted and comprehensive efforts, our utmost dedication lies in making high-quality nutritional supplements accessible to a larger population across India. By expanding our reach, improving convenience, and addressing accessibility concerns, we are committed to empowering more individuals to lead healthier lives.

What are some of the key trends and emerging opportunities that you see in the Indian nutritional supplements market, and how is Amway positioning itself to capitalise on these trends?

Over the last few years, clear tailwinds have emerged in the industry, which mirrors some of the key growth drivers for us at Amway, which include:

• Need-based recommendation:Wellness continues to be the crux of most purchase decisions of consumers across segments. As they look to protect their health for the longer term, consumers today are going beyond just products and looking for holistic need-based recommendations, which can address their overall health & wellness goals. Healthy weight and healthy living will be a major focus with key pillars such as developing healthy habits, a balanced diet with proper nutrition, exercise, sleep & stress management. Using our Nutrition expertise, we will continue to drive innovation and research to provide high-quality need-based recommendations to its customers. Additionally, as a health and wellness company, we are capitalising on the trend by offering holistic need-based solutions which encompass not just supplementation, but also dietary, exercise, and lifestyle guidance to empower individuals to reach their health and wellness aspirations, to help them live a better, healthier life.
• Plant-Based Nutrition:Per Kerry’s Study, 63% of Indians are willing to buy plant-based products, indicating the need for plant-based nutrition products. Amway India’s Nutrilite range of products in the Vitamins and Dietary Supplements, and herbal category, backed by its strong ingredient story with the seed-to-supplement approach, echoes the sentiments of health-conscious consumers.
• Products with Herbal and Ayurveda ingredients:There is a sharp inclination for products with herbal and ayurvedic ingredients. As per a report, organic and natural branding would encourage more than 50% of consumers to opt for VMS that has herbal & ayurvedic ingredients considering their familiarity and natural health benefits, which further widens the scope for the brands in the nutrition segment.
• Personalisation:The heightened awareness of health has led to the growing acceptance of nutrition products, resulting in the need for personalized nutrition solutions tailored to individuals’ specific health goals.
• Healthy Beauty:There is a growing preference for products enhanced with nutrients in the beauty segment. As per a study, more than 80% of Indian consumers prefer beauty products with a combination of chemical-free, vegan, and plant-based claims, opening a potential market for quality healthy beauty products. Towards this, Amway India recently introduced the Artistry Skin Nutrition line, which delivers skin nutrition fusing the power of science and nature.
• Passion economy in the spotlight:India is the largest market for social commerce and driving passion into prosperity has emerged as the new face of entrepreneurship. Towards this, Amway will advance by concerted efforts to enable and empower its Amway Direct Selling Partners to live their passions by providing young, focused individuals with the opportunity, platform, and scope to build communities across health & wellness, Nutrition, beauty, and more.
• Brand’s digital focus:The accelerated and deeper digital adoption across consumer segments has encouraged brands to provide products & services through innovative digital solutions. Towards this, Amway will continue to adapt strategies to strengthen its digital ecosystem by driving conversations and promotions digitally, making products available online, strengthening digital capabilities, and ensuring seamless last-mile delivery of products.
• The rise of the Gig Economy continues,especially with the evolving digital age and the growing number of millennials. As per a study by Niti Aayog., the Indian gig workforce is expected to grow to 23.5 million by 2029-30. And with the capability of generating entrepreneurial opportunities, the DS companies, like Amway, can play a vital role in supporting the Government of India’s efforts to make our country self-reliant.

These strategic initiatives enable us to effectively engage with our target audience, adapt to their changing needs, and provide them with a seamless and convenient online shopping experience. By leveraging the power of digital marketing and e-commerce, we are able to connect with customers on multiple channels, drive brand awareness, and offer a user-friendly platform for purchasing our products. Our commitment to embracing digital innovation ensures that we can effectively navigate the digital landscape and meet the demands of our tech-savvy customers.