Indian direct selling industry rises 13% to Rs 13,000cr in FY19

The Indian direct selling industry grew around 13 percent in 2018-19 with sales totalling around Rs 13,000 crore, in which wellness products contributed over half of the total volume, said a IDSA report on September 25.

Besides, the industry also contributed around Rs 2,500 crore to the exchequer during the period, according to the Indian Direct Selling Association's (IDSA) Annual Survey 2018-19.

"North region contributed to around 27 percent of the direct selling sales in the country in FY 2018-19. This was closely followed by the west region with approximately 25 percent of the direct selling sales," the report said.

The Indian direct selling industry was at Rs 11,670 crore in 2017-18.

According to the report, the total number of direct sellers in India stood at around 5.7 million, in which the industry comprised almost equal number of male and female direct sellers.

Out of the total industry sales, over 50 percent came from wellness products, which include weight management supplements, energy bars and drinks.

"This is followed by cosmetics and personal care, which include products such as cosmetics, skin care, fragrances etc, contributes more than one-fourth of the sales by IDSA members during 2018-19," it said adding these two categories combined contribute more than 80 percent of sales.

Maharashtra accounts for the highest share in total industry sales with 13.3 percent, followed by West Bengal (9 percent).

These figures include the sales of 21 IDSA members and the non-member direct selling entities, it added.

According to IDSA Chairman Vivek Katoch, the sector was helped by the model guidelines issued by the government for direct selling.

However, he also added that there are some challenges faced by the industry as misconceptions of relating it with the Ponzi schemes and illegal selling of direct selling products by e-commerce majors.

The global direct selling industry stood at around $192.9 billion in 2018 with a 1.2 percent, in which China topped the chart with 18.5 percent share, followed by the US with 18.3 percent share, the report said.