How Avon International Enhances Global Demand Planning With Blue Yonder’s AI Tools

As self care and wellness become more important to consumers, the cosmetic industry is experiencing significant growth worldwide.

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In fact, despite a brief setback in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the global cosmetics market has shown consistent growth since 2004 and is projected to reach revenues of nearly $129 billion by 2028, according to online statistic company Statista.

With this growth, however, comes intensified competition. To distinguish themselves in the competitive landscape, many brands are turning to partnerships with innovative technology firms to integrate advanced solutions that not only enhance the consumer experience but also improve operational efficiency.

One global beauty company responding to this competitive landscape is Avon International , which partnered with supply chain management company Blue Yonder earlier this month. The New York-based beauty empire implemented Blue Yonder’s Cognitive Demand Planning, Enterprise Supply Planning and Control Tower solutions to create an end-to-end next-generation supply chain while also supporting its vision and consumers.

“ Avon International is committed to transforming itself to meet the needs of its customers, representatives and partners while staying true to its business model and values,” said Maciej Kaniowski, chief operating officer at Avon International. “Avon International recognized the need for a more integrated approach to demand planning to support this global transformation across all channels. After a thorough selection process, Blue Yonder was chosen for its comprehensive solutions and innovative capabilities that met all of Avon International’s needs.”

Working in tandem, all three of Blue Yonder’s solutions have been instrumental in Avon’s digital transformation. Through this partnership, Avon has integrated Blue Yonder’s flexible software-as-a-service, or SaaS, supply chain solutions across its operations spanning more than 40 countries in Europe and Asia Pacific. This initiative harnesses advanced artificial intelligence and machine-learning capabilities to streamline demand planning, enhance decision-making agility and adapt swiftly to market dynamics.

Blue Yonder’s AI solutions also allow Avon to develop forecasts incorporating causal variables such as campaigns, pricing, promotions, catalogue positioning and seasonality. These factors “are crucial” for accurate forecasting but are often challenging to manage with traditional time-series modeling, Tom Gregorchik, vice president of industry strategy at Blue Yonder, told WWD.

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“As Blue Yonder operates globally among the most complex supply chains, it can support the extensive operations of consumer goods companies like Avon, giving the company the ability to account for regional differences in consumer packaged goods supply chains ,” he added. “The Blue Yonder Platform, powered by Snowflake, enables Blue Yonder customers to access, share and consume live governed data, industry-specific datasets and data services at scale — without the latency, cost and effort required with traditional marketplaces. By leveraging the Snowflake Data Cloud, [Avon] can make end-to-end supply chain decisions quickly so it can pivot to overcome disruptions and meet its consumer expectations.”

In addition to implementing its tech, Blue Yonder is also providing “comprehensive training” and ongoing support to Avon team members to ensure effective utilization of the supply chain solutions.

“Blue Yonder offers a subscription service that includes extensive training programs tailored to various product solutions,” Gregorchik said. “This service helps customers work more efficiently and independently by providing continuous learning resources specific to their needs, including customized training programs that contain a learning platform aimed at reducing training times for new employees. Such programs are tailored to meet the specific needs of Avon, ensuring that their teams are well-equipped to handle the new systems, and enables their teams to adapt to changing market conditions and external dynamics, maintaining an agile and competitive supply chain .”

While this is a new venture for Avon, Kaniowski is optimistic that the partnership will streamline operations through an integrated, end-to-end planning process encompassing trends, demand, supply, inventory and vendor collaboration.

“With Blue Yonder’s supply chain solutions, Avon International will be empowered to meet the changing needs of its customers, representatives and partners in a profitable and sustainable way,” he added.

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