D. Tighe
Research expert covering consumer behavior, sporting goods retail, and the global toy industry.
Subscriptions & direct selling in the U.S. - statistics & facts
Subscription box services and direct sellers are both common business models in the United States. Companies using a subscription model sell items to consumers on a monthly or yearly basis at a recurring price, while direct sellers provide products to the customer directly, often via social media or at the customer’s doorstep, and often with the help of a parent organization.
Direct sales in the U.S.
Although the direct selling and multi-level marketing business model is used in many locations worldwide, major examples being China, Japan, and Germany, the world’s leading market by far is the United States. Specifically, the country’s annual direct sales amounted to a total of approximately 40.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, which is a slight decrease compared to the previous year, but still considerably higher than the sales figures seen in the previous decade. Not only was the United States the largest market for selling directly to customers, but it was also home to some of the industry’s biggest companies and brands, including Herbalife, Mary Kay, and Nu Skin Enterprises. With an annual revenue of over eight billion U.S. dollars, Amway was the largest multi-level marketing company in the United States and worldwide.Subscription boxes and services
In the last decade, the subscription box has become ever more prevalent in the United States. When asked what features drove them to sign up for retail subscription services, U.S. subscribers often mentioned free shipping and the "no strings attached" nature, i.e., the benefit of being able to cancel the subscription at any time at no extra cost. As the concept has grown in popularity over the years, so has the number of options for people to choose from. Some of the best-known and most popular subscription box services in the United States included Dollar Shave Club, Chewy, Barkbox, HelloFresh, among many others.
