This month’s respondent set of 50 private companies within the direct selling industry continued to exhibit remarkable resilience during August, especially when considering seasonal and circumstantial headwinds. Despite these challenges, 23 companies grew revenue in August as compared to July and—of the companies where we are privy to the data—the vast majority grew revenue year-over-year when compared to August of 2019.

We feel August’s sequential slowdown is not abnormal and should be expected. Contributing factors include: typical seasonality; a delayed summer mentality; the unprecedented glitches and time commitments caused by virtual school; and inevitable altitude fatigue associated with an ever-higher monthly baseline.
In our estimation, fall will be the crucial period that determines how the story of 2020 will ultimately be written—beginning with September.  Our opinion, as expressed earlier this month in our public company report, is that 2020 will set a record for domestic direct selling revenue and a break a five-trend of generally declining sales. We base this theory on our proprietary private company revenue data, including approximately 30 companies on track to grow revenue by at least $100 million in 2020, as well as the exceptional domestic results reported by many large public companies within the industry.

As more children to return to physical classrooms, the channel’s predominantly female salesforce will have more time to focus on their business—and we are forecasting a strong September as a result, particularly in the second half of the month. Transitioning into the fourth quarter, we expect the industry to follow typical seasonal trends with additional growth through October and November prior to an expected slowdown leading into Christmas and the New Year.

We look forward to sharing more with you soon.
Stay well,

Stuart Johnson
CEO & Owner | SUCCESS Partners

*The total data set consists of more than 50 companies, with criteria including headquarters based in the U.S., a minimum of $5 million per month in revenue, and a substantial percentage of revenue from U.S. business. Public companies did not participate. Half of the companies are not members of the Direct Selling Association.