Thaindian News

By Arun Kumar
Washington, March 24 (IANS) Quality of products, an opportunity to start a small business at a relatively low investment and low risk are key factors behind Amway India’s success story, says the man responsible for the market.

“When we entered India, many consultants advised us to lower product quality to reduce the prices. But we took a conscious decision not to do so,” Jim Payne, executive vice president of the consumer goods company, told IANS in an interview.

“We knew that to gain the trust of the Indian consumers and retain their loyalty, we had to give them the same high quality products with the same 100 percent money back guarantee that consumers outside of India are accustomed to getting with Amway.”

“We feel that we made right business decisions with regard to the Indian market and our sales results confirm it,” said Payne about Amway India, a wholly owned subsidiary of Michigan-based Amway Corporation, in an e-mail interview.

Amway, which has more than 450 products in its global portfolio, currently sells 115 products in India. Of these, six are “locally tailored Great Value Products”.

These sell in large quantities and within the same price-range as existing products in the market. Payne said India was also one of the first markets where Amway offered sachets to help introduce its products to more consumers.

“India has been among our top-10 markets globally and given the relative youth of the market, we see plenty of room for expansion,” he said.

“It can be among our top five markets in the near future.”

Amway has invested more than $35 million (Rs.1.51 billion) in India, including $6 million (Rs.260 million) in the form of foreign direct investment.

The investment has been mostly in infrastructure, Payne said. “We have invested considerably in the technology and know-how of our vendor-operated manufacturing facilities which produce most products we sell in India.”

“In fact, our largest vendor has just tripled its production capacity. That is one form of our indirect investment in India.”

Amway India has 400 full time employees and has generated indirect employment for 1,650 people at all the contract manufacturer locations. It has provided an income generating opportunity to over 450,000 active independent Amway Business Owners.

Payne has a piece of advice for people who want to invest in India. Any potential investor will need to keep in mind that the Indian market is diverse with varied geographies and regional preferences, he said.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)