Electronic Commerce and Mary Kay
Founded in 1962, Mary Kay (marykay.com) has about 1.8 million consultants selling its cosmetics and fragrances in 34 countries. In 2008, the company had about $2.4 billion in wholesale sales. As a company that has based its reputation on personal contacts through door-to-door visits and home gatherings, one might think that Mary Kay would not benefit from EC. Actually, the opposite is true. Currently, more than 95 percent of Mary Kay’s independent salespeople place orders via the Internet. The Problem
The cosmetics market is very competitive, but it is growing rapidly, especially in developing countries. Mary Kay is trying to capitalize on this trend. The Mary Kay business model enables rapid growth into new markets. By the early 2000s, consultants found that more and more customers wanted to shop online. With a long and global supply chain and the need to manage almost 2 million consultants, it was clear that automation was needed, but Mary Kay’s existing computer system was old and lacked Web or e-commerce applications. Therefore, a major overhaul of the information systems was needed. Finally, it became clear that the emergence of social computing might provide a golden opportunity for Internet marketing by the company. The Solution
Mary Kay’s IT department is now split into three divisions: e-commerce, supply chain, and back-office support.
Because of pressure from the consultants, the restructuring focused on e-commerce.
The company’s goals and objectives were set based on industry best practices. Goals and objectives determine what, how, and when the company is operated, and these also apply to EC initiatives. Mary Kay’s EC solution included the creation of an electronic service desk that supports consultants in 30 countries in a standardized way. Mary Kay also introduced a global electronic ordering system, called Atlas, that allows the consultants to communicate with company warehouses. An intelligent data repository that dynamically
The cosmetics market is very competitive, but it is growing rapidly, especially in developing countries. Mary Kay is trying to capitalize on this trend. The Mary Kay business model enables rapid growth into new markets. By the early 2000s, consultants found that more and more customers wanted to shop online. With a long and global supply chain and the need to manage almost 2 million consultants, it was clear that automation was needed, but Mary Kay’s existing computer system was old and lacked Web or e-commerce applications. Therefore, a major overhaul of the information systems was needed. Finally, it became clear that the emergence of social computing might provide a golden opportunity for Internet marketing by the company. The Solution
Mary Kay’s IT department is now split into three divisions: e-commerce, supply chain, and back-office support.
Because of pressure from the consultants, the restructuring focused on e-commerce.
The company’s goals and objectives were set based on industry best practices. Goals and objectives determine what, how, and when the company is operated, and these also apply to EC initiatives. Mary Kay’s EC solution included the creation of an electronic service desk that supports consultants in 30 countries in a standardized way. Mary Kay also introduced a global electronic ordering system, called Atlas, that allows the consultants to communicate with company warehouses. An intelligent data repository that dynamically