Laura Newell: Why I’ll mourn the cleaning party as Enjo sweeps aside its consultants to go digital only

Coming fresh off the announcement that WeightWatchers was dumping in-person meetings from November, fans of eco-cleaning brand Enjo have been told by local representatives this week that they too will be taking their operations “100 per cent online” next month.

The Enjo cleaning “party” — where you invite unsuspecting friends and family over for a lukewarm cup of coffee and a piece of cake while they get the hard sell — has for decades been a staple for many Aussie households.

It followed in the footsteps of the classic — but now also ailing — Tupperware gathering, and was joined more recently by the still-popular Johnny-come-lately joiner Thermomix.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the loss of these face-to-face “parties” is symptomatic of a much larger issue — the almost-complete breakdown of in-person community connections, adding serious fuel to our crippling loneliness epidemic.

Once upon a time it would be events like these that were perhaps the catalyst for neighbours to properly chat for the first time, or mutual acquaintances suddenly become close mates.

In fact, it is through events like this that I made the vast majority of my friends when I moved to this country more than a decade ago.

But while it is a tough pill to take for many of us, the reality is that well-paid and slick social media influencers have now officially over-taken from such traditional salesmanship tactics.

Socially, we will be the poorer for it. And, perhaps more importantly for the businesses making these shifts, while online operations may be cheaper on the face of it, nothing beats the personal touch when it comes to upselling.

There are at least five unused Enjo cloths in the back of my laundry cupboard that prove it.