Avon Products woos Brazil market with 2-hour delivery

23-Jan-2019 - Last updated on 23-Jan-2019 at 16:16 GMT

In the face of significant challenges in the all-important Brazil market, executives at Avon Products are trying to win back customers with the launch of a two-hour delivery service.

The company has entered a new partnership with Rappi, an on-demand digital delivery service that has seen phenomenal growth throughout the Latin American region recently.

The delivery service is being introduced as a pilot scheme using Avon Representatives serving customers in Sao Paulo, and is also being rolled out in Colombia, where customers in Bogota and Medellin will initially benefit.

A responsive experience to customers

According to Avon, the partnership with Rappi will enable Avon Representatives to deliver a responsive experience to customers in the pilot groups, with a particular emphasis on Brazil, which is the company’s largest market worldwide.

The service allows customers to order online and then gives them a two-hour fulfilment option at an extra cost that gives Avon Representatives a differentiated and more responsive experience for their communities.

Rappi is a consumer tech start up that has expanded its customer footprint in Brazil and throughout the South American region, recently reaching more than 1 million subscribers.

Eyeing a bigger roll-out for the service

And the company is eyeing further expansion of the service should the pilot prove successful, with major cities in Argentina, Chile and Mexico also expected to be included in the launch during the first half of 2019.

"We're delighted to be trialing this partnership with Rappi to provide a really easy way for our top-selling Representatives to serve their customers better and faster,” said José Vicente Marino, executive vice president and general manager, Avon Brazil.

“It isn't just a delivery solution but potentially a whole new approach to connect with consumers. We look forward to seeing the results as the pilot expands."

Is Avon making the right moves?

The program is part of Avon’s ‘Open Up Avon’ transformation plan, which aims to make the company a more amenable and customer-friendly business, in attempt to scale back recent market losses that have hit the Brazil market particularly hard.

Most recently, a disappointing third quarter for Avon Products in Brazil had one market analyst, Theodore Delimaris of GlobalData, suggest the company needs to move ahead with changes in Brazil to fight declining revenues in Brazil.

“Avon is captive of its direct-selling business model, based on which it is inherently difficult to achieve significant results in a short period of time,” Delimaris said.