Getting Healthy

Encompassing a market value of US$140.3 billion, the dietary supplement industry is red hot, climbing 12.1 percent in 2020. While part of the spike can be attributed to COVID-19 pandemic concerns, consumer interest in supplements runs deep, and ongoing expansion seems assured. A study by Grand View Research anticipates the supplement market will grow at a compound annual rate of 8.6 percent between 2021 and 2028.

That kind of activity attracts a great deal of commercial interest. AdvoCare, established in 1993 and headquartered in Plano, Texas, is one of the sector’s most competitive companies, selling a wide variety of supplements in the energy, sports performance, weight management, and wellness sectors. AdvoCare products are purchased in direct sales by distributors in the US and Canada; the company has 1,650 corporate employees and posted US$89 million in revenues in 2019. AdvoCare benefits from several celebrity endorsers, including legendary NFL quarterback and sports commentator Drew Brees.

AdvoCare contends with several top brands for dominance, including USANA, Vitamin Shoppe, Shaklee, and Neurobrands. In 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) determined that AdvoCare operated as a multilevel marketer, and the company quickly transformed into a single-level direct selling company with 100,000 distributors in the US and Canada.

Overcoming the negative associations of the FTC’s ruling was challenging for AdvoCare, but its new configuration allowed it to retain both customer loyalty and market share. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic spurred increased sales as consumers looked to optimize immunological strength and distributors searched for side businesses.

With its new focus, AdvoCare determined it needed to enhance its digital assets to maximize market opportunities. It enlisted Astound as a partner.

The digital teams deployed by the two companies discovered their talents and personalities fit closely, allowing for the development of solutions specific to AdvoCare’s needs and establishing a long-term and highly productive working relationship.

Team members ultimately determined that migrating AdvoCare’s existing site to Salesforce Commerce Cloud (SFCC) and Salesforce Order Management (Salesforce OMS) would accelerate successful rebranding, expand functionality, and provide distributors with the tools needed to run their businesses successfully. Additionally, it would provide flexibility, efficiency, and brand differentiation for AdvoCare’s evolving digital presence, all while leveraging the power of the Salesforce ecosystem.

The teams implemented SFCC, Salesforce OMS, and Salesforce Service Cloud. Training on Business Manager enabled distributors and direct customers to thrive, while AdvoCare was able to serve both audiences in an efficient and streamlined manner, effectively increasing revenue and presence.

The postlaunch support is underway, and Astound is working on a number of optimizations and upgrades for the new platform in 2022. To date, AppExchange apps/partners implemented for the project include Tinuiti (integration with Google Tag Manager), Cybersource (payment), Bazaarvoice (user-generated content), Kount (fraud), Akamai (security), Talkable (referral and loyalty), and Xceptance (performance testing).

AdvoCare now has a consolidated and resilient platform that meets the needs of distributors and customers, allowing the company to cater to both smoothly and efficiently while simultaneously expanding brand awareness and maximizing revenues.