Amway Philippines adapts amid COVID-19 pandemic with business agility and portfolio relevance

Amway Philippines, local unit of the global direct selling giant, highlights the relevance of its product portfolio as well as its ability to swiftly adapt to rapid environmental changes as key factors in thriving during these uncertain times.

The pandemic has already seen a number of businesses suffer from the challenges that the past few months have brought. There are, nonetheless, organizations such as Amway Philippines that are able to not only stay afloat but even thrust forward amid the crisis.

“A significant pillar of our business at Amway has always been in personal health and wellness. This has proven to be more relevant than ever during this time of community quarantine, where consumers have embraced a lifestyle of self-care,” says Amway Philippines Country Manager, Leni Olmedo. “Strengthening our focus on this market and enhancing the accessibility of these products through multi-channel ordering has allowed us to generate more business and develop deeper relationships with our direct sellers.”

As the pandemic caused major shifts in consumer trends towards immunity and self-care, Amway found itself in a good position to readily respond to these needs with their health, personal, and home care products. The company houses multiple brands such as Nutrilite health supplements and Artistry Studio skin care and cosmetics that promote a healthy and empowered lifestyle, with high standards and sustainable processes in place that result to pure, safe and effective products.

“Having a diverse portfolio won’t necessarily make your business crisis-proof,” Olmedo said. “But if your portfolio is made of products that are relevant to your consumers, you will always have a market in any given situation.”

Olmedo advises businesses to take this time to look at consumer trends and revisit their portfolio. They can expand their products and services or better yet, come up with innovative and smart solutions to help improve lives during – and beyond – this crisis. But it doesn’t end with in-demand products and services; businesses also need to be able to quickly adjust logistics and operations to adapt to challenges and sudden changes.

For Amway Philippines, its direct sellers or Amway Business Owners (ABOs) had to shift from face-to-face interactions to video calls. “We provided our ABOs with trainings and resources to bring their offline communities online,” Olmedo shares. “We saw that the platform may have changed to digital, but the core of business-building through strong personal connections remained the same.”

She adds that a digital pivot is imperative for all companies, and for Amway, an online approach poses as an opportunity to attract even more participants in virtual programs since it is agnostic to time and location.

Logistics is another item that needs to adjust. Right now, everyone is prioritizing contactless deliveries and cashless payments to lessen the risk for contamination, so businesses need to look and invest in those solutions. E-commerce is another possibility that should be explored as it gives versatility and multiple platforms to a business – expanding its reach when successfully implemented.

Yet, Olmedo shares the most vital step that businesses must be taking now: keeping stakeholders informed. She explains, “Timely information helped our ABOs navigate their businesses in the midst of uncertainty. We strongly believe that during these difficult times, it’s important to be visible and transparent, even if the message is not what people would like to hear.”