Do you want to smell like a Pea?  Avon hopes so.

The cosmetics maker will launch a new scent with Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas next year.

Avon called Fergie “a bold choice” for its brand.

“I’m always seeking out new ways to express myself, and fragrance is the perfect opportunity to share my originality and confidence with my fans, and the Avon consumer.  I couldn’t be happier to be working with a brand with such a strong reputation for supporting women,” Fergie said in a statement.

Fergie fans in the United States will have to wait a little longer than the rest of the world for the scent.  U.S. representatives will start selling it in November of 2010.  Those outside of the United States will be able to nab it in August 2010. 

(Reuters photo)

Check Out one analyst’s view of direct sellers.

Jefferies analyst Douglas Lane said quarterly results from direct selling companies — like cosmetics maker Avon and storage and serving containers maker Tupperware — bolsters his positive view on the model, which uses sales representatives to promote its products.

Referring to Avon, Tupperware, Nu Skin, Herbalife and Usana Health Sciences, Lane said in a research note that “these five companies beat Street expectations by an average of over 20% in the June quarter, as well as the upper end of each mgt’s range in the cases one was articulated.”

Avon, for instance, beat Wall Street’s quarterly profit expectations recently, and said it saw a leap in its representatives’ numbers, as more people turn to its easy and flexible sales model to make additional money in the economic slump.

Tupperware’s results also soared past expectations, thanks in part to its presence in emerging markets — a factor that could bode well for all these companies, Lane said.

“Our viewpoint continues to be that the consumer is not apt to lead us out of this recession the same way it did the last recession, and that we like having the exposure to the growth markets of  the world, including those in Asia, Central & Eastern Europe and Latin America,” Lane said.

But will everyone now turning to direct sellers to make an extra buck stick around when things get better? Time will tell.

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(Photo/Reuters)

Online retail may be outperforming brick-and-mortar rivals amid the U.S. recession, but that’s no reason to get complacent.

In a wake-up call to the industry, a new survey shows that customer satisfaction with online retailers declined 3 percent from last year.

The slipping satisfaction level uncovered in ForeSee Results’ Top 100 Online Retail Satisfaction Index is a “remarkable trend,” according to its author.

The report — which surveyed 22,000 respondents to measure customer satisfaction at the top 100 online retailers by sales volume — found that the top performers were outweighed by more bottom performers, with 55 online retailers seeing their scores drop from last year.
 
“Customer satisfaction, when measured scientifically, is not just a number or a beauty contest. It is a direct precursor of customer behaviors that have a measurable and quantifiable ability to impact sales and profitability,” warned author Larry Freed.
    
A 1 point increase in customer satisfaction is equivalent to nearly 9 percent growth in online sales, the report found, while a satisfied shopper is 71 percent more likely to buy than a dissatisfied one. 
    
First, the good news: Netflix.com is still No 1, followed by Amazon.com, with the top two companies maintaining their spots for five years in a row.  Avon.com came in third.

While a score of 80 or above represents a superior job, those logging lower than a 70 need some help.

That group includes 1800Flowers.com, BlueNile.com, JCrew.com, UrbanOutfitters.com and RestorationHardware.com.

The biggest year-over-year declines in customer satisfaction came from discounter Etronics.com and book retailer efollett.com, both also among the worst performers.
    
“It is surprising that any of the top 100 retailers could get away with scores in the 60s and maintain any kind of market dominance for very long,” wrote Freed.
    
While not in the bottom group, sites including CVS.com, NeimanMarcus.com, Apple.com and Blockbuster.com all saw their ratings fall over 6 percent from the prior year.

The biggest year-over year improvement came from Kohls.com, which improved nearly 6 percent.

Check out the latest earnings reports, which give a hint of hope that things could be looking up, if it weren’t for that pesky stronger U.S. dollar.
 
Avon’s revenue fell 13 percent to $2.18 billion as the stronger U.S. dollar decreased the value of overseas sales by 16 percentage points. On a local currency basis, sales rose 3 percent. 
 
“Foreign exchange significantly pressured first-quarter profit, as expected,” Avon Chief Executive Andrea Jung said in a statement. “We are taking aggressive action to lessen the foreign-exchange impact … the benefits of which should be stronger in the second half of 2009.”
 
Kraft Foods posted a higher-than-expected first-quarter profit helped by price increases and cost-cutting.  While profit rose, the maker of Oreo cookies said sales fell 6.5 percent to $9.4 billion, hurt in part by — you guessed it — the stronger dollar, which lessens the dollar-value of sales made overseas. Organic revenue, or sales excluding currency fluctuations, acquisitions and divestitures, rose 2.3 percent. 
    
Over at MillerCoors, the combined U.S. operations of SABMiller Plc and Molson Coors Brewing Co, net sales rose 3.8 percent to $1.72 billion. Sales from wholesalers to retailers, a good gauge of consumer demand, rose 0.4 percent.  Molson Coors said its overall profit rose, as increased prices and cost cuts helped offset steeper commodity costs, lower sales volume and, of course — the stronger U.S. dollar. 

One company that couldn’t put any blame on forex is CVS Caremark, which operates solely in the United States.  Even if people are cutting back, net revenue still jumped 9.7 percent, to $23.4 billion. CVS profit was better than expected. 

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(Reuters photo)

Check out Avon’s declining sales.
 
The world’s largest direct seller of cosmetics just spent however much money you have to spend to get an ad on NBC right before the Super Bowl, trying to recruit people to sell for Avon.
 
The pitch was that in these tough economic times, being  an Avon rep was a good idea. It’s a good way to earn extra money, and, since it was essentially your own business you couldn’t be fired, the commercial said.  

 
One question: who are all these new Avon Ladies going to be selling to?
 
The global economy is in tatters. Avon posted fourth-quarter profit below analysts expectations and sees more difficulty in 2009.
 
Sales fell 9 percent, though that was due to the stronger dollar. But even a 2 percent sales increase in local currencies was somewhat anemic.
 
So, who is Avon calling on?
 
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Check out how international sales and the weak dollar continue to lift quarterly results at U.S. companies.

Second-quarter profit at cosmetics firm Avon Products Inc more than doubled, as demand in Latin America and other overseas markets more than made up for sagging U. S. results.

Office Depot posted a 6 percent drop in North American retail sales, but a 13 percent rise in international sales during in its most recent quarter.

Still, investors are wondering when and if the United States’ economic malaise will spread to markets like Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Some cracks are already showing. Britain’s stressed housing market is putting pressure on consumer spending and Spain has reported a plunge in June retail sales amid a severe economic slowdown.

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(Photo: REUTERS/Jo Yong-Hak)