[edit] Founding
Amway Vietnam (Hồ Chí Minh since 2008).
Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos, friends since school days, had been business partners in various endeavors including a hamburger stand, air charter service, and a sailing business. In 1949 they were introduced by Neil Maaskant (Van Andel's second cousin) to the
Nutrilite Products Corporation.
Nutrilite was a California-based direct sales company founded by Dr.
Carl Rehnborg, developer of the first
multivitamin marketed in the United States. In August 1949, after a night-long talk, DeVos and Van Andel signed up to become distributors for Nutrilite food supplements.
[8][page needed] They sold their first box the next day for $19.50, but lost interest for the next two weeks. Shortly thereafter, at the urging of Maaskant, who had become their
sponsor, they traveled to Chicago to attend a Nutrilite seminar. The meeting was at a downtown hotel, with over a hundred people in attendance. After seeing promotional filmstrips and listening to talks by company representatives and successful distributors, they decided to pursue the Nutrilite business opportunity with enthusiasm. They sold their second box of supplements on their return trip to Michigan, and rapidly proceeded to develop their new business further.
[8][page needed]
In 1949, DeVos and Van Andel had formed
Ja-Ri Corporation (abbreviated from their respective first names) for importing wooden goods from South American countries. After their trip to the Nutrilite seminar, they dropped
[clarification needed] this business and Ja-Ri became their Nutrilite distributorship.
[9] In addition to profits on each product sold, Nutrilite also offered commission on the sales of products by new distributors introduced to the company by existing distributors—a system today known as
multi-level marketing or
network marketing. By 1958, DeVos and Van Andel had built an organization of over 5,000 distributors. However, following concerns about the stability of Nutrilite, in April 1959 they and some of their top distributors formed
The American Way Association to represent the distributors and look for additional products to market.
[10]
Their first product was called
Frisk, a concentrated organic cleaner developed by a scientist in Ohio. DeVos and Van Andel bought the rights to manufacture and distribute Frisk, and later changed the name to LOC (Liquid Organic Cleaner).
[11] They subsequently formed
Amway Sales Corporation to procure and inventory products and to handle the sales and marketing plan, and
Amway Services Corporation to handle insurance and other benefits for distributors (Amway being an abbreviation of "American Way").
[12] In 1960 they purchased a 50% share in
Atco Manufacturing Company in Detroit, the original manufacturers of LOC, and changed its name to
Amway Manufacturing Corporation.
[13] In 1964 the Amway Sales Corporation, Amway Services Corporation, and Amway Manufacturing Corporation merged to form a single entity,
Amway Corporation[14] Amway bought control of Nutrilite in 1972 and full ownership in 1994.
[15]
[edit] International expansion
Amway expanded overseas to Australia in 1971, to Europe in 1973, to parts of Asia in 1974, to Japan in 1979, to Latin America in 1985, to China in 1995, to Africa in 1997, to India and Scandinavia in 1998, to Russia in 2005, and to Vietnam in 2008.
[edit] Quixtar
Main article:
Amway Global
In 1999 the founders of the Amway corporation established a new holding company, named
Alticor, and launched three new companies: a sister (and separate) Internet-focused company named
Quixtar,
Access Business Group, and Pyxis Innovations. Pyxis, later replaced by
Fulton Innovation, pursued research and development and
Access Business Group handled manufacturing and logistics for Amway, Quixtar, and third party clients.
[16]
The main difference was that all "Independent Business Owners" (IBO) could order directly from Amway on the Internet, rather than from their
upline "direct distributor," and have products shipped directly to their home. The Amway name continued being used in the rest of the world. After virtually all Amway distributors in North America switched to Quixtar, Alticor elected to close Amway North America after 2001. In June 2007 it was announced that the Quixtar brand would be phased out over an 18 to 24 month period in favor of a unified Amway brand (
Amway Global) worldwide.
In 2006, Quixtar published
The Quixtar Independent Business Owner Compensation Plan, in which the company reported that the average monthly gross income for "Active" IBOs was $115.
[17]
[edit] Global markets
According to the Amway website, as of 2011 the company operates in over 80 countries and territories, organized into regional markets: the Americas, Europe, greater China, Japan and Korea, and SE Asia/Australia.
In 2008, Alticor announced that two-thirds of the company's 58 markets reported sales increases, including strong growth in the China, Russia and India markets.
[18]
[edit] Amway Australia
[edit] Amway China
Amway grew quickly in China from its market launch in 1995. In 1998, after abuses of illegal
pyramid schemes led to riots, the Chinese government enacted a ban on all
direct selling companies, including Amway.
[19] After negotiations, some companies like Amway,
Avon, and
Mary Kay continued to operate through a network of retail stores promoted by an independent sales force.
[20] China introduced new direct selling laws in December 2005, and in December 2006 Amway was one of the first companies to receive a license to resume direct sales. However, the law forbids teachers, doctors, and civil servants from becoming direct sales agents for the company and, unlike in the U.S., salespeople in China are ineligible to receive commissions from sales made by the distributors they recruit.
In 2006, Amway China had a reported 180,000 sales representatives, 140 stores, and $2 billion in annual sales.
[21] In 2007 Amway Greater China and South-east Asia Chief Executive Eva Cheng was ranked No.88 by Forbes magazine in its list of the World's Most Powerful Women.
[22] In 2008, China was Amway's largest market, reporting 28% growth and sales of ¥17 billion (US$2.5billion).
[23]According to a report in Bloomberg Businessweek in April 2010, Amway had 237 retail shops in China, 160,000 direct sales agents, and US$3 billion in revenue.
[24]
[edit] Brands
Amway's product line grew from LOC, with the laundry detergent
SA8 added in 1960, and later the hair care product Satinique (1965) and the cosmetics line
Artistry (1968). Today Amway manufactures over 450 products, with manufacturing facilities in China, India and the United States, as well as Nutrilite organic farms in
Brazil, Mexico and the United States (California and
Washington State). Amway brands include: Artistry, Atmosphere, Body Blends, Body Works, Clear Now, eSpring, Fulton Street, Glister, iCook, Kahve, Legacy of Clean, Nutrilite, Peter Island, Perfect Empowered Drinking Water, Personal Accents, Ribbon, Satinique, Tolsom, XS, and Zsenso
[edit] Household cleaners
Amway is best known in North America for its original multi-purpose cleaning product LOC,
SA8 laundry detergent, and Dish Drops dishwashing liquid. In the January 2007 issue of
Consumer Reports, SA8 with Bioquest was rated the best-performing laundry detergent, scoring 99 out of a possible 100 points.
[25] Consumer Reports did, however, criticise SA8's pricing, a situation which was disputed by Amway.
[26] Consumer Reports conducted blind testing of detergents in 2010 and ranked versions of Amway's Legacy of Clean detergents 9th and 18th of 20 detergents tested. Consumer Reports program manager Pat Slaven recommended against buying the products because consumers can "go to the grocery store and get something that performs a whole lot better for a whole lot less money."
[27][28]
[edit] Health and beauty
Amway's health and beauty brands include
Artistry, Beautycycle, Time Defiance, Artistry Essentials, Pure White, Satinique, Tolsom, Body Series, Glister,
Moiskin (South America),
[29] Nutrilite,
Nutriway(Scandinavia and Australia/New Zealand), eSpring,
Attitude (India),
Atmosphere and
iCook as well as
XL and XS Energy drinks.
[edit] Artistry
Amway's
Artistry products include skin care, cosmetics, and
anti-aging creams and serums.
[edit] Nutrilite
Amway's largest selling brand is the
Nutrilite range of health supplements (marketed as Nutriway in some countries), and in 2008 Nutrilite sales exceeded US$3billion globally.
[30] In 2001, five Nutrilite products were the first dietary supplements to be certified by
NSF International.
[31] In 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 in the nutrient and health food category, Nutrilite won "Platinum" and "Gold" awards in Malaysia, China, Taiwan, Thailand, and Asia overall in the Reader's Digest "Trusted Brands of Asia" survey.
[32] In 2008 Nutrilite scientists, in partnership with Alticor subsidiary
Interleukin Genetics won the 12th
John M. Kinney Award for Nutrition and Metabolism for their research into the interaction between nutrition and genetics.
[33] In January 2009, Amway announced a voluntary recall of Nutrilite and XS Energy Bars after learning that they had possibly been manufactured with
Salmonella-contaminated ingredients from
Peanut Corporation of America. The company indicated that it had not received any reports of illness in connection with the products.
[34]
[edit] eSpring
Amway's
eSpring water filter, introduced in 2000, was the first home water treatment system to incorporate a carbon block filter and Ultraviolet disinfection unit, becoming the first home system to achieve certification for ANSI/NSF Standards 42, 53 and 55.
[35] The unit was also the first commercial product to include sister company
Fulton Innovations eCoupled wireless power induction technology. Fulton Innovation introduced the technology in other consumer electronic products at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show. Companies licensing this technology include
General Motors,
Motorola and Visteon.
[36][37] In 2006 eSpring was named
Product of the Year by the Poland-based non-profit
World Foundation of Health, Heart and Mind.
[38] eSpring has won numerous
Gold and
Platinum awards in the
Reader's Digest Most Trusted Brand Asia surveys.
[39]
[edit] Atmosphere
In 2008 Amway's Atmosphere Air Purifier became the first air cleaner certified
Asthma and Allergy Friendly by the
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.
[40][41]
[edit] Ditto Delivery
Amway owns a patent on the online shopping method of Ditto Delivery, which allows consumers to specify an automatic monthly delivery of each product.
[42] In May 2001, Ditto Delivery accounted for 30% of Quixtar's North American sales.
[43]
[edit] Business model
Amway combines direct selling with a multi-level marketing strategy. "Independent Business Owners" (IBOs) may market products directly to potential customers and may also recruit (sponsor) and train other people to become IBOs. IBOs may earn income both from the retail markup on any products they sell personally, plus a performance bonus based on the sales volume they and their downline (IBOs they have sponsored) have generated.
[3] People may also register as IBOs to buy products at discounted prices. Amway provides training to the IBOs on products and business skills through the sale of "business support materials"; for example, DVDs, CDs, books, websites, seminars, and business conventions.
[edit] Orlando Arena naming rights
In December 2006, Alticor secured the naming rights for the 17,000-seat basketball arena in
Orlando, Florida – home of the
Orlando Magic, which are owned by the family of
Rich DeVos. The arena, formerly known as the TD Waterhouse Centre became known as the
Amway Arena. It was demolished by implosion in March 2012, following the
2010 opening of its successor,
Amway Center.
[44]
[edit] San Jose Earthquakes
Prior to the
2009 Major League Soccer season, Amway Global signed a three-year deal with the
San Jose Earthquakes to become the team's official jersey sponsor.
[citation needed]
A major part of the partnership is focused on community initiatives in the
Bay Area. As a result, Amway Global is now also the official sponsor of the team's
Kicks for Kids program that focuses on fitness and healthy lifestyles, as well as bringing underprivileged children to Earthquakes games.
[citation needed]
The partnership also saw the creation of the Amway Global Street Team, which appears at all Earthquakes home games and at a number of soccer and non-soccer events throughout the Bay Area. The members of the Amway Global Stree
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US$ 11.3 billion (2012)[1]
BIOQUEST FORMULA ietver sevī augstas aktivitātes un naturālas izcelsmes komponentus, šie komponenti nodrošina lieliskus mājas uzkopšanas rezultātus, turklāt nekaitējot apkārtējai videi. Formula nodrošina lieliskus tīrīšanas rezultātus, bet produkti, kas ir atzīmēti arī tās logotipā, ir koncentrēti, bioloģiski noārdāmi un dermatoloģiski pārbaudīti.
Amway Home jaunās līnijas produkti ir pilnīgi droši – ja tie tiek lietoti saskaņā ar to nozīmi – tie ir dabīgi un videi draudzīgi, ko ir apstiprinājušas neatkarīgas iestādes.
AMWAY HOME™
