Remember that old Wells Fargo ad, when online banking was just taking off, that proclaimed "We've seen the future of banking and it looks a lot like your kitchen"? Well, I've seen the future of retail and it looks a lot like your living room.

Call it what you will. Social selling. Direct sales. Selling groups. Even home-party businesses. What was once the purview of Tupperware and Avon has exploded into categories ranging from candles to wine, vitamins to jewelry, toys to well...sex toys. There's even a site called HostaPartyonline.com that lists 52 different selling opportunities.

The latest statistics from Direct Selling Association reveal that this is a $29.6 billion industry in the U.S. Of their impressive breakdown of stats, two figures jumped out at me:

- 86.4% of direct sellers are female
- 91.1% of direct sellers work part-time

For those of you who haven't had your coffee yet, allow me to connect the dots: MOMS! It's no wonder that direct selling is so appealing to moms. It allows women to return to work on their own terms and schedules, make some dough, get to see friends (and make new ones), and high-tail it out of the house without kids in tow.

Over the year, I have been invited (typically via evite) to countless such parties, my favorites being for the very design-savvy Stella and Dot jewelry company, Silpada (a good runner-up in the jewelry business), and CAbi, a great line of women's clothing.

If your product lends itself to social selling, the path begins by extending your e-commerce site to this new distribution channel. Then the task of recruiting your sales force begins. Maria Bailey, in her book Mom 3.0, offers sage advice: target moms at a changing point in their lives. The real sweet spot, she shares, is moms with kids in kindergarten or first grade, suddenly in possession of a 6-8 hour window of freedom.

And just as this Mom wave is cresting, someone has figured out how even more dollar signs can be made: through Dads. Last week, the San Francisco chronicle published a story about an even newer trend: Man Cave parties. A new Minnesota company is betting that the same atmosphere that works its sales seduction on women will make guys show up to test out new barbecue gear. I say it's a winning idea. Kind of a men's book club without the book.

What do you think of this trend? Have you been to or hosted a home-based selling party? Could your brand possibly get a shot in the arm from enlisting a direct sales force?

Labels: Avon, Home-Party Businesses, Social selling, Stella and Dot, Tupperware

Please leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below, even if -- no, especially if -- you don't agree with what I've written.