Ritch Wood
Despite strong sales, pandemic creates some disruptions for companies
By: David Rauf
“This was felt everywhere and in everything; the immediacy of things shutting down in a manner of days was extraordinary.”
—Brian Kraus, VP Global Manufacturing, Amway
“We were fortunate that we had some plans in place to be able to respond as quickly as we did. It’ll be interesting to see, as an industry, how this changes things in the coming year.”
—Brian Kraus, VP Global Manufacturing, Amway
Already faced with a variety of new challenges in the coronavirus era, direct sellers are dealing with another major hurdle affecting their daily business: supply chain disruptions.
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White House doubles down on tariffs as a weapon in trade talks
By David Rauf
Last year, the U.S. imposed new duties on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico, prompting the Mexican government to react with its own set of retaliatory tariffs that ended up having an impact on some U.S. direct sellers that sell health supplements.
“If China wants to restrict anything coming from the U.S. or tax any company it sees fit from the U.S., it could do that very easily. In that scenario, what’s going to happen is that the cost is going to be absorbed by the company or passed on to the consumer.”
—Rafael Miner, partner, Miner Group Consulting
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As the government’s ‘100-day campaign’ winds down, healthcare product companies announce sales losses
By David Rauf
“We’re taking the cue from our government relations team in China, and they’re staying in regular contact.”
—Keven Guest, CEO, USANA
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Tupperware Continues Transformation; Herbalife Lowers Guidance; Nu Skin Beats Wall Street Estimates
By David Rauf
We listen in on the public company earnings calls and read the transcripts so you don’t have to. Check back each quarter for our review with insights and takeaways for your own business.
This report includes an update on the earnings calls from Mannatech and Reliv, both of which had revenue losses for the year-end quarter.
Please see the March and April issues for reports from the other public direct selling companies.
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His thoughts on competing in the gig economy and embracing e-commerce
SSN: You’ve been with Nu Skin your entire career. What’s that been like?
I’ve spent nearly 15 of my years with Nu Skin abroad. Working in so many different capacities around the world certainly gave me the perspective I need today to run the global business. I think it’s been a huge advantage to be here as long as I have. I read a Harvard Review article recently that said their research indicates that the majority of CEOs hired from outside their industry fail, not because they didn’t see the new trends coming, but because they didn’t know how to transform the organization to meet those coming trends.
Founded: 1984
Executive: Ritch Wood
Location: Provo, Utah2018 Revenue: $2.68 billion
Stock Symbol: NUS—NYSE
Website: www.nuskin.com
SSN: What do you feel are the advantages of having both a corporate perspective and a field perspective?
Companies that figure out how to disrupt themselves before they get disrupted from external forces are the ones that survive. I think you have to have institutional knowledge to be able to transform a business.
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