On March 17, 2019, PM-International AG celebrated an important milestone of its South America expansion strategy: The Grand Opening of PM-International Chile, the company’s first branch on the South American continent. 900 guests, distribution partners, and top leaders from all over the world took part in the event.
PM-International Founder and CEO Rolf Sorg underlined the great importance of the Chilean market for the company’s expansion on the whole continent: “With a safe and stable economy, a business-friendly environment, and a government that’s friendly towards foreign investments, Chile is the ideal benchmark to test our product and business opportunities in South America. We see a huge untapped potential and are confident that today’s Grand Opening is only the beginning of a great success story.”
PM-International has every reason to be optimistic: In less than 1.5 years, the company went from shipping products to Chile for personal use only to a fully developed local subsidiary and sales infrastructure, offering weekly business presentations in Santiago de Chile and a first road show that reached seven cities across the country. A rapid development which now resulted in the Grand Opening of PM-International Chile – only six months after the successful market pre-launch in September 2018.
The so-called “Land of Poets” ranks 44thin the human development index, leading the list in Latin America.[1]Chile has one of the highest per capita incomes, an unparalleled political stability, and the best digital infrastructure in South America. The annual economic growth is estimated to be 3.7 % for 2019.[2]While the population is only 18 million, the direct sales industry generated a total turnover of $639 million in 2017[3], which shows the enormous potential of the Chilean direct sales market.
The subsidiary is located in the prestigious Las Condes quarter of Santiago de Chile. Subsidiary Manager Roberto Chahuan Salipa and Sales Director Chile Sandra A. Muñoz are responsible for the day-to-day business and development of the branch. Both know the Chilean direct sales industry inside and out: “Direct selling enjoys great popularity in Chile, as the society values communities and social networks. And with an increasing health awareness and living standards, we see a growing demand for health and beauty products”, says Sandra A. Muñoz.“With the FitLine products on our side, we will turn the direct sales market in Chile upside down. The perfect combination of local contacts, worldwide support and the most motivated Team Partners is a force to be reckoned with!”
With a 2018 sales increase of 110 % compared to the previous year, PM-International is clearly on the rise in the Americas. Apart from Chile, the company runs two subsidiaries in the USA and one in Mexico and is working to open branches in Brazil and Canada.
[1]United Nations, Human Development Index 2018 update: http://hdr.undp.org/en/2018-update
[2]OECD, real GDP forecast: https://data.oecd.org/gdp/real-gdp-forecast.htm
[3]WFDSA, 2017 retail sales: https://wfdsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Sales-Report-2017-June-12-2018.pdf