Analytics, Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Internet, Markets and Companies, Technology

There are over 44,000 people in Estonia engaged in direct selling.

"The people of Estonia are doing well and the decline in merchants in the direct sales business has been due to the rapid economic growth and positive employment of recent years," Gintautas Zaleckas, secretary general of the Baltic Direct Selling Association, said in press release.

He acknowledged that this year's crisis and its aftermath are expected to make some more adjustments to the local labor market -- many people have lost their jobs and direct sales will probably become attractive again as an opportunity to earn extra money.

Estonians mostly buy cosmetics and beauty products through direct sales, as well as vitamins, food supplements and health products. Also popular are household items, household cleaners, repair supplies, clothing and accessories.

"Estonians have received direct sales as an opportunity for shopping well. The advantages highlighted by customers include the personal and friendly communication style of direct sellers, high-quality products and convenient digital solutions for selling their goods," Zaleckas added.

The direct sales sector has also moved to the internet in recent years. Increasingly, direct sellers use various digital solutions in their work, conducting product presentations on the internet and communicating with their customers on social networks.

When comparing European countries, the growth of direct sales was the fastest in the Baltics, with 4.6 percent in Lithuania and 4 percent in Latvia. The turnover of direct sales of the three Baltic states amounted to 206 million euros last year. In Lithuania, the number of people engaged in direct sales increased by 0.6 percent last year, and in Latvia the level remained the same. Altogether 83,000 people are involved in direct sales in Lithuania and 63,000 in Latvia.

In the European Union, the direct sales market grew by 1.3 percent to 30.3 billion euros. In total, European direct selling companies offered the opportunity of earning extra to more than 6.9 million people.

According to the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (WFDSA), global members posted a turnover of 180.5 billion US dollars in 2019. More than 119.9 million people were engaged in direct sales, of whom 53 million people were engaged in full or part-time direct sales through their own enterprise.

For 85 percent of people in direct sales, this is a source of additional employment, and 78 percent of salespeople in this business are women.

Direct selling is a business model that offers people as independent entrepreneurs the opportunity to sell and market products and usually takes place outside a permanent retail location, either directly to the consumer on a person-to-person basis, through product presentations at home or online.

The Estonian Direct Selling Association is a national voluntary not-profit trade association bringing together firms that manufacture and distribute goods and services sold directly to consumers. Since 2010, the Baltic national direct selling associations have been working closely together, acting as a single unit.