Amway Thailand Ltd, a direct-sales company, posted a sales growth of 10% in the first quarter this year, the first pickup after five years of negative or flat growth because of the weak economy.
Managing director Kittawat Ritteerawee said sales in the first three months expanded beyond expectations thanks to the recovery of overall direct sales in the country and the impressive growth of BodyKey by Nutrilite products, a personalised weight management programme, in addition to the launch of Nutrilite PhytoPowder, an energy drink mix.
Sales have been picking up since the last quarter of 2016, and have kept the same pace through the first quarter this year, he said.
However, the growth momentum remains far behind the peak that Amway experienced during 2008-12, when the company enjoyed an average sales growth of 12% per year.
The improved performance in the first quarter of this year inspired the firm to set an aggressive sales growth of 8% this year.
Mr Kittawat declined to reveal the sales value.
Thailand's direct selling business has been rising over the past several years due to behavioural changes among consumers and competitors, products, and marketing carried out by leading brands.
According to Thai Direct Selling Association (TDSA), the direct sales segment was worth 69.3 billion baht in 2015 and increased in value to 70 billion baht in 2016.
TDSA expects the direct sales industry to grow by 5-8% to 73.5 billion baht this year.
Amway has been operating in Thailand for three decades with a sales force of 330,000 persons, and over 720,000 members who buy about 500 Amway products.
To continue sustainable growth in the long term, Mr Kittawat said the company is modernising its business model through recruiting young sales representatives.
"We want to present Amway's business as a second career that fits perfectly into active lifestyles for those under 35 years old," Mr Kittawat said.
Young sales representative account for 330,000, or about 30% of Amway's global total.
In Thailand, the modernisation will be broken down into three phases.
The first phase will adjust Amway's image toward entrepreneurial careers.
The second phase will be about product development to enmesh with active lifestyles, and the last phase will focus on leader development and rewards to accommodate young people.
The implementation of these three phases will be completed within five years.
"We hope that young active customers are confident of Amway's business opportunities to establish a long-term career that is also inheritable," Mr Kittawat said.
He adds that with the strategies, the company expects young active Amway business owners or sales representative to increase to 40-50% of the total Amway business owners in the future, up from one-third.