FYI, emailing sales(at)avast(dot)com didn't help. All I received was a form letter reply advising me to purchase the software from a local distributor with a link to a listing of local distributors.
My specific question regarding clarification of the pop-up with the link to renew my subscription on-line was totally ignored.
I guess I'll be moving to another company, with hopefully better customer service, when my current Avast subscription expires.