Inside Quixtar

I've been reading a lot of research lately on "money as a motivator" and the research is overwhelming clear - money is in general a lousy motivator. So increasing the retail margin for IBOs is unlikely to make much difference. Same thing for that matter for the proposed $50 bonuses for new IBOs.

Listening to Rich DeVos's talk from Connections, he mentions how Nutrlite was a "hard sell", you really had to know what you're talking about to sell it. When they started Amway they decided they needed an "easy sell" and went in to homecare products. Unless you guys have got some new wizbang product in the backroom that nobody has ever heard of but everyone's going to "need" then I still think homecare is door opener, but it has got to become an even better deal. SA8 is the best, but at full retail price it's a hard sell due to the pricing. Folk have only so much discretionary income and they have to decide where to spend it, and quite often that means buying second best because they can't afford the best.

So if you folk can (a) jazz up the homecare range with the environmental credentials, as was hinted at and (b) set the pricing so it becomes a "no brainer" as a better deal, I think that would definitely be one way to go.

Artistry I think is priced and targeted pretty well, but as others have mentioned be careful about changing too often - people have favourites and telling them they're no longer available is irritating to all involved. If/when you do change, have a "closest replacement" chart available to make it easy to convert.

Nutrilite needs some tweaking. For example, Dr. Andrew Weil sells omega-3 sourced from the exact same supplier as Nutrilite. His retail price is $34.99, Quixtar IBO price is $34.70. Slightly different EPA/DHA levels depending on the Nutrilite product, but clearly his product is significantly cheaper and the same quality.

Catalogue products should be price competitive or not even listed. We humans are a little "pre-programmed" to look for negatives, and even one product being blatantly overpriced can turn a "yes" into a "no". Amway Australia has a very successful "price guarantee" on catalogue products. Find it cheaper at a major competitor and they'll match the price. That *attitude* is a big selling point :-)

Contrast with an experience I had with Amway Europe, where the exact same product, albeit with different brandings, started appearing in numerous competitors. It was the exact product. Amway Europe responded by saying we offered points, so that was better! I pointed out that even as a platinum it was cheaper at the competitors. They mentioned that others can perhaps get volume discounts. I pointed out Amway sold this product in numerous markets around the world, and Alticor had sales some 100 times some of these competitors. They didn't reply.

One of the Quixtar speakers mentioned having folk buy products because of their inherent value, not for the PV. What message does the above attitude of Amway Europe send, to both IBOs and customers?

Go with the Amway Australia attitude :-)

And if you can't be price competitive with a catalogue item or partner store, get rid of them.

Reprice Double X... $80 is too much sticker shock for most average users. The body builders see the value, but not the moms and dads. I think the new Daily product is very attractive.

I like the repackaged Protein Bar I saw this past weekend. If the price point is around $1.25 (I didn't hear the pricing), then it is fabulous.

Leave the XS price where it is. I love the new Black Cherry.

From what I've just read, it seems that the company is unwilling to cut their margins on their already existing product line?  Is this right?  When you have suggestions like "cutting prices while cutting quantity" or "increasing retail margin," I get the feeling the new line up will be more of the same over priced stuff.  Increasing the suggested retail price is absurd.  It's already set way higher than the market will bear!  Quixtar needs to step into the 21st century and reduce their margins, not try to cleverly protect those margins.  Here's a start: all the nutrilite products, cut the IBO cost in half!  Then set the suggested retail cost at the former IBO cost.  That might work, maybe.  Same with Artistry, and all the other Quixtar products while you're at it.    

A spray form of the Liquid Prewash.  I have steady, loyal customers for the Prewash Spray that won't even try the liquid.  Personnally I feel I waste too much of the Prewash Liquid so very rarely use it myself.  And of course if the Prewash Spray were in a form that doesn't make you gag from the fumes that would be a great help.  The fact that it works so well is what keeps people buying more.

P.S.  I got into this business when I was young and have never used any other brand of home care products.  At the moment I am suffering from Chlorine Bleach withdrawls and can't bear to walk down the Chlorox isle at the grocery store.  While returning to the Amway name keep in mind that that means 'home care' to most people who know the name.  The emphasis on Artistry and Nutrilite is wonderful, but I hope the home care products don't vanish.  

i think the nutrilite brand is awesome.  they work and are of great quality.  the recent lowering of the price of the daily has increased my retail volume this month.  i think that quixtar should take a look at being more proce competitive in the nutrition arena.

the xs brand's pricing is very competitive!

with the new $200 million advert budget, have you taken a look at promoting xs/nutrilite/artistry/nao?  this should be beneficial for retail volume.

thanks for listening.

When you say "retailable", do you mean at IBO price, or retail price? I find very few products are retailable at retail price, but I live in a relatively low cost of living area of the country. I can imagine the complications of having different prices in different areas of the country, but this is an issue, especially when it comes to retailing.

Larger discounts for case quantities would be helpful for IBO's and customers. If a customer gets "sticker shock" on the eaches, they can see a bigger benefit in buying the case, which means more volume for you, more PV/BV and potential markup for the IBO, and a customer who thinks they are getting a better deal, because they are. This would also make it easier for the customers and IBO's to meet the minimum free shipping costs.  

Previous comments in a different thread (and maybe a different blog) suggested leading with the Home Care products because they were easier to promote and are more competitively priced than Artistry and Nutrilite (A/N), as A/N require more education to convince the customer the extra quality is worth the extra cost. This could be a great time to lower the prices on the newly repackaged green/environmentally friendly Home Care products to make them even more attractive, and use them as a "loss leader" category, then allow the IBO to educate and promote the A/N products later.

me and wife as a couple in their mid 20s love the products that quixtar/amway is offering. challenge has been with prices to an extend but not so much that would turn us off. I think quixtar should diffinately take in consideration that if they want their business to remain young they need to compete with the market and the average income producer in that specific country. adding more money to the pot has boost up the excitment in the team big time and will cause more people to become more productive. removing the shipping cost is an ideal case, even more than the price of the product. we have had great success in sponsoring and creating volume while quixtar had promotions for 100 + pv free delivery. it incentivies the shopping even so much more and helps the other ibos get to the higher level.

Some of the best:

Double X. No problem with the cost from here. I feel it's well worth it. I know what it does for me. I wouldn't be without it.

SA8 Bioquest: There is no other laundry detergent like it. Super concentrated and does a great job. There should be a bit of a price advantage buying the 9.9 lb. box, however, but there is not.

Glister Oral Rinse: 100 uses from that tiny little bottle. Incredible. I really do miss the Cinnamon flavor, even though it was hotter than Phoenix in July. I just used 3 squirts instead of 5.

Water treatment System: Wouldn't be without it. Not having a water treatment system in Des Moines is OK if you're into heavy metal, but I'm not. When I have people do a taste test, they can't believe the difference.

Body Series Roll-On: This stuff really works. Even under the worst conditions.

XS Energy Drinks: Favorites are Root Beer, Black Cherry, Cran-Grape and Cola. I love that 4900% of B-12. There is nothing on the market that can touch this product line in either nutritional value and taste. The Brand-X energy drinks are just slightly-turbocharged, sugar-filled pop.

Some borderline stuff: Body Series Refreshing Body Wash. It's great if you use a washcloth or sponge. I really feel clean after using it. However, I don't recommend using it after swimming because if you don't have a sponge, it is like lotion or glue. I never could figure out why. Must be the excessive chlorine in the pool.

Tolsom: The products are great but they are priced in the stratosphere.

Anti-Oxidant Complex: This is an incredible product. I cannot legally say that this has helped me, but looking at my medical records would indicate that. The problem, again, is the price. I cannot fathom someone actually paying $87.50 for a one-month supply. Someone in product info told me a long time ago that Pycnogenol was a very expensive ingredient. They removed that when they reformulated it a couple years ago, and the price went UP. Besides, you can get Anti-Ox with Pyc on the Internet for $12 to $14 a bottle, so scratch that reasoning. Any way you cut it, this product is just not cost competitive and I get a little miffed (the censored version) whenever I have to order it.

The bad:

(Beth, you know this one's coming:) Body Series Anti-perspirant Deodorant Stick. This is, bar none, the worst product Q offers. It doesn't work worth stink (literally), is way too dry when applying, does not stop wetness (well, it does for about 10 minutes), and breaks off in the container. I have sent back four and decided to never order it again. Having a spray anti-pers/deodorant like they have in Australia would be great. I know in America that sprays are not that popular, but I would love it. Not a pump like we had that just goes pffft, but a real aerosol spray.

Second worst product: Dish Drops Automatic Dishwasher Detergent. It is not nearly as good as the old Crystal Bright. That was wonderful. To get results as good with this stuff, I also have to use the All Purpose Descaler from Fuller Brush. Also, the packaging is horrible. Does anyone open the pour spout and measure it into a tablespoon? Doubt it; they dump it into the soap dispenser cups that can hold up to three tablespoons. There goes your economy. It needs to be in a square plastic container with a tablespoon size scoop. Would it cost extra? Yeah, and well worth it as a convenience feature that people would really like. Then you could explain the cost savings over Brand-X. This is something that needs to be done yesterday.

Q Marketers: Please do not start dropping products to make way for all the new razzle-dazzle stuff. We need most everything we have now because people use a lot of this stuff in their daily life. It is mundane, but when people go to the store, their carts are full of the very stuff we sell. Let's not give them more reasons to go to the store.

Joyce: My wife loves the Pre-Wash liquid but does not like how it comes out of the bottle, so she has me pop off the spout that's under the lid and pour it into a pistol grip sprayer. She has used it like this ever since it came out.

One of the factors that's kind of under the radar here is the whole High-Tech vs. High-Touch issue.  In our retailing, we need to be thinking not just of the first sale, but more so of the follow-on.  It's a mistake to think that by getting a foot in the door with a first sale that from then on the customer is going to just go to the website and buy an increasingly larger volume and variety of products.  Certainly some will, but probably not most, especially if they have any sense that most of our products are esoteric and/or excessively priced. Instead, what will drive a steady increase in customer spending will be ongoing personal interaction with the IBO. If these changes that are in the wind succeed, there will be lots more revenue even with substantial price cuts on large segments of our product line because there actually will be retailing happening on a large scale, and lower level IBO's "buying all their needs from their own business"...things we all know are not happening now to any significant degree.  Like it or not, we are competing with Walmart, not high-end department stores, for a lot of the everyday consumeables we feature (and claim are some of the most important pieces of the puzzle in showing our business model). I understand the lure of big margins...everyone loves it when they can be gotten, but they just don't work with commoditized items, whether they be food bars or anything but the latest and greatest computer stuff. What are the margins going to be on the $450 laptops? I know that price is the weakest point of differentiation, and that's not for a moment to imply that we shouldn't have some special high margin products, but they will always have a limited market. I seem to recall a quote "They who sell to the classes live with the masses; they who sell to the masses live with the classes"...wonder where I heard that...?

I'm convinced that one of the keys to turning this thing around is to cut prices enough that people are able to retail most of our products without a long song and dance trumping up value beyond what makes sense in the general marketplace.  If we want to be one of the top five retail websites in the future, we have to compete on price as well as convenience and quality, because the rest of the world is getting ready to leave us behind.

HH,

Did you know you can combine IBO orders, and all you need is a $750 order to get free shipping? That's 2-4 IBO's getting together to get free shipping. You see each other all the time at Opens, monthly seminars and on other occasions, you can use those opportunities to distribute the products, which reinforces both the meeting attendance and product ordering.

Sa8 is the greatest product in the world and the cost per use is less than a comparable product that doesn't even perform at the sa8 level.Loc,and our see spray are also incredible products most distributors dont seem to understand all the uses of Loc.One product that needs to come back is shoe spray,i would like to know how that ended up being disscontinued.The nutrilite brand is by far in a class all by itself double x is not overpriced and any IBO who thinks it is clearly is not educated on the fact that there is nothing in the marketplace that can come close.How many people spen 3 dollars a day on one cup of coffee,when double x is less expensive and has incredible health benefits.We need to educate ourselves and be proud of what we have to offer.These are world class products!!!  

1) The new Artistry Lip Kit is too big. Each tube is the size of what are masques are. Masques for our ENTIRE face. And these tubes are just for our lips. Wouldn’t it have been smarter to have these tubes small enough to fit in a purse? That way, people would use them more often throughout the day, and that could draw attention and lead to a sale.

Instead, these tubes will end up in a woman’s “bucket” in her bathroom and last her a lifetime. No repeat sales there.

So I’d say packaging that makes the product portable---use/consume in public = potential sales and conversation starters regarding business opportunity.

2) Keep the Rhodiola and Carb Blocker blister packs (for portability/exposure), but redesign the Carb Blocker label. Booooring.

3) “Which products would be easier to sell if we addressed pricing”. Um, ALL of them. “Increase the retail margin to make them more attractive to IBOs to sell?” Where is the logic in this? If this were the case, we’d all be selling Atmospheres and eSprings. The retail price is already priced higher than what you can find in stores and online.

I’m totally bummed that the new protein bars are $1.95 each. ¾ the size of the current ones (good thing), 7% more expensive ounce-for-ounce (bad thing). There is absolutely no reason why these bars need to be priced so high at $1.56 IBO cost. The IBO cost is not even competitive with what’s on the market. And a 25% mark-up is way too high for a food item.

The edibles have such potential because it appeals to every man, woman, and child; and because we spend more on food than any other category (home care, beauty, personal care, etc.). And we may forget to take our vitamins, but we don’t forget to eat. Well, we do forget to eat and that’s were the bars and drinks come in!

It’s a product line that we can afford to make less per item ($$ and %) because of the sheer OVERALL volume we can create.

One box of SA8 100-load is a retail profit of $3.90. One 12-pack of XS is a retail profit of $3.59. Hmm, the SA8 has a higher retail profit. BUT, how often does a person do their laundry and how often would a person drink an XS? A single guy would drink an XS a day, and a box of SA8 would last him two years. So he’s consumed 61 cases of XS by the time he finished his one box of SA8. Looks like XS is 61 times as profitable as the laundry soap.

Also, a can of XS is much easier to carry around in public (exposure) than having a box of SA8 strapped to your belt. :-)

We have got to look at profit, not in terms of  a one-time-sale, but over a year, and over a lifetime. REPEAT BUSINESS is very profitable.

It’s easier to maintain and grow a customer than to go out and get new ones.

It’s hard to maintain and grow customers when they feel ripped off. When they find out they can get a similar product for 30% less.

Then you sell ‘em an IBO card to at least keep the PV, and there goes your retail profit. And here we go on the merry-go-round as to why IBOs don’t sell products and why the Corp doesn't price the products to sell at retail.

It would be great if the company would look into the paramaters of including the shipping cost of the products into the price of the products so that Consumers and IBO's aren't constantly hit with the Shipping Cost Prics at the bottom of their order!

If every place we shopped had shipping charges we would all constantly be looking for the lowest pricing there also.  Which is what happens with the internet.  No Shipping   Yes I will Buy ! That is a Huge draw for a Business that subscribes to that concept.  

Looking forward to a Great Year and seeing the North American Market explode!    

Beth: What happened to point 2)? [You go from 1) to 3) so it looks like someting is missing. You don't have to post this if you want to simply adjust the page.]

 I agree with Ibofightback in regards to products being discontinued without a replacement already 'on the shelf'.  I've almost lost a few fledgeling customers because the product I led with dissapeared and they lost faith in the stability of the products.

 I love the home care line and almost always lead with that.  I do home demos all the time and lead into our other brands once my relationship with the customer solidifies.  I am excited about the repackaging of the home care line which will bring to the forefront the green aspects of our product.

I am totally in agreement with joe favier on the delivery prices. However having included in the cost of the product wouldn't be that appealing as it will defy the idea of price competitivness. with adjustments alticor is making by September, ie. clients order over $75 free shipping makes the business sooo much more competitive. only if they would do the same idea for IBOs..that would be really off the hoock....;)

I have a feeling they will.

I agree with some of the IBOs about the shipping costs and the IBO cost together, bringing the total cost, more than the retail costs in the retail stores.If the IBOs are to make a profit for themselves ,(the reason being why we mostly got into this business originally)there should be a drop in the cost price for

IBOs so that IBOs can ajust a better price at a discount to customers if needed for more sales and PV and BV.

I like the separate costs for shipping. It incents the customers to order $75 worth, and incents the IBO's to buy $750 worth, although most IBO's would probably combine 2-4 IBO's together to get to that level. But we get together all the time for Opens, seminars, training sessions, etc., so what's the big deal? If the hassle isn't worth it to you, pay the shipping. Even new IBO's get free free shipping for 3 months, plenty of time to get customers and IBO's of their own, and the increased PV can be used to pay for their own shipping. Good incentives all around.

Tex, what you propose sounds like the bad old days of call-in and pick-up. We even tried to do food co-ops so we could move some food items by breaking up case lots. We would set up our times for calling in and picking up and someone was always late, forgot completely, or forgot to bring their checkbook. The whole point of the website is so that you can set up your IBOs and customers to place orders themselves and so we won't have to handle products.

What I am doing now is, every six months, sending a box of sample items to my retail customers. There's a bunch of stuff you can send: XS Energy Drinks, individual food bars, all the Artistry and Tolsom samples, Travel size toothpaste, dryer sheets inside the food storage bags (promotes 2 items at once), Nature Shower Hand Cream 2 oz. tube, Trim Advantage Meal Replacement Shakes, and on and on.

For our IBOs, we are planning on having two local Expos a year. We will have demos and cost comparisons, too. Customers could come if they wanted to.

One other thing that the company needs to do right away that I have mentioned before is to break up the case lots and multiples on quite a few items. It's sure easier to buy one jar of peanut butter at the store than it is to buy four of them from Q that sit in my pantry for three months. It's crazy. I'm still waiting for them to let me buy ONE box of SA8 Tablets. ONE breath spray. Get this stuff in easier and more convenient sizes and quantities (like ONE) so it's easy to buy.

These postings are not from a bunch of disgruntled IBOs that want to lay around and do nothing and still make money. These postings are from people who believe in the business and want to grow. We want the company to be the biggest and the best company inside AND outside of the MLM/e-commerce world. It's just that sometimes it seems like the company has been the one that is standing in the way of growth.    

Beth,

You may want to check out this webinar from Omniture - http://www.omniture.com/static/656

Some great research and tips.

The most easy to retail products are the drinks. XS energy drink is positive to a good percentage of people. Some products I've had the highest percentage of people like is lemon lime and fruit punch flavors of Sports drinks, the Zenzso Teas (Bottles). If there was a way to have a sample pack of drinks that would be cool. It seems funny to me that I could hypothetically be talking to someone about a drink in the business and they like a flavor i don't have on me so i need to order a whole case of it, where if I was talking laundry (which is not near the volume of a drink) I could had them a packet of a whole bunch of different types of laundry detergents and tryzyme this and bleach that. People drink every day, that is easy to retail, make more drinks that people like, like the teas and sports drinks. BTW, excellent idea on the rodiolla blister packs, that is a very helpful and easily retailable way to get a supplement to the general public.

Jeffrey,

What I was offering was an OPTION to get free shipping, not a requirement. Adults know how to show up, and with their checkbook. We're talking small groups of 2-4 IBO's, not more than that. If they don't show up, they should agree to come pick up their stuff at the next opportunity at the other IBO's house. There were positives at the "bad old days" of product pickup. You could learn about other products, and it was a team-building environment. An OPTION, if you want to save shipping costs.

How much profit have you made sending samples to your retail customers?      

We used to have "Christmas parties", where we displayed a variety of products. It was a lot of work, and mostly IBO's showed up. Not what I would call a success, but good luck with your expos.

Breaking up the case lots makes the products more expensive, because they have to handle smaller items individually. I am a bigger supporter of deeper discounts for case lot quantities. You could even resell the eaches to your IBO's at the eaches cost and make some money. Peanut butter keeps for 3 months.  

I never suggested you were "...a bunch of disgruntled IBOs that want to lay around and do nothing and still make money." Your upline has been standing in the way of growth with their tool profits MUCH more than the company has with their case lots, I can assure you.

reducing the shipping cost or adding it in would be a great addition.  also there needs to be more profit on the front end when a new ibo gets in.  the 3% bonus is very little.  other companies give out way more in the front.

also a gifting idea would be great way to get new IBO off the ground.  gift packages of our products to try for free why not!!!  also when one gets started a wide array of samples in a product pack would entice them to set up a ditto during their next order.

Artistry: Good packaging, good pricing, competitive to other prestige brands

Nutrilite: PLEASE reduce the price.  New Daily is awesome!!! Also - why is the highest priced vitamin the first thing seen in the Choices catalog!  It gives EVERYONE sticker shock when they open the catalog (Bus builder, prospect, and clients) and sets their impression immediatley of what they think they are going to find in the rest of the catalog.  Also we still have found the sweet spot for showcases these products.  The messaging is still too crowded...narrow the message to create an immediate customer impression of the product.  Also, we're not doing enough to promote the brand tag line.....best of science best of nature.

XS Brand: Great packaging, great pricing.  But be on the lookout...many times people can buy energy drinks now for $1.50 instead of the old $2 norm

Trim Advantage:  A little more completitively priced bars.  NEW PACKAGING!

Satinique:  REPACKAGE, REPACKAGE, REPACKAGE!!!  New packaging on the styling products is a good start...but it doesn't yet compete with name brand salon images.  The performance of these products way outshines their image.

Home Care: Pricing is okay but I think we're missing the biggest message points: Green, concentrated, real results.

Overall Quixtar/Amway still has an image of being too expensive.  Either change the clientale or change the price.

In regards to the shipping....I can't help wonder how $75 came to be point of free shipping. It seeems everything adds up to $73, $74 dollars and my customers have to buy more than they want to get the free shipping...example 3 cases of XS: $74.97...no free shipping!

I would like to see more pre-packaged foods around the Trim Body System similar to the nutri system stuff. I love the protein bars and meal replacement bars and really all the edibles but I would love to see more prepacked meals. I think this would make the Trim body system even more marketable.

New category of exclusive products around the patented ecoupled technology (wireless electricity). Big ticket items like furniture, counter tops etc.

A quick list of the most retailable current products.

Prewash

Scrub Buds (We just bought a house that has a ceramic top stove. These are awesome for cleaning it.)

Bring back Shoe Spray.

XS (Nuff said Awesome!!!!)

Our entire Home care line is great focus marketing on (Green, Biodegradeable, etc)

Glister Rinse is awesome and for someone who travels it is genious packaging.

The agriculture products are awesome do not touch these.

Need to fix

Tolsom - Specifically pricing. oh and add a decent razor in there even if you have to partner with Gillette

Body Series anti-perspirent deodorant. I really am sick of it breaking up half way through the useful life

SA8 Pricing could use an overhaul. The product is awesome and probably worth the money but is it really a battle we need to fight.

Baby stuff more competitive pricing on diapers and formula.

Store For More stuff like clothes, general electronics should be pushed more toward partner stores maybe use this to negotiate better PV/BV and use whatever resources were used for that to make core line stuff more competetive.

Jeffery,

Love your posts about what you do and don't like about products.

Per your suggestion, I just put my pre-wash liquid in a sprayer. Not because I found I was wasting so much, but because I don't like touching the slimey bottle. What the heck? Why does that happen?

I don't have the same experience with the Dish Drops as you do. Seems to work just fine (and I have hard water). I measured it out once, and now I just eyeball it.

The deodorant stick comments cracked me up. I started to mention some of your comments to my husband, and he finished all my sentences. I said, "You've had the same experiences? Why didn't you tell me?"

I think sometimes, as IBOs, we are so loyal that we tend to put up with "stuff" more than the average person.

:-)

Beth,

As far as Nutrilite goes, I think having athletes like Asafa and Liu as endorsers are great.

What I think would also be very helpful in marketing Nutrilite is have DOCTORS endorse the line.

Even though we all know that most Western medicine doctors are not well-educated regarding nutrition and supplementation, the general public still looks to M.D.s for nutritional advice. They see doctors as the experts.

One of our competitors of the Concentrated Fruits and Veggies has a famous pediatrician endorsing their sub-standard product. And had I not known better, because of this pediatrician and his reputation, I would buy such a product.

It's what you're doing with the Artistry line by having Dr. Indira Misr-Higgins, the dermatologist, endorse our products.

There's the glitz (the athletes) to hook people, and then it's the credibility to back it up. I think doctors would give great perceived credibility to the Nutrilite line.

Jeffrey said, "What I am doing now is, every six months, sending a box of sample items to my retail customers."

Tex said, "We used to have "Christmas parties", where we displayed a variety of products. It was a lot of work, and mostly IBO's showed up. Not what I would call a success, but good luck with your expos."

My experience has been that if I try to introduce too many products at one time, people get overwhelmed.

What I now do is send/drop off one or two samples to a customer. This way they get things more often, and that are not paralyzed by all the choices.

I think it is so fantastic that we offer so many product lines. But we have to know how to market effectively, or what is a blessing could be a curse.

There was a study someone told be about jam and how having too many choices actually decreased sales. I just Googled some key words and found it here: http://www.columbia.edu/~ss957/whenchoice.html

It's the first of the three studies.

Bottom line: The display with 24 different types of jams drew 60% of the crowd. The display with 6 different types of jams drew 40% of the crowd.

BUT, 3% of the people who approached the 24-jams table purchased, while 30% of the people who approached the 6-jams table purchased. 10 times the volume!

I think gradually introducing products--to customers and new IBOs--is more effective.

RETAIL MARK-UP CONSIDERATIONS

Beth,

Just picking up on something IBOFB said earlier in this thread. Alticor, through its Ocean Essentials brand, sources its Omega 3’s from the same supplier – Ocean Nutritionals Canada -- as many other distributors including Natrol, Vitamine Shoppe, Costco, and others. Anything referenced as ‘molecular distillation’ process or Meg 3® comes from ONC as they own the world-wide patent on the molecular distillation process that eliminates mercury, pcb’s, etc. from fish oil sourced Omega 3’s So the molecule is identical to what others are marketing, same triglyceride form, etc. But when you work out pricing on a cents per 100 mg, Quixtar’s Omega 3 pricing ranges 400-600% higher than, for example, the Costco retail price (worked out on a cost of cents per 100 mg). That’s single bottle to single bottle at retail, no bulk or case pricing. Alticor’s name was on the ONC website as a wholesale customer until this markup situation was brought to the Company’s attention. Some time after that the Alticor name was “taken off.” The “formulas” are almost identical or very similar in terms of ratios of  EPA/DHA, so we can’t say that the Alticor distribution companies around the world are offering a “different formula.”

Same thing for Blood Pressure Health/Bonito Peptide. As I understand it, ONC owns the patent on this natural ACE inhibitor, more recently branded by ONC as Levenorm™. As near as I can tell, this is Alticor’s source for the bonito peptide product, but please correct me if I’m wrong. At any rate, this identical bonito peptide blood pressure product is available online from Swanson Nutritionals for $18.95 (US $) retail. Worked out on a cost per 100 mg of bonito peptide, Alticor’s US retail price is 384% higher than Swanson’s retail price. Alticor’s Canadian retail price is marked up 464% higher than Swanson’s retail price, both compared in US $.

I mention these two examples in the context of your question about pricing to market and competition. The company I work for always prices at premium levels – always in the top quartile – but not 400-600% higher. If you were to price closer to market, and seek to gain a greater “share of customer” this might help grow unit sales significantly, and overall revenue and profitability. You can “cash-cow” price products and take a big margin on few units – if you believe in your heart that the Company really won’t or can’t grow its market share significantly, or price more competitively – “rising star” pricing – and create a much larger net (profit) cash flow on much greater unit sales. A natural way to help regulate blood pressure backed up by peer-reviewed studies? What’s the market potential for that, looking into the Baby Boomer future??!!!

CANADIAN PRICES vs. US PRICES

Beth,

Someone on these blogs was ‘whining’ about a US retail price on Double X of $75. Consider the prospect of selling Double X in the Canadian market at $90 (CDN$)!!!

I’ve done some price comparisons on the difference in selling price (IBO and Retail) between US pricing and Canadian pricing, with the CND price converted to US dollars, and using a conversion factor of 1.050. The currencies are now even closer to par, but it will do for our purposes here. I note that there seems to be little consideration given to customer sensitive retail price points. I also wonder if what is going on with CDN prices runs the risk of the product pricing scenario issues associated with the current UK problems.

Here are a few example products followed by the percentage that the CDN IBO price is higher than the US IBO price, followed by the similar percent Retail price difference. I double checked most of my data and Excel formulas… please correct me if you see any errors.

iCook 27 piece set: IBO 37% higher; Retail: 37% higher

eSpring Countertop: 45%; 45%

Gensona Heart DNA Test: 16%; 17%

Gensona Nutrition DNA Test: 16%; 28%

IL-1 Heart Health: 16%; 16%

Omega 3 Balanced: 65%; 59%

Omega 3 Heart (600’s): 53%; 47%

Conc. Fruits/Veggies: 45%; 59%

Perfect Pack: 35%; 36%

Blood Pressure/Bonito Peptide: 35%; 21%

Glucosamine Complex: 39%; 41%

Time Defiance Intensive Repair: 38%; 38%

SA-8 (3 kg/6.6 lb./100 loads):53%; 53% (SA-8 – 53% higher in Canada)

Bone Health D3 w/ Ipraflavone: 45%; 64%

IBO Registration Intro Product Pack: 33%; n/a

Beth, one more suggestion... develop a blister packaging option for a ten-day supply of the Blood Pressure bonito peptide product... I really believe that there is untold potential with that product if marketed right, and we don't have to match other suppliers' pricing. According to the data on the ONC site, average drop of 10.2 mmHg in systolic blood pressure (SBP) and 7 mmHg in diastolic blood pressure (DBP) with no side effects.

The packaging of many products needs an overhaul.  For example, I just went to the website and saw the new Body Blends.  The packaging, IMO, is not exactly appealing.  It gives the impression of cheap product quality.  I compared the packaging to that of the competitor's product (I believe from bath and body works) that was compared to Body Blends on the website, and I thought that I would rather spend a little extra on the competitor's product just because the tube is much nicer looking.  This is also one of the first things I noticed as a new IBO acouple of years ago.  (By the way, I am now inactive.)

Also, the shipping.  First, it is too expensive.  One can find more competitive shipping on other websites.  Furthermore, I believe there is only one shipping day for most areas, unless one wants to pay extra for next day shipping.  I have never encountered this on any other website, and, to be frank, it is quite ridiculous.  This makes it difficult to retail or make a retail profit, because it's hard to tell customers that they have to pay extra to receive their orders within a decent period of time (especially given the "premium" cost of many products) if we don't want to tell them that their order may take over a week to arrive.  I ended up eating the shipping costs myself, and I wouldn't be surprised if others do too.

Of course, overhauling the shipping system would benefit IBOs who are ordering for personal consumption. Who wants to wait over a week to receive toilet paper, anyway?  (The quality of the regular toilet paper is another issue.)

Lastly, I want to commend Quixtar for seeking the input of those who are out building the business (including retailing, I hope).

Hi rdknyvr ,

I really hope that Beth Dorman make a comment on the fact of the price for Canadian IBO's or customers! The Canadian Dollar took almost 50% pct of value , now almost a dollard for a dollar ( U.S. ) and we still pay the same high price ( no adjusting ). But other commerce ( competition ) had adjust the price of products , so it dont help are commerce development and prosperity .

Thank for futur come back on this comment !

Beth,

Thank you for asking for our input.

Some products are overpriced and definitely need to be re-priced and re-packaged like the Daily. Which was an awesome decision by the way!

Digestive Enzyme

Antioxidant Complex

Triple Guard Echinacea

Saw Palmetto

Thats just a few of the Nutrilite products. Also, Satinique shampoo is also very expensive, along with the Tolsom Skin Protective Lotion.

The new Protein snack bars taste awesome! We got to taste them at the product expo at our major function. However, I'm not sure how they compare at retail to a similar product at say GNC for example.

Thanks again for asking, hope these suggestions help.

Beth, a couple more packaging/pricing comments.

Perfect Pack: in the US, the discount over the price of the three individual components is 2.1%, or $2.25. In Canada, the discount (incentive) to buy the Pack over the three components is ZERO. If there were an attractive discount on the Perfect Pack, it would be much easier for someone focused on the "Health pathway" to get a new Customer to go for the Perfect Pack at the beginning, instead of trying to upsell and upgrade them over time. Given the massive margins on the component items, it should be a no-brainer to look for a more exciting discount and Customer-attracting retail price point. Currently, it's $143.60 retail in the US ($150 IBO price in Canada!!!) and $204.40 retail in Canada. Interesting that with the currencies just about at par, the US retail price is less than the Canadian IBO price! Personally, I don't buy the Perfect Pack because I prefer the Omega Heart Health, and you only offer the Omega Balanced Health in that Pack... any way to offer options, or is your unit volume still too low to consider that.

Second, Customized Supplement Packets (a.m./p.m.) available only in the US. With the huge upsell/buy-in for additional supplements and volume that should happen with either the Essentials or the Complete recommendation, why would you INCREASE the price for the convenience of the a.m./p.m. packaging? You're saving on all the individual bottles of 'eaches' and getting so much more product movement (or you should be). Why wouldn't you DELIGHT the customer by actually offering a significant discount instead of adding a convenience premium to already premium priced products? I realize that initially the volume may not be there to cover your start-up fixed costs on the customized packaging systems, but wouldn't volume quickly overcome that? I also realize that aspects of the Personalized Health launch didn't go as expected last year. Hopefully that will be fixed with a re-launch of the Health Pathway this fall or whenever it's planned.

Finally, I realize that it is essential to have some products with larger profit margins since some will end up with low margins or low volume... overall, some of your higher margin items will 'carry' some of the lower margin products to get you to your overall target profit margin. But you may also get there by adjusting pricing to get larger volumes... the cash cow vs. rising star pricing models referenced earlier – and focusing on growing RETAIL sales and therefore, attractive retail price points that will appeal to people who only want to be customers, and aren’t ‘bonded’ by the concept that they are ‘buying from themselves’ and therefore shouldn’t consider similar quality economic substitutes available elsewhere.

XS Energy Drinks and Artistry are the most retailable products.

The price point of most of Nutrilite, Trim Advantage and the other exclusive products, make retailing very difficult.

I believe that people are spending to a budget first and lifestyle second especially when it comes to everyday, consumable products.  No doubt there are those people who shop at the 'high-end' markets like Whole Foods/Wild Oats here in the western states, but once they walk in the store they believe that the products are priced well, are high quality and are sure they are going to find their 'deals' on a weekly basis.  This is true because of the BRAND awareness/quality that Whole Foods and the products in Whole Foods have.

If they haven't heard our brand, we immediately begin to lose their interest and once they hear our price, they are 99% gone.  And when that happens a lot of people then begin to 'sell' which turns off most.

Oh and by the way, $75.00 per month price point for Double X?  Hmmmmm

Chilling said "No doubt there are those people who shop at the 'high-end' markets like Whole Foods/Wild Oats here in the western states, but once they walk in the store they believe that the products are priced well, are high quality and are sure they are going to find their 'deals' on a weekly basis.  This is true because of the BRAND awareness/quality that Whole Foods and the products in Whole Foods have."

I shop at Whole Paycheck, I mean Whole Foods.

:-)

When I see THEIR products at lower prices than Amstar/Quixway, something is SERIOUSLY wrong...

rdknyvr,

The Perfect Pack is sold with and without the storage box, that is why it appeared to have a discount, you were comparing the Double X without the box to the Perfect Pack with the box. It doesn't cost less than the 3 items separately, it costs the same, but I think it should cost less. If you want to spend less, you have to buy the case quantities of these items.

Chillin77,

I doubt this was a "conspiracy" to have the free shipping just over the Double X retail price.

Few people would buy Double X at retail, and even if they did, it's an opportunity for you for them to buy another product to get free shipping.

Tex,

Thanks for pointing that out... my mistake. I have bought Double X in case quantities to sell to Customers as 'eaches', although I've never charged full retail. And I do collect my tabs to get the free one for every ten used. :)

With appreciation,

There's two main points I think has to come out of this -

(1) pricing needs to be set with full price to customers in single units as the goal. Not with the attitude of it's cheaper with bonuses, something I got told by Amway when I queried a price.

(2) it has to be realised that new IBOs are primarily marketing to family and friends. The full retail price has to be set at a price and quality where you'd be willing to sell it to family and friends and not feel guilty. For example, a knowledgeable IBO would feel guilty marketing Nutrilite Omega-3 at full price knowing the person can get the same product elsewhere at IBO price. So don't expect them to market it. By contrast, a new IBO is not going to know all that much about why Double X is better than the competition. Maybe they'll know some of it - but enough to sell at full price to family and friends? Probably not without feeling bad about it!

The entirely predictable result is that IBOs, particularly new IBOs, will sell at IBO price. Eventually it will all seem like too much work for not enough return, and they'll quit.

Products IBOs will want to sell - at a price that IBOs will want to sell it at - to family and friends.

That's the challenge for you corp. guys!

Bridgett;

LOL - That was good....whole paycheck, I like it and I agree with you.

Tex, I am interested in finding out what your experience is with regard to 'free shipping' and double x.  Has it allowed you to increase retail?

ibofb,

1. That is a noble goal, but probably unattainable for many products, as we don't have the volume of a Walmart and other discount stores. Amway was right, it is less expensive when you consider the bonus, and IBO's need to develop the skills necessary to sell the features and benefits of the products.

2. This is why I prefer to do my minimum required retail sales (at IBO price) and depend on a network of IBO's for the bulk of my profit.    

Chillin77,

In a word, no. See explanation to ibofb, above.

Beth, this is a little off topic, but I'd like your help:

a few days ago I commented:

The new Artistry Lip Kit is too big. Each tube is the size of what are masques are.

Well tonight I was on quixtar.com under the Canadian view (I just like to see sometimes what our Canadian friends got going on).

And I noticed that their description says the Lip Kits are 10 ml.That would translate to .34 oz. (1/3 of an oz).

On the U.S, site, it says 3.4 oz. http://www.quixtar.com/products/product.aspx?itemno=104751

10 times the size than they truly are!

I emailed customer support about the HUGE size over a week ago. You'd think that that would have alerted someone wondering what is this crazy woman talking about. Well, it still says 3.4 instead of .34

Now my comment is the 22 bucks is nuts for that size.

But on to my main point: Who does the copy editing and fact-checking for the product info on the site? AT least a dozen times in that six months I am contacting the Corp. regarding errors and they don't get corrected fast enough.

Like the Lip Kit (SKU# 104751) and like the MAJOR error in the new protein bars (SKU# 103624 and 103625) regarding the competitor Atkins bar. quixtar.com has reversed the sugar and fiber grams. This is major since the Atkins bar has way less sugar (1 g) and way more fiber(9 g) in reality than what quixtar is saying.

When we find errors like this, can we please have a dedicated email address to alert the Corp.? How about corrections@quixtar.com. It's embarrassing at how a multi-billion company lacks simple organizational and standard operating procedures.

This is just one symptom of a much larger problem. It appears that communication between and within departments is horrible.

Thanks for listening.

Tex said:...Amway was right, it is less expensive when you consider the bonus, and IBO's need to develop the skills necessary to sell the features and benefits of the products.

2. This is why I prefer to do my minimum required retail sales (at IBO price) and depend on a network of IBO's for the bulk of my profit.    

Response: Watch Rob Davidson's clip from Connections

(log in to Quxitar>Quixtar & the Opportunity>QBI>Business Conferences>Connections)--Beth, this is NUTS! I think a link in the What's New is a good idea.

After Rob, Randy Alexander talks(at -7:09). He says: “Over the years, we’ve been focused on IBOs buying products for their own personal use, and finding others and sponsoring them to do the same. But there is a piece missing in that: It’s difficult for new IBOs to make money early and feel good about this business without selling product.”

He then goes on to say:

(-6:16 )

“We are focused on offering products that consumers want to buy. And by that, I mean they want to buy it because they need it and it’s a good value. Not just because it has PV on it.”

Bridgett,

I have no issue with improving the pricing, and I'm aware there is effort going into that. However, let's not confuse the current situation with the theoretical future situation. Right now, I have to operate in the current situation.

Also, discussions with other corporate personnel indicate their studies have shown pricing is not the number one issue with many customers, but instead (or better yet, in addition to the better pricing) IBO's need to learn to promote the features and benefits of the products in an effective manner. That will be a major benefit of Quixtar University, which is also a future situation.

I think it will always be hard to compete with the Walmarts on price alone, but a combination of better pricing and better IBO education on how to sell more effectively can be a winning combination.    

Tex said "Few people would buy Double X at retail"

Many IBOs sell Double X at IBO cost. So the profit they make is on the BV. And if they are a brand new IBO, not in a high bonus bracket, that doesn't amount to much.

Option: Sell customers the Choices Ribbon Gift Collection album. Double X would be $50 for them (and that includes the shipping cost). The IBO makes a $10 retail profit (plus bonus on the 50 BV).

NICHE PRODUCTS and the LONG TAIL

Beth, (apologies in advance for the length of this post)

A few thoughts regarding the rethinking and reorganization of products in the “core” lines. In Jim Payne’s talk at Connections in June, he made mention of the “1,200 products” and how potentially overwhelming they might be for the new person to understand. I got the sense that your product teams might be considering pruning some of these back in the name of “better focus,” especially those with relatively low unit sales. Examples of products that have already been pruned due to low unit sales include Mekiwin and Vitamin A with Zinc.

A few weeks ago someone (was it Chuck?) recommended The Long Tail. It provides a very interesting look at the economic viability of low-unit sales products in a digital age where you have a consumer/customer base of millions accessing your site. In part, the thesis was built on DIGITAL products (ie. music downloads) where the marginal cost of “stocking” SKUs with highly specialized but very small communities of interest was zero or close to it. The same principle, though, applies to relatively high value or justifiable high margin per unit products where the following conditions pertain:

1.) the overall consumer base is large – not just 800K North American IBOs, but say, 8,000K North American IBOs AND customers… or even more… see my post elsewhere related to Walmart’s base and associated online potential… that could be our base, too!!!

2.) there is linkage: the products are part of a larger, related ‘portfolio’ or ‘suite’ of inter-related products – the Health Pathway and customized supplement recommendations based on individuals’ health/wellness needs, for example – where there may be new products coming on-stream based on new research or incremental improvements in existing products, but where niche/small market products still have a place.

Two examples to illustrate: Vitamin A with Zinc, which you phased out last year, due to lower unit sales, and the concurrent substitution of Beta Carotene which the body can convert as needed, and doesn’t have the same toxicity issues as Vitamin A (retinol). However, I understand from an IBO with a nursing background who now runs a nutritional/bariatric-related practice, that diabetics have issues efficiently processing Beta Carotene into Vitamin A, and the ‘A with Zinc’ product you dropped due to low unit sales was in fact ideal for this ‘long tail’ segment.

Second example: Mekiwin Horseradish. Again, an issue of low unit sales, and the fact that in the last reformulation of Double X, you added 2 mg of horseradish concentrate, which was excellent. However, based on my GST1 gene results (Gensona General Nutrition DNA Test), I would like to supplement with more than what Double X provides. When you gave notice it was being discontinued, I purchased a couple of case lots of Mekiwin, which will meet my needs for the next couple of years.

A third example: Naturally Together. I don’t have any first hand feedback on this ‘male circulation problem’ supplement (lol) but I would have thought that it would have been a huge hit in the larger North American market, given the success of a couple of very popular drug options already out there. Were there medical liability issues that prompted the Corp to drop this product, uncertainty of raw material supply issues, or was it a failure of marketing?

For all three above, I would like to suggest that there was a marketing failure, on a couple of points. First, treating IBOs like customers instead of sellers, which has been acknowledged by both Jim Payne and Ray Alexander in posts and I think in the Connections speeches. Second, if your “customer base” is limited to your 800K IBOs in North America (and we know that a significant percentage of those are not active) this is not nearly enough to sustain the Long Tail thesis. Third, the biggest training issue you are facing is, what IBOs are really selling or distributing is intellectual property – information about products and intangible results (avoiding future 'bads') that customers need to be educated about before they will make the commitment to joyfully and delightedly buy premium quality and ‘new technology’ products – for example, like those in the Gensona and nutrigenomics lines, or even Double X. This point is made best in Paul Zane Pilzer’s unabridged edition of The New Wellness Revolution (2007), to some extent in Clayton Christensen's Seeing What's Next (2004) and Blue Ocean Strategy (2005).

That’s a subject for a different post, but I mention it here because I’m concerned that during your current product portfolio reviews and product viability analyses, you may be tempted to drop good products that fill out or necessarily round out, the Health Pathway PORTFOLIO. If you confidently look forward to a not-far-off future where Quixtar HAS a base of 8,000K customers in North America, and where the economics of the ‘Long Tail’ will kick in on some of the niche but necessary wellness products, then I hope you won’t be precipitous and short sighted in pruning away good products like those above just because of past performance under “pre-transformation” conditions.

Bridgett:

not sure if the Canadian Gift incentive plan is the same as American, US market is so much more flexible and price competitive than Canadian (Quixtar prices i mean). of course we could be as well should Quixtar Canada want to become price competitive. It sounds like a great idea i will definitely look into it to make sure we have it too.

Tex,

I agree with you regarding learning how to sell based on VALUE rather than the lowest price. I am not a Wal-Mart girl (as you might of read in one of my posts, I shop at Whole Foods), so I am THE perfect customer for our products.

The challenge comes when our products have the same (or less) quality as some products your find at Whole Foods, and yet the pricing is higher.

Also, shopping at a place such like Whole Foods allows me to see that, what those in Ada Michigan may think is unique and different (like our Fruji bars)really isn't. They think that people can't do price comparisons because they think that there is nothing else like their stuff on the market. And that's not true.

I can get an ORGANIC fruits and veggies bar with 3 servings (I know ours has 5 servings)for $1.19. For 5 servings, that would be $1.98. Fruji Bars are $2.59/$3.15--and they are not organic.

So Tex, for me, while your #1 important issue is the tool issue, my #1 or really close to #1 issue, is having a product that is cost-comptetive at retail. Currently, most of our products aren't even cost-comptetive at IBO cost!

So while you think that the LOAs are greedy dudes and dudettes, I think the Corp and the founding families are greedy dudes and dudettes. :-)

Wal-Mart has never been a company that I'd use as a competitor. The shopping experience alone is enough to keep me away. But when Whole Paycheck is less expensive than our stuff at IBO cost, that's a problem.

How can I, in good conscience, offer a product to a friend/family member/aquaintence, knowing that they can get the same or better product for less somewhere else? It is something that I just don't feel comfortable doing. I want people to buy from me for more of a reason than because I just so darn cute. =)

Bridgett, that particular Ribbon Gift Album is available only in the US. It does show, however, what level of pricing on Double X with case works for the Company. By comparison, Double X retail in Canada is $89.95 with case. Add on  the appropriate amout of valued-added shipping and tax and you get a cost, delivered to the Customer, of $109.82 CDN ($104.59 US) for a one month's supply.  :=]

Sorry, I meant to say "value-based" shipping...

BONE HEALTH/D3 with IPRIFLAVONE

Beth, yet another post for your product review team to consider.

Two things that could make this one of the hot Health Pathway products of the future. The forthcoming, if still on track, Gensona Osteoporosis risk DNA test coming in 2008 will raise the profile and demand for this product significantly. According to Quixtar's merchandising materials, the Osteoporosis Society suggests adult intake of 1,000 I.U. of Vitamin D3 per day, 1,500 I.U. if you’re over 50 or post-menopausal.

Second, recent studies in a major medical journal indicated that women in the study who took 1,000 I.U. of Vitamin D3 per day had something like a 40% reduced risk of a number of cancers including bowel cancer. Perhaps Dr. Chet will write something up on this soon.( http://www.betterlifeunlimited.com/  )

A third group that might be interested are those involved in ‘extreme sports’, fitness, body building, and sports nutrition.

Given that all of the above fit into the “prevention” category -- the market space Alticor/Nutrilite wants to dominate, this could be an exponential growth product, with appropriate packaging, pricing, and co-promotion with the new Gensona osteoporosis risk DNA test, and Customized Supplements packets recommendations.

Currently I can purchase at local health food stores a two month supply of D3 (1,000 I.U. per day) for under $10, in one small bottle. To match that with the Nutrilite product, I would have to buy 5 bottles of Bone Health for a total of $118.50 US IBO/$149 retail ($181.50 Cdn IBO/$255.75 retail). Thats to match at 1,000 I.U. per day for those under 50. If you’re taking Double X (400 I.U. per day) that gets you part of the way there… you only need to supplement it by another 600-1,100 I.U. per day. (CalMagD has 100 I.U. per tablet.) Let me know if I’ve made any arithmetic errors… it’s always a possibility!!! 

I know I sound like I’m always harping on the “price” side, but what I’m really after is maximizing “share of customer” or share of wallet within our product line, and in a way that allows us to be more inclusive of a broader range of family income households. Is there a way for your people to model this out so as to consider market share and growing the total future market, instead of just maxing out the margin per unit on a comparatively low number of units? I realize that the above brief analysis totally ignores the materials costs and real value-added considerations of the ipriflavone and chicory root ingredients. However, googling for products with ipriflavone and/or chicory root suggests that they are not expensive ingredients.

Thanks again… I figure that this time of change is the best time to get as many ideas into the stew as possible…

I saw someone mention a product line similar to the Nutrisystem stuff.  I totally agree with that one because both my wife and my daughter spend together probably $250-300/month easily on Jenny Craig.  Food / Protein bars are wonderful products, but some people just have to have something relatively ordinary to eat on a daily basis.  Something that is cost competitive and menu competitive with either the NutriSystem or Jenny Craig food systems would be an awesome addition, not only for Retail Sales but also for IBO consumption.

If Jim Payne wants to get rid of many of the "1200 SKUs," he or the marketing department should start with the Options products. Most of these products are grossly overpriced, extremely inconveniently packaged, and items we can get from the Partner Stores. I just placed an order with Office Depot that had almost no office supplies on it. Rather, it was things like paper towels, napkins, and snack items that I could get ONE or TWO of and not being forced to buy a complete case of 12, 24, or 36, like in the Options section of the Choices catalog. I even ordered a single package of Twizzlers for 57 cents which is 2 cents cheaper than the grocery store and I got PV/BV. I would never order a case of Twizzlers because it would be harder than a rock before I ever got through it.

I have often said that the company does not realize that there are products that will be slower movers but you still have to have them because some of them are "support" or "companion" products that only a small number of people want or need. When you drump those, the sales of some other products also goes down, too. We need to be able to sell our web-based businesses as "total shopping portals." That's another reason why we need a link to the Partner Stores on the personal retail websites.

As for products like "Naturally Together," sometimes people won't order a product like that because they know their upline can look at their orders. I know it's easy to say that people shouldn't be hung up about stuff like that, but some people are and won't order it because of it. Just a thought.

Jeffrey, there is an option I think that one can click on to prevent anyone upline from looking at your orders. At least for Ditto orders... on your Ditto order page, click on 'Change Personal Details' then scroll down to 'Management Settings' and you can choose 'Private' which I think will do the job. Don't know how to do this for other ordering, though. (Beth, can you help on this one... confirm, fill in the details for 'other orders'?)

Trust all is going well with your business... I enjoy your thoughtful and insightful posts and am cheering you on!!! :)

Just an FYI regarding Ditto: You can place ALL your orders through the Ditto system.

You can set up a standard Ditto profile, but you can also set up another Ditto profile that you use for your additonal orders.

*Copy whatever is in your cart to your "additional orders" Ditto profile.

*Change quantities of each of the products--for the current month only. Keep the rest of the months as zeros (0).

*Click on the date right at the top of that month. Change the date to ship the next day.

There is no limit to the number of Ditto profiles someone can have. So for instance a customer may want stuff on a weekly basis. Maybe they get paid weekly. Maybe they are used to shopping weekly. So you can help them set up four separate Ditto profiles--1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th week of the month.

Once free shipping is available to customers as of Sept 1, on orders of $75 or more, this way might seem quite appealing.

I think the Ditto module wasn't necessarily designed with customers in mind. But we can manipulate it and be creative until the Corp. fixes it.

Hope this helps!

Beth,

What are you going to be do