雅芳在美國流行文化中的影響力，是多數美國品牌無法企及的。這家直銷式化妝品公司在上世紀五六十年代的時髦廣告語“叮咚，我是雅芳”，早已演變為美國人的日常語言。在曾經的數十年中，幾乎每個人都認識一位通過售賣雅芳唇膏和指甲油賺外快，甚至以此謀生的人。

所以，當市場傳出雅芳將剝離其北美業務的消息時，真是令人唏噓不已。雅芳的歷史可以追溯到1886年的紐約，當時一位挨家挨戶賣書的商人開始銷售自制的香水，雅芳品牌由此誕生。雅芳將以1.7億美元的價格，將80.1%的北美業務出售給企業復興專家，私募股權公司博龍資產（Cerberus），雅芳將專注于拯救前景更好，但同樣陷入困境的海外市場，改善公司疲軟的財務狀況。

雅芳CEO謝莉?麥考伊在2012年上臺，她深信自己有能力力挽狂瀾，并且固執地認為，開始搖搖欲墜的美國業務，是維持該公司形象的關鍵所在。即使到了現在，她依舊堅持這樣的想法。謝莉?麥考伊接受《財富》雜志采訪時說道：“我堅信這個問題可以解決。”

但在她任職的近4年時間里，雅芳北美業務的銷售額持續下降，從2007年到2014年，下降了超過一半（見下圖）。銷售代表，也就是人們常說的“雅芳小姐”的人數，每個季度都在減少。

Few American brands have been as much a part of U.S. pop culture as Avon. The “Ding Dong, Avon Calling” tag line from the direct-selling beauty company’s 1950s and 1960s ads became part of the vernacular, and everyone for decades knew someone who was selling its lipstick and mascara for some extra money or even to make a living.

So it was particularly sad news on 17.Dec.2015 that Avon Products—a company that traces its roots to 1886 New York, when a door-to-door bookseller was selling home-made perfumes—was carving out its North American business. Avon is selling 80.1% of that unit to turnaround expert and private equity firm Cerberus for $170 million so it can focus on salvaging its more promising but struggling overseas markets and improve its weakening finances.

Avon CEO Sheri McCoy took the helm in 2012, convinced she could turn things around and adamant that the already faltering U.S. business was key to the company’s identity. She still thinks that. “I do believe it’s fixable,” McCoy told Fortune in an interview on Thursday.

But in her nearly four years on the job, Avon’s North American sales have continued to collapse, falling by more than half between 2007 and 2014 (see graphic below), and the number of sales representatives, commonly called “Avon Ladies,” have shrunk each quarter.

從完善傭金結構，到推出新的計算機系統，以改進訂單管理和銷售代表的傭金支付，最近還曾嘗試進入拉美裔社區，麥考伊嘗試了一切辦法。但這些努力的結果卻不盡如人意。

最終，各種因素導致雅芳美國業務轟然崩潰。

麥考伊說道：“雖然我們取得了一定的進步，但速度緩慢，改變的速度沒有達到我們的預期。”現在看來，留給雅芳的時間已經不多了。

下面五個原因，或許可以解釋雅芳北美業務為何陷入如此境地。

各種價格實惠的高品質化妝品紛紛崛起：如今化妝品直銷變得越來越難，雖然雅芳一直在努力適應這種新形勢，但競爭對手紛紛推出低價優質的化妝品，其中最著名的是Ulta Beauty和LVMH’s Sephora，通過與彭尼百貨合作，后者現在已經進駐數百家店鋪。2010年至2014年期間，Ulta的銷售額從14.5億美元增長到32億美元，而雅芳北美業務的銷售額卻從22億美元下降到12億美元。雪上加霜的是，從塔吉特百貨到科爾士百貨，再到連鎖藥店CVS Health ，幾乎每家零售商都在雄心勃勃地改進自己的化妝品部門。

功能不足的計算機系統：兩年前，雅芳終止了一項價值1.25億美元的軟件升級計劃。在加拿大測試證明這款軟件非常糟糕之后，它依然被雅芳使用了長達4年之久。這直接導致大批銷售代表離開雅芳。采用該軟件系統的目的是完善訂單管理和簡化傭金跟蹤，但為了避免更多銷售代表流失，雅芳不得不重新開始。

姍姍來遲的電子商務：2014年，雅芳終于“發現”了電子商務。當年夏天，雅芳對avon.com進行了十年來第一次大幅度改版。新網站有更為生動的產品互動圖像，有提供美容技巧和建議的視頻，以及來自時裝周的視頻片段。此外，網站還提供許多用來幫助銷售代表個性化他們自己的銷售網站的工具，還利用Twitter、Facebook和Instagram等社交工具向客戶發送新產品建議。這是正確的措施，但為時已晚，根本無法縮小與競爭對手的最新型網站的差距。更糟糕的是，Birchbox等電子商務公司的快速成長，使得雅芳很難吸引新一代消費者。

傭金結構：雅芳一直在努力完善其傭金結構，使銷售代表可以更容易獲得更多收入，以更低的銷售門檻獲得更高的收入分成。但相比之下，玫琳凱化妝品公司（Mary Kay Cosmetics）的傭金更高，這讓雅芳的日子異常艱難。此外，雅芳的銷售額在持續下降，越來越多的潛在銷售代表壓根就沒有考慮過為雅芳工作。

進入拉美裔社區的時間太晚：雖然拉美裔在美國人口中占較大的比例，是一個龐大的化妝品消費群體，但雅芳卻遲遲沒有開發這個市場。直到2014年，雅芳才推出專為拉美裔銷售代表準備的銷售材料，他們的人均銷量遠遠超過其他群體。

說句公道話，麥考伊一直在努力拯救這個經歷多年的疏忽和失誤（失誤之一是試圖走高端路線）之后搖搖欲墜的品牌。如今，在博龍資產的領導下，雅芳可以遠離金融市場的關注，將有更多空間解決自身的問題，并且可以繼續與母公司合作。在新產品開發方面，雅芳母公司依舊處于行業領先的地位。

麥考伊說道：“博龍資產與我們合作過很長時間，他們進行過大量盡職調查。如果他們不看好直銷以及雅芳北美品牌的未來，他們不可能投錢。”

對于麥考伊來說，現在還有其他事情要做。她要努力避免在巴西、俄羅斯和墨西哥等關鍵市場重蹈覆轍。（財富中文網）

譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

審校：任文科

McCoy has done everything from try to improve the commission structure, to introducing new computer systems to improve order management and payment for the reps, to a late effort to tap the Hispanic community. And yet results continued to disappoint.

Ultimately, Avon in the U.S. was undone by a confluence of factors.

“We were making progress but it was slow, so the pace of change was not where we wanted to see it,” McCoy said. And it seems that Avon ran out of time.

Here are five reasons Avon’s business faltered in the North America.

The rise of affordable quality beauty products: While Avon was trying to adapt to a world in which direct-selling is a tougher and tougher proposition in beauty, competitors came into the market with low-price, good quality products, most notably UltaBeauty ultra and LVMH’s Sephora, which now has locations in hundreds of stores across the U.S. thanks to its partnership with J.C. Penney. Between 2010 and 2014, Ulta sales rose from $1.45 billion to $3.2 billion, while at Avon, North American sales fell from $2.2 billion to $1.2 billion. Adding to Avon’s pain, everyone from Targetto Kohl’sto CVS Healthhas gotten aggressive about improving their beauty sections.

Inadequate computer systems: Two years ago, Avonpulled the plug on a $125 million software upgrade that had been in the works for four years after a test run in Canada proved so awful, that it drove away the sales reps in big numbers. The system had been intended to improve order management and make tracking commissions easier, but Avon had to go back to the drawing board rather than risk losing more reps.

Coming late to e-commerce: In 2014, Avon finally discovered e-commerce. In the summer of 2014, the company completed its first major overhaul of avon.com in 10 years. The new site had far more vivid and interactive product images, a trove of videos with beauty tips and recommendations, and features such as footage from Fashion Week. The site also had tools to help “reps” personalize their own sales sites and use Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to send advice on new products to customers near and far. It was a good, but late, effort that didn’t really bridge the gap with rivals’ state-of-the-art sites. Adding to the pressure, e-commerce companies like Birchbox have grown quickly, making it hard for Avon to attract a new generation of shoppers.

Commission structure: Avon has tried to make improvements to its commission structure to make it easier for reps to make more money from their sales by getting a higher percentage of sales at a lower sales threshold. But it’s tough out there with rivals like Mary Kay Cosmetics offering generous compensation. What’s more, with Avon’s sales in decline, fewer prospective sales reps are even looking into working with Avon anymore.

Late to the Hispanic market: Though Hispanics have long made up a sizable part of the U.S. population and are proportionally big spenders on beauty, Avon was late to discover that segment. It was only in 2014 that Avon created marketing materials made specifically for its Hispanic reps, who sold far more products than non-Hispanics on a per capita basis..

To be fair, McCoy was trying to save a brand suffering from years of neglect and missteps (one was a misguided attempt a few years ago to go higher end). So now, under Cerberus, Avon will have more room to fix itself, far from the klieg lights of the financial markets, and continue to collaborate with the parent company, which will still take the lead on developing new products.

“Cerberus has spent a lot of time with us, they [have] done an extensive amount of due diligence. They would not put the money in if they didn’t believe in the future of direct selling, and of the brand in North America,” McCoy said.

As for McCoy, she now has one big distraction out of the way as she tries to prevent the same decline in the U.S. from occurring in key Avon markets like Brazil, Russia, and Mexico.