Korean Atomy's stride forward…Takes on the Chinese Market ...

Atomy's global sales combined with domestic and foreign markets last year amounted to about 1.2 billion dollars (1.5 trillion won). Meanwhile ... Search Search reset Brazil Português Türkçe हिन्दी English Melayu 한국어 中文 Español Suncare ARTICLE KoreanAtomy’sstrideforward…TakesontheChineseMarket,aDirectSellingBattlefield Openandclose KoreanAtomy’sstrideforward…TakesontheChineseMarket,aDirectSellingBattlefield     Atomy,thenumber1directsellingcompanyinKorea,takesuptheChinesemarket.Atomy–foundedin2009-isalatecomertotheglobaldirectsellingmarket.However,asof2019-injust10yearsofitsfounding-ithaslaunchedto14overseasbranchesincludingKorea.Ithassetarecordforglobalsalesof1.5trillionwon(about$1.2billion).Thenumberofmembers,whichistypicallydirectlyconnectedtotheoverallsalesofdirectsellingcompanies,hasalsoreached6.1millionworldwide,including3.4millioninKorea.AnAtomypersonnelsaid,"Inthefirsthalfofthisyear,wearetakingstepstotargettheChinesemarket." Asoflastyear,thesizeofthedirectsellingmarketinChinawasapproximately251.3billionyuan(about43trillionwon),surpassingtheUnitedStates,asitemergedastheworld'slargestmarket.Amway,theworld'snumber1directsellingcompany,enteredtheChinesemarketin1995andmarksits25thyearthisyear.OtherglobaldirectsellingcompaniessuchasHerbalifeandNuSkinalsoenteredtheChinesemarketin1997and2003respectively.InChina,Amwayisoperatingunderthename'Anli’,Herbalifeas‘KangbaoLai’,andNuSkinas'Lucin'. UndertheChinesename,“AiDuoMei”,Atomy’sentryintotheChinesemarketwasinevitableforthecompany’sgrowth.Atomy'sglobalsalescombinedwithdomesticandforeignmarketslastyearamountedtoabout1.2billiondollars(1.5trillionwon).MeanwhileAmway,theworld'slargestmultinationaldirectsellingcompany,hadglobalsalesof$8.4billion(approximately10.3trillionwon)lastyear. Becominga1Billion-dollarDirectSellingCompanyin10Years Infact,theChinesedistributionmarketisknownasthegraveyardforglobaldistributionpowerhouses.LargeKoreandistributioncompaniessuchasE-Mart,LotteMart,andLotteDepartmentStoreenteredtheChinesedistributionmarketwiththeirattentionsolelyfixedonthe1.3billionChinesepopulation.Intheend,allofthesecompaniesthrewinthetowel.Truthbetold,theChinesemarketmaylooklikeahandfultoAtomy,asaKoreandirectsellingcompanythatlacksthedistributioncapacityorhumanresourcescomparedtosuchlargecompanies, However,itisnoteworthythatwithintheKoreandirectsellingindustry,AtomyisonthebrinkofcatchingupwithAmway,theworld'sbiggestdirectsellingcompany.AccordingtotheFairTradeCommission,in2018,Atomy'ssalesinKoreaamountedto970.7billionwon,cominginsecondonlytoAmwayKorea(1trillion279.9billionwon).AnAtomypersonnelsaid,“Inthepastyear(2019),saleswithinKoreaamountedtoabout1trillion80billionwon(basedontheKoreaFairTradeCommission),andifcombiningoverseasexportaswell,AtomyisexpectedtoslightlyovertakeAmwayKorea(estimated1.2trillionwon)verysoon.” InChina,thelawsforthedirectsellingindustryisapplieddifferentlyindifferentcircumstances.Dependingonthemethodofsales,therearetwocategoriesforsellingproducts.Firstisintheformof‘directselling’.Secondisintheformof‘vendorselling’.Directsellingisdirectlysellingproductstotheconsumers,whilevendorsellingfollowsatraditionalmodelofsellingproductsasanagent.Salesintheformof‘multi-levelmarketing’isconsideredtobewithinthecategoryof‘illegalpyramidsales’,andisbeingstrictlyrestrictedbytheMulti-levelSalesProhibitionAct.  Inthecaseofdirectselling,onlydoor-to-doorsalesarepermittedwhilesponsoreddoor-to-doorsalesormulti-levelmarketingarenotpermitted.Aseparatebusinesslicenseisrequiredforeachregion,andtheitemssoldarelimitedtohealthfoods,cosmetics,kitchenware,personalhygieneproducts,healthequipment,andsmallhouseholdappliances.AnAtomypersonnelsaid,"Toobtainalicensefordirectsales,itismandatoryforonetopassthescreeningofninecentraldepartments,includingtheMinistryofCommerceandtheMinistryofPublicSecurity,whichtakesabouttwoyears.” Atomy’sstrategyistoinitiallylaunchintotheChinesemarketwithavendorsellinglicense,thentoobtainadirectsellinglicenseafterwards.Atomyhasalreadytakenactionfortherelatedprocedureinthelast3years,aimingtotargettheChinesedirectsellingmarket.In2017,Atomyalsosecuredaproductionlinetomanufacturetoothbrushes,kitchenutensils,eco-friendlybabyutensils,andsanitaryvinylbyrentingalocalfactoryinYantai,ShandongProvince. ThereasonwhyAtomystrivestoobtainadirectsellinglicenseisbecausetheconsumers’trustincreasesdramaticallywhenthelicenseisacquired.IntheChinesedistributionmarket,theimageofeverydaygoodssoldbyforeigndirectsellingcompaniesisrelativelybetterthandomesticallymanufacturedlow-qualityproducts.Insmallandmedium-sizedcities,thisphenomenonisevenstronger. Atomy'sentryintoChinaisinevitableforproductdiversification.OneofthesecretsofAtomy'ssuccessistheso-called“GlobalSourcingGlobalSales”(GSGS)strategy.Thestrategyistodiscoverandsourcethebestproductsthroughouttheworldandsellthemindifferentmarketsworldwide.AtomyCEO,Dae-HyunKimstates,“Infiveyears,productsmanufacturedandsourcedfromChinawillexceed50%ofallofAtomy’sproducts.”Healsoadded,“Inthefuture,productsprocuredfromChinawillbeexportedthroughoutvariousmarketsintheworldincludingtheUnitedStates.”  ThebiggestobstaclerightnowisthesuddendeclineintheconsumermarketduetotheCOVID-19pandemic.Evennow,inChina,strictrestrictionsformovementbetweenregionsisimplementedinordertopreventthespreadofthevirus.Thoughface-to-faceinteractioniscurrentlydifficult,thecompanybelievesthatbyutilizingonlineinteractivetools,therewillbenoproblemsincommunicatingwiththeconsumers.Onecompanyofficialexpressedhisoptimism,“Over90%ofallChinesepeoplearecommunicatingviaonlinethroughplatformssuchasWeChat.” TherapidgrowthofChinesedirectsellingcompanieshasnotbeentoofavorableforAtomy.Forexample,oneofthelargestfoodcompaniesinChinathatisfamousfortheiroystersauce,LeeKumKim(LKK),hasasubsidiarydirectsellingcompanycalled“Infinitus.”Currently,theyhavethestrongestpresencewithintheChinesedirectsellingindustry.Thecompanywasfoundedin1992andhasbeenrapidlygrowing,targetingmainlytheChinesedomesticmarket.WithinChina,InfinitushasalreadyovertakenAmway,andin2018,itsglobalsaleshavereached$4.5billion(about5.53trillionwon). TheShenzhenCrisisthatbrokeoutinChinaattheendof2018isanotherobstacle.TheShenzhenCrisisisacasewhereamajorChinesedirectsellingcompanywasforcedtostopallofitsbusinesspracticesbyChineselocalauthoritiesduetothefalseadvertisementofitshealthfunctionalfoodproductsandinviolationoftherelatedlawsandregulations.Shenzhenhadbecomeawell-knowncompanyinTianjinwhereitsheadquarterwasbased–havingeventheirownsoccerteamcalled,the“TianjinShenzhen”between2015and2019.Intermsofitssalesvolume,itwasthesecondorthirdlargestplayerwithinthedirectsellingindustryinChina,trailingrightbehindthenumberonecompany,Infinitus. StrategytopushforHealthFunctionalFoodandCosmeticProducts However,astheShenzhencrisisbrokeout,Chinesesupervisorsconductedafull-outinvestigationoncompanieswithinthesameindustry.AcompanycalledHuaLin,basedinHebeiProvince,wasdirectlyhitbytheinvestigation.TheaftermathoftheShenzhenCrisishasspilledovertoforeigncompaniessuchasAmwayandHerbalifethathavelegallybeenoperatinginChina.AnAtomypersonnelexplained,"SincetheShenzhenCrises,Chinahastentativelysuspendedtheissuanceofnewdirectsellinglicenses.ItisAtomy’sstrategytotargettheChinesemarketwithitstwostrongestarsenal–healthfunctionalfoodandcosmeticproducts.ThemarketabilityofbothproductshasbeentestedwithintheKoreanmarket.HealthfunctionalfoodandcosmeticproductsareAtomy'stoptwoflagshipproducts.Atomy'sbestproduct,Hemohim-ahealthfunctionalfoodproduct-hasrankednumber1withinitsindustryinKoreaforfiveconsecutiveyears.SuchafeatwaspossiblethroughwordofmouththatHemohimwasdevelopedbytheKoreaAtomicEnergyResearchInstitute.AccordingtotheKoreaFairTradeCommission,Hemohim’stotalsalesin2018amountedto181.9billionwon.AtomyCEODae-HyunKimstated,“RightnowisthebesttimetoenterintotheChinesemarketbecauseoftheconsumers’highpreferenceforKoreanproducts.” ►http://weekly.chosun.com/client/news/viw.asp?ctcd=C05&nNewsNumb=002609100010   Tag ATOMY AboutAtomy AtomyNews globalnews Recommended 인터넷익스플로러사용자는[도구]-[호환성보기]를클릭하여호환성보기를해제하여주시기바랍니다. 닫기 LOGIN LOGIN LOGIN CheckyourID. 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