Avon: the new face of personal shopping

In a world full of celebrity endorsements, recommendations from ‘real’ people have been shown to be the most influential. According to Marketing website The Drum, globally 84 percent of people trust peer-to-peer recommendations over any other form of advertising. This is one of the key findings of the Avon whitepaper: Beauty, the future and the power of emotions .

It means that Avon is perfectly placed to talk directly to consumers, thanks to the global network of millions of independent beauty entrepreneurs worldwide. These Representatives are renowned for building networks of customers, creating the personal touch that customers crave.

Of course, Avon’s more recent digital model allows customers to buy online through their local Representative too. However, Avon believes that offline conversations are as vital to building loyalty and relationships with customers. Conversations that happen IRL (In Real Life) and IRT (In Real Time) will continue to be just as important as online business. The reason? Trust. Consumers trust the people they consider to be the most like themselves, and Avon’s army of beauty advisors and entrepreneurs fit the bill.

Shopping from home is set to increase even further, and for Avon, this goes directly to the heart
of this emotionally-led future of beauty. Because the future of beauty is about a shared sense of belonging. “Technology is transforming everyone’s lives, presenting huge opportunities for Avon and our beauty entrepreneurs. Today’s world of beauty is driven by social – both physical and digital – the way women share trends and ideas with their friends, and purchase products. Avon
is the leading beauty company for offline word of mouth, and is developing the digital tools to make beauty advice and products accessible, current and relevant, for both our Representatives and their customers,” says Lisa Gallo from Avon’s Innovation Centre.

Avon is focussed on empowering its beauty entrepreneurs, by helping them to establish, grow and extend their careers, on their own terms, supporting them with the innovative, accessible beauty products customers love.

Whether that’s face to face, or online, or a bit of both, customers are free to shop in a way that suits them.

This feature is based on a wider report issued by Avon, looking at the future of beauty . You can find more information and access the full report here .