In 2020, almost 80% of the world's countries have experienced a lockdown due to COVID-19. With all variations of distancing, life has been a roller coaster with adverse economic impacts. Recessions in the job market have caused unrest globally. Many small and medium-sized businesses are shutting down while the market leaders are pausing processes to combat economic challenges. These challenges have given rise to impediments and caveats, even in marketing. The increase in fear and anxiety to invest in non-essentials is a common mindset across industries. Despite all the efforts, difficulties surface while marketing for non-essentials. However, the direct selling industry has survived the upheaval and will continue to see a boom in the coming years. 

Before diving into the whys of the success of direct Selling, let us understand about direct Selling. The Direct Selling industry sells products directly to consumers from any location, such as a home or office, without involving retailers and wholesalers. Direct Selling has also evolved to accommodate online selling, exclusively through Company’s own website.

The following information helps to understand why Direct Selling is successful even during this pandemic:

• Networking: Direct Selling relies on networking as its fundamentals are based on helping others succeed while making your own successes. In Direct Selling, it is not just about your success, but also about other people's success while selling goods directly from the manufacturer. Although the sellers had mostly networked with people in person before COVID-19, the ability to communicate with their group of customers or fellow sellers have not been adversely impacted. The conviction of selling worthy products to their contacts has increased the sales by word of mouth. 
• Smart Selling: In this work-from-home era, personal meetings have been replaced by video conferences. Online communication has taken precedence over in-person meetings and discussions. Most direct sellers use smartphones, which enables them to connect with their prospective consumers and other direct sellers. The ease of sharing e-marketing content to the consumers has led to enterprising techniques in the Direct Selling industry. Even if communication is limited to online, the relationship and rapport have stayed intact. The virtual alliance has also enabled proactive interactions with its network and associations with newer members to their clan. Additionally, the challenges of social distancing have inspired customers to shift to online shopping platforms, thereby increasing the sales of direct selling companies. 
• Recession: During April and May of this year, the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy reported a 23.52% unemployment rate. About 100 million jobs were affected, and this caused severe disruption in normalcy. Regardless of the recovery in the employment rate, many industries such as Real Estate and Construction, Entertainment, Recreation, Hospitality, and so on continue to bear the brunt of the pandemic. The only sector that survived the challenges of recession is the Direct Selling industry, which has been consistently increasing sales. When times are uncertain in which layoffs and unemployment are surging, the direct selling industry is a boon in disguise; it provides an opportunity to earn income with almost zero capital. To many, it also acts as a secondary income to fight the economic crisis.
• Secured Payment: With the emergence of digitalization, safe payment options are a dream come true. To fight this pandemic, adopting online payments to meet the parameters of hygiene is crucial instead of cash on delivery. So that you know, hand to hand transfer of money can give rise to the chances of infection. As an outcome, this method enables instant payments for the purchases and improves the purchase-selling capacity. 
• Rewards and Recognition: In a period where most people experience pay cuts and layoffs, the Direct Selling industry continues to acknowledge the hard work and achievements of the seller. Even during this pandemic, when sellers are being consistently offered monetary perks, rewards, and recognition for their relentless efforts, it allows them to stay motivated and go the extra mile in achieving targets.

Currently, the Direct Selling Industry is the most sought after as people are in pursuit of opportunities that could help generate income for various reasons such as job layoff, secondary income for economic stability, and so on. A surge in the distributor numbers for Direct Selling has been consistent in the last few months. In addition to being a consumer, many are motivated to engage in selling due to the superior quality of the products along with the perks associated with the selling. The influencers of this industry and their success stories through word of mouth have encouraged the common man to take a plunge at Direct Selling to realize his business dreams. Digitalization and networking continue to fascinate a large crowd of people to engage in the Direct Selling industry, thereby setting an upward trend.