Most of us are conversant with the term 'Multi-level Marketing'. You come across an office colleague, an old schoolmate, a distant cousin who is a part of MLM Chain and chances are that he or she has extended the invite to you as well. MLM has evolved over time with multiple avatars. Although the concept started as an innovative marketing strategy, it has morphed into various isotopes, some of them flouting the corporate norms. In India, Direct selling sector generates an annual revenue of Rs 23000 Crore, having 6.5% growth rate, with approx. 93 lakh direct sellers across the country.Multi-level Marketing started as an innovative approach utilising informal workforce created through a network of marketers wherein a marketer engages several others under him to sell the product. The seller replaces traditional marketing channels, thus eliminating the margin of distributors, resellers and retailers as well as advertisement cost. The organisation reaps the benefits as the workforce is reimbursed by way of sales commissions rather than salary, thereby passing on an additional benefit to the marketers, which would result in a win-win situation for both the seller and the marketer. 

The origin of MLM can be traced to Direct Selling or Mail-order retailing. This was a competitive strategy for deviation from conventional marketing practices aimed at eliminating the cost of sales force. In case of mail-order, the company would generate sales based on advertisement responses and ship the product directly to the buyer with zero marketing cost, whereas direct selling involved a salesperson, who would promote and sell the........

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