History
Market America was founded in 1992 by former Amway distributor James Howard Ridinger and his wife Loren Ridinger . The company is headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina and employed over 800 employees as of 2016. Over the years, the company has sold items such as auto care, electronics, apparel, water filtration systems, flowers, coffee, and oral hygiene through affiliations with outside companies that advertise and offer these items on the firm's site. In 2001, the company was taken private when all outstanding shares were purchased by Ridinger. In late 2010, the company bought shopping comparison firm Shop.com for an undisclosed amount. In July 2021, Market America announced its partnership with Verb Technology, Inc., a company that provides interactive video-based sales enablement applications, including interactive livestream ecommerce. Market America began to use Verb's services to provide its distributors with interactive, live-stream broadcasts that have a “click now” feature that is available to customers interested in purchasing products during the live broadcast. It was to be made available to all company distributors worldwide. In August 2021, Market America announced its partnership withProducts and services
Market America's product categories include health and nutrition (Isotonix), home and garden care (Snap), pet care (Pet Health), automotive care (Autoworks), weight management (TLS), personal care (Royal Spa, Fixx, Skintelligence), cosmetics (Motives by Loren Ridinger), jewelry (Loren Jewels, Yours by Loren Ridinger), and water filter systems (Pure H2O). Services include personal financial management (maCapital Resources) and Internet marketing services for small to medium-sized businesses (maWebCenters). The firm's Isotonix line ofBusiness model
According to Market America, all of its products are manufactured by other firms and are exclusively marketed by Market America. The company refers to individual persons and business entities as independent distributors or "UnFranchise Business Owners" who may also operate online retail websites called "Partner Stores". Individual distributors pay startup and monthly fees, and are expected to recruit others. Market America distributors are eligible to earn money from product sales commissions and recruiting new members to their sales team. In June 2017, the startup fee to become a Market America distributor was reportedly $399 plus additional monthly payments of $129. Market America representatives operate as independent contractors, but are required to spend between $130 and $300 on Market America products and attend seminars and training events that are estimated to cost between $20 and $200 each. Market America has been criticized as an "incarnation of multilevel marketing" whose products are "almost interchangeable with what you could find in your local CVS or Duane Reade for half the price" and as a business driven by "distributors finding customers, introducing them to Market America products, and then explaining to them that by selling this product, they can become as wealthy as, well, JR Ridinger." In 2004, consumer awareness group president Robert FitzPatrick commented that based on available figures, the company's growth "could not go on forever" and disputed the claim that "distributors can achieve financial independence". In 2010, Market America began acquisition of Shop.com, a shopping comparison site on the Internet. The acquisition combined shop.com's database technology with Market America's Cashback program and network of independent distributors ("Independent Shop Consultants"). Market America was to remain in Greensboro, N.C. and the previous shop.com staff were to remain in Monterey, California and London, UK. In September 2011, the two-step integration process was half-complete. In 2011, Consumer Awareness Institute president Jon M. Taylor ascribed Market America's success to a "stage" typical of multilevel marketing companies, saying, "What happens in these companies, because of the endless chain of recruitment, they get into a momentum phase where they grow rapidly, and to avoid leveling off, they set up new products and go to new countries." According to Taylor, a study of similar multilevel marketing businesses showed that "99.6 percent of people who sign up as distributors wind up losing money." A 2020 investigation by Truth In Advertising concluded that the company's promotion of top-earning distributors income as "typical" constituted "a deceptive marketing campaign", and commented that "the reality is the majority of Market America distributors (or what the company calls 'UnFranchise Owners' or UFOs) will never come close to earning life-changing income".Legal actions and lawsuits
In a 2017 federal lawsuit, two distributors accused the company of violating the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and California state law. The lawsuit calls Market America aIn popular culture
In a 2016 episode of ''References
External links
* {{Multi-level marketing Online retailers of the United States Retail companies established in 1992 Marketing companies established in 1992 Companies based in Greensboro, North Carolina Multi-level marketing companies