Jafra Hispanic USA online has been specially designed for the Hispanic community, who, the company claims, often prefer to have information available in their own native language.
"Jafra Hispanic USA recognized the tremendous need for this service based on our US Hispanic consumers and respected Internet studies and research done on US Hispanics on the Net," a company spokesperson said.
The company has good reason, too. The population of Hispanics in the United States has reached 39.9 million, according to the US Census Bureau update, July 1, 2003 and research studies indicate that Hispanic Americans are beginning to mirror the heavy Internet usage patterns of average online users
The size of the Hispanic community in the US also means that many individuals living in the larger communities, such as Miami or Los Angeles, speak little or even no English in their daily lives, preferring to communicate in their native tongue.
Despite this, many experts would say that Jafra's move goes against the general pattern whereby English has become the international language of the internet. But the company still believes that it is tapping into a market with plenty of potential.
"English is clearly the dominant language on the Internet," said MelbaRios, vice president of commercial business. "However, despite the potentialsocioeconomic and cultural hindrances, the growth of the US Hispanic Internetpopulation has steadily increased. Nearly half of US Hispanic Internet userseither prefers to speak Spanish only or a mix of Spanish and English. Clearly the Web has become an important part of many Hispanic Internet users' daily lives as well as a tool for economic and quality of life advancement."
According to Jafra, US Hispanic Internet users have generally reflected some key trends ingrowth of the overall online population. For instance, more women are goingonline and becoming new Internet users. About 65 per cent of US Hispanic women have used the Internet to obtain information for school or their jobs and use it in greater proportions than non-Hispanic women to look for a new job or new place to live, a study entitled Pew Internet & American Life Project, Hispanics and the Internet, reveals.
The fact that Jafra's research reveals that many Hispanic women use the internet to look for employment might also bode well for the company in view of the fact that it relies on a huge female workforce of sales representatives to sell its cosmetics and personal care products direct to the public. Indeed, the company says it recruits a significant percentage of its workforce through it online job application page.
The Hispanic center, located under the flag name 'Jafra HispanicUSA,' provides online Spanish speaking consumers access to relevant companynews, a world of valuable Hispanic targeted skin care and beauty productinformation as well as the opportunity to join Jafra as an Independent Consultant.
The site also includes information about the company, selling its products, information about new product, shopping online as well as a section for media enquiries - all in Spanish. Users are also able to locate a Spanish-speaking consultant near them by choosing a state.