Italy ranks third in Europe in terms of turnover generated by direct sales. The sector remains a constantly attractive job opportunity in Italy, with 3 billion in sales and about 550 thousand employees. These are some of the elements that emerged at the Milan Chamber of Commerce, during the press conference held by Univendita and Avedisco for the presentation of the Ipsos European research on direct sales on the 26th of september.
The survey, focusing on the Italian market (sample of 9,712), shows that 67% of the sales agents are under 55, while one third are under 45. Furthermore, 82% of the sample is female. They are almost always people with experience in other fields, but 34% have been in the industry for more than 10 years: it means that in most cases salespeople do not work sporadically or discontinuously.
Training plays a central role for all direct sales companies. This is also why 92% of the salespeople say they are satisfied with the theoretical and practical tools made available to them, compared to 83% of the European average. Among the main skills acquired, there are the strengthening of interpersonal skills (87%), the increase in self-esteem (83%), and the improvement of the ability to work in a team (80%), in addiction to the benefits of additional income (83%) and above all of meeting new people (92%).
Direct selling also proves to be a sector perfectly aligned with the latest digital developments: “Can we compete with developments in technology? Yes, and very well”, according to Univendita president Ciro Sinatra. “We are a physical social media and not a virtual one: today they invented likes on the internet, we have been doing it for ages.”
