雅芳溃败的五大原因

雅芳在美国流行文化中的影响力，是多数美国品牌无法企及的。这家直销式化妆品公司在上世纪五六十年代的时髦广告语“叮咚，我是雅芳”，早已演变为美国人的日常语言。在曾经的数十年中，几乎每个人都认识一位通过售卖雅芳唇膏和指甲油赚外快，甚至以此谋生的人。

所以，当市场传出雅芳将剥离其北美业务的消息时，真是令人唏嘘不已。雅芳的历史可以追溯到1886年的纽约，当时一位挨家挨户卖书的商人开始销售自制的香水，雅芳品牌由此诞生。雅芳将以1.7亿美元的价格，将80.1%的北美业务出售给企业复兴专家，私募股权公司博龙资产（Cerberus），雅芳将专注于拯救前景更好，但同样陷入困境的海外市场，改善公司疲软的财务状况。

雅芳CEO谢莉•麦考伊在2012年上台，她深信自己有能力力挽狂澜，并且固执地认为，开始摇摇欲坠的美国业务，是维持该公司形象的关键所在。即使到了现在，她依旧坚持这样的想法。谢莉•麦考伊接受《财富》杂志采访时说道：“我坚信这个问题可以解决。”

但在她任职的近4年时间里，雅芳北美业务的销售额持续下降，从2007年到2014年，下降了超过一半（见下图）。销售代表，也就是人们常说的“雅芳小姐”的人数，每个季度都在减少。

Few American brands have been as much a part of U.S. pop culture as Avon. The “Ding Dong, Avon Calling” tag line from the direct-selling beauty company’s 1950s and 1960s ads became part of the vernacular, and everyone for decades knew someone who was selling its lipstick and mascara for some extra money or even to make a living.

So it was particularly sad news on 17.Dec.2015 that Avon Products—a company that traces its roots to 1886 New York, when a door-to-door bookseller was selling home-made perfumes—was carving out its North American business. Avon is selling 80.1% of that unit to turnaround expert and private equity firm Cerberus for $170 million so it can focus on salvaging its more promising but struggling overseas markets and improve its weakening finances.

Avon CEO Sheri McCoy took the helm in 2012, convinced she could turn things around and adamant that the already faltering U.S. business was key to the company’s identity. She still thinks that. “I do believe it’s fixable,” McCoy told Fortune in an interview on Thursday.

But in her nearly four years on the job, Avon’s North American sales have continued to collapse, falling by more than half between 2007 and 2014 (see graphic below), and the number of sales representatives, commonly called “Avon Ladies,” have shrunk each quarter.

从完善佣金结构，到推出新的计算机系统，以改进订单管理和销售代表的佣金支付，最近还曾尝试进入拉美裔社区，麦考伊尝试了一切办法。但这些努力的结果却不尽如人意。

最终，各种因素导致雅芳美国业务轰然崩溃。

麦考伊说道：“虽然我们取得了一定的进步，但速度缓慢，改变的速度没有达到我们的预期。”现在看来，留给雅芳的时间已经不多了。

下面五个原因，或许可以解释雅芳北美业务为何陷入如此境地。

各种价格实惠的高品质化妆品纷纷崛起：如今化妆品直销变得越来越难，虽然雅芳一直在努力适应这种新形势，但竞争对手纷纷推出低价优质的化妆品，其中最著名的是Ulta Beauty和LVMH’s Sephora，通过与彭尼百货合作，后者现在已经进驻数百家店铺。2010年至2014年期间，Ulta的销售额从14.5亿美元增长到32亿美元，而雅芳北美业务的销售额却从22亿美元下降到12亿美元。雪上加霜的是，从塔吉特百货到科尔士百货，再到连锁药店CVS Health ，几乎每家零售商都在雄心勃勃地改进自己的化妆品部门。

功能不足的计算机系统：两年前，雅芳终止了一项价值1.25亿美元的软件升级计划。在加拿大测试证明这款软件非常糟糕之后，它依然被雅芳使用了长达4年之久。这直接导致大批销售代表离开雅芳。采用该软件系统的目的是完善订单管理和简化佣金跟踪，但为了避免更多销售代表流失，雅芳不得不重新开始。

姗姗来迟的电子商务：2014年，雅芳终于“发现”了电子商务。当年夏天，雅芳对avon.com进行了十年来第一次大幅度改版。新网站有更为生动的产品互动图像，有提供美容技巧和建议的视频，以及来自时装周的视频片段。此外，网站还提供许多用来帮助销售代表个性化他们自己的销售网站的工具，还利用Twitter、Facebook和Instagram等社交工具向客户发送新产品建议。这是正确的措施，但为时已晚，根本无法缩小与竞争对手的最新型网站的差距。更糟糕的是，Birchbox等电子商务公司的快速成长，使得雅芳很难吸引新一代消费者。

佣金结构：雅芳一直在努力完善其佣金结构，使销售代表可以更容易获得更多收入，以更低的销售门槛获得更高的收入分成。但相比之下，玫琳凯化妆品公司（Mary Kay Cosmetics）的佣金更高，这让雅芳的日子异常艰难。此外，雅芳的销售额在持续下降，越来越多的潜在销售代表压根就没有考虑过为雅芳工作。

进入拉美裔社区的时间太晚：虽然拉美裔在美国人口中占较大的比例，是一个庞大的化妆品消费群体，但雅芳却迟迟没有开发这个市场。直到2014年，雅芳才推出专为拉美裔销售代表准备的销售材料，他们的人均销量远远超过其他群体。

说句公道话，麦考伊一直在努力拯救这个经历多年的疏忽和失误（失误之一是试图走高端路线）之后摇摇欲坠的品牌。如今，在博龙资产的领导下，雅芳可以远离金融市场的关注，将有更多空间解决自身的问题，并且可以继续与母公司合作。在新产品开发方面，雅芳母公司依旧处于行业领先的地位。

麦考伊说道：“博龙资产与我们合作过很长时间，他们进行过大量尽职调查。如果他们不看好直销以及雅芳北美品牌的未来，他们不可能投钱。”

对于麦考伊来说，现在还有其他事情要做。她要努力避免在巴西、俄罗斯和墨西哥等关键市场重蹈覆辙。（财富中文网）

译者：刘进龙/汪皓

审校：任文科

McCoy has done everything from try to improve the commission structure, to introducing new computer systems to improve order management and payment for the reps, to a late effort to tap the Hispanic community. And yet results continued to disappoint.

Ultimately, Avon in the U.S. was undone by a confluence of factors.

“We were making progress but it was slow, so the pace of change was not where we wanted to see it,” McCoy said. And it seems that Avon ran out of time.

Here are five reasons Avon’s business faltered in the North America.

The rise of affordable quality beauty products: While Avon was trying to adapt to a world in which direct-selling is a tougher and tougher proposition in beauty, competitors came into the market with low-price, good quality products, most notably UltaBeauty ultra and LVMH’s Sephora, which now has locations in hundreds of stores across the U.S. thanks to its partnership with J.C. Penney. Between 2010 and 2014, Ulta sales rose from $1.45 billion to $3.2 billion, while at Avon, North American sales fell from $2.2 billion to $1.2 billion. Adding to Avon’s pain, everyone from Targetto Kohl’sto CVS Healthhas gotten aggressive about improving their beauty sections.

Inadequate computer systems: Two years ago, Avonpulled the plug on a $125 million software upgrade that had been in the works for four years after a test run in Canada proved so awful, that it drove away the sales reps in big numbers. The system had been intended to improve order management and make tracking commissions easier, but Avon had to go back to the drawing board rather than risk losing more reps.

Coming late to e-commerce: In 2014, Avon finally discovered e-commerce. In the summer of 2014, the company completed its first major overhaul of avon.com in 10 years. The new site had far more vivid and interactive product images, a trove of videos with beauty tips and recommendations, and features such as footage from Fashion Week. The site also had tools to help “reps” personalize their own sales sites and use Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to send advice on new products to customers near and far. It was a good, but late, effort that didn’t really bridge the gap with rivals’ state-of-the-art sites. Adding to the pressure, e-commerce companies like Birchbox have grown quickly, making it hard for Avon to attract a new generation of shoppers.

Commission structure: Avon has tried to make improvements to its commission structure to make it easier for reps to make more money from their sales by getting a higher percentage of sales at a lower sales threshold. But it’s tough out there with rivals like Mary Kay Cosmetics offering generous compensation. What’s more, with Avon’s sales in decline, fewer prospective sales reps are even looking into working with Avon anymore.

Late to the Hispanic market: Though Hispanics have long made up a sizable part of the U.S. population and are proportionally big spenders on beauty, Avon was late to discover that segment. It was only in 2014 that Avon created marketing materials made specifically for its Hispanic reps, who sold far more products than non-Hispanics on a per capita basis..

To be fair, McCoy was trying to save a brand suffering from years of neglect and missteps (one was a misguided attempt a few years ago to go higher end). So now, under Cerberus, Avon will have more room to fix itself, far from the klieg lights of the financial markets, and continue to collaborate with the parent company, which will still take the lead on developing new products.

“Cerberus has spent a lot of time with us, they [have] done an extensive amount of due diligence. They would not put the money in if they didn’t believe in the future of direct selling, and of the brand in North America,” McCoy said.

As for McCoy, she now has one big distraction out of the way as she tries to prevent the same decline in the U.S. from occurring in key Avon markets like Brazil, Russia, and Mexico.