Spanish Direct Selling Sector Generates 634 Million Euros In 2014
The turnover of the Direct Selling sector in Spain has grown 7.8% in 2014 despite the economic crisis, says the report presented this month by the Spanish Direct Selling Association (AVD). The organization, which represents 3/4 of the sector, has published a report defining a leap in the Spanish Direct Selling market with new trends and profiles.
In 2014 direct selling companies in Spain generated 634 million euros, compared with 588 million last year, with an increase of 8.7% in the number of purchase orders, reaching 5.1 million orders in 2014. The report also confirms the trend of more young women becoming entrepeneurs in this sector.
It is estimated that each year around 9.3 million people invest in products from the direct selling industry in Spain with the number steadily increasing. However, this number is far below neighbouring countries where Germany ranks first with a market share of direct sales in Europe of 27%; followed by France with 17%, UK with 11.5% and Italy 9.9%. According to Seldia's data, Spain represents around 2.5% of the European Direct Selling sector.
New professional profile: woman, 27 years old
According to the AVD report, the number of young direct selling professionals (Under 30 years old) has increased 13%, with a new top profile of direct seller: woman (72% of professionals are women), with an average age of 27 years, and with more education (almost 15% have a university degree). This new profile shows that direct selling is increasingly being seen as an opportunity to create one's own business. This is a very important trend considering the high percentage of youth unemployment.
The strenght of the direct selling market can be seen through the growing of the number of professionals, that has increased by 2%, with a total of 164,212 people at an average age of 43 years. This also shows the rejuvenation of direct sellers.
89% of the sellers are working part-time, while 11% work full time. Although the trend is now moving towards full-time involvement, there’s still room for improvement as compared with other countries across Europe. Women represent 68% of the total of direct sellers. However, there is a progressive trend towards balance: in 2014 the percentage of men has grown by two points.
We believe there is a lack of knowledge about business world in Spanish society, and a lack of a culture of entrepreneurship, and this makes people fear starting a business in Spain. We have a challenge in raising awareness among different social, economic and political stakeholders on the potential of direct selling and its value. We estimate our market penetration is only about 30%, which means there is a potential 70% customer base still out there, explains Carlos Barroso, President of the spanish Direct Selling Association.