By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A company of Asian heritage and a part of the US $200 billion global direct selling industry, QNET, is entering the buoyant direct selling sector in Eastern Africa, and expects to offer world class quality consumer products and to elevate standards of living by garnering the spirit of entrepreneurship to all individuals, even those with little business background.
QNET’s product offering include a wide range of world-acclaimed lifestyle and wellness products such as personal care, nutrition, cosmetics, home care and body, water energies, jewellery and watches as well as holiday packages.
QNET, optimizing its existing e-commerce platform currently has three easily accessible local agents in West Africa, namely Mali, Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso. These agents serve as the liaison between QNET, its Independent Representatives (IRs) and customers with their enquiries, delivery of products and the display of product range so as to enable people to view for themselves some of the products sold online. QNET is planning to engage a local agency in Tanzania soon to provide the best customer service in the country.
“QNET is proud to be in Tanzania and is committed to working closely with the local government officials and authorities to create more entrepreneurial opportunities for the local community. Direct selling which is the marketing and selling of products directly to consumers away from a fixed retail location, provides people a great alternative platform to join entrepreneurship” said Mr. David K Sharma, Advisor to QNET Board of Directors.
In addition to offering quality consumer products, ranging from health and home care to online education courses, and more, QNET firmly believes that there is nothing more empowering to individuals than the financial freedom that a career in the direct selling industry provides, and believes that the people of Tanzania, with their ambition and strong sense of entrepreneurship, will appreciate the quality consumer products that QNET offers and the business opportunities for self-development.
QNET started getting online purchases for its products from Africa since 2007. Today there are thousands of Tanzanian citizens who have also registered to market and promote QNET online products as IRs. The top selling products for QNET in Tanzania are Wellness products, household items such as water filtration systems, health and wellness products, online education learning (such as business courses, marketing courses and business English courses) as well as luxury products like watches and jewellery.
“Our best selling Products include HomePure, a water filtration system as well as AirPure, our air purifier, addresses a real need for clean water and clean air in many developing countries. In developed markets QVI Holidays, a vacation membership and holiday getaway product, tends to be quite popular with those wanting to take rejuvenating breaks. For busy professionals who are interested in continuing their education but have no time, we offer e-learning courses on a number of topics. We also have an expert selection of lifestyle-friendly food supplements for long life and vitality called LifeQode which we recently introduced in Tanzania” explained Mr Sharma.
“QNET is always respectful of the local laws and is fully obliged to the commercial laws and consumer laws of Tanzania. QNET also has policies and procedures that all its IRs must strictly adhere to its code of marketing and promotion of QNET products ethically,” noted, Mr. Sharma.
Mr Sharma assured potential entrepreneurs in Tanzania of QNET’s continued support through training and education of IRs with a view to developing their professional skills with special focus on personal growth and development.
“We believe that financial success alone is not enough. In order for us to make an impact, we need to develop people to be better human beings so that they can use their success to contribute to their local communities”, he added.
Globally, the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (WFDSA), which QNET is affiliated through the Direct Selling Associations of Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, reported unprecedented sales and engagement with 6.4% growth generating close to US$ 200 billion in 2015. WFDSA said that in the past three years, the industry has seen a compound annual growth rate of 6.5 percent. It also noted that behind direct selling’s positive growth trend are millions of entrepreneurs marketing an array of products and services.
With direct selling gaining popularity, Tanzania is seen to have huge potential to become a leading market in the African region.
