Avon Lady Calling, This Time in China

BEIJING — Avon is calling, Chinese-style.

Instead of knocking on doors in the American tradition to sell beauty supplies, Avon salespeople in China will use the time-hallowed Chinese custom of working through personal contacts.

The first selling job Avon faced in China was with Chinese officials, said John Novosad, vice president for the Asia-Pacific region of Avon Products Inc.

“The first thing we heard was, ‘What’s direct selling?’ ” Novosad in a telephone interview from his Hong Kong office. “They had great difficulty understanding why we thought this was a good idea.”

Avon in a joint venture with the Guangzhou Cosmetics Factory began selling beauty products in November in the southern city of Guangzhou, also known as Canton. The company has 25 supervisors, all Chinese, who have recruited about 800 people to sell beauty supplies on a commission basis, Novosad said.

“We expected to have to spend a lot of time teaching these people about profit incentive and the selling methods,” Novosad said. “You’re talking about a country that we all believe doesn’t know about these things. Well, it wasn’t that way. The first question we heard was, ‘How much commission do I get?’ ”

Avon, which already sells its products in more than 100 countries, is selling skin-care supplies, perfumes, cosmetics and personal hygiene items in China. They will be made in China with imported ingredients.

The company’s traditional image in the United States is of an “Avon lady” ringing doorbells and spending leisurely afternoons with her customers.

“Here, we’re telling the representatives to build networks, talk to their sisters, talk to those they work with and so on. There are no limits, so it can be done door-to-door if they feel comfortable, or it can be done by taking brochures to work. It depends on the ingenuity.”

Novosad said Avon will test the method in Guangzhou before trying other parts of China, which has a population of about 1.1 billion people.

Avon supervisors receive a base salary, but also get a 2% to 6% commission on the sales of the representatives they recruit, Novosad said. The salespeople will receive a 25% commission on their sales, he said.

“We think it will work here and let us develop a base for all of China. China, once it gets economically going, will be a fabulous market of tremendous proportions,” Novosad said. “We don’t expect to make millions at first.”

Prices for Avon products sold in Guangzhou average about $3. That’s one-tenth the average monthly income of a Chinese worker, but Guangzhou workers are generally better off than those elsewhere in the country. Customers are most likely to be single young women, who tend to have relatively high disposable incomes.