Retailing Enticing IT Vendors

Since the opening of the Indian economy, India's astonishing economic growth has led to the rapid emergence of an urban middle class of increasingly sophisticated consumers who are demanding higher quality, variety and innovation from their retailers.

However, India's retail revolution is not limited to major urban centres only. The unprecedented migration from the rural areas to the urban ones has boosted the size of the second- and third-tier urban retail market. 

Needless to say, the importance of retail has been well understood by the IT vendors who can soft-pedal the issue at their own risk. 

The Indian retail sector has witnessed a phenomenal growth in a very short span of time and electronics retail is amongst the biggest contributors to this phenomenal growth. It is heartening to see the spurt in the organized electronic retail. "With consumer spending expected to go up further and foreign electronics and retail brands entering the Indian market, we can expect an enviable electronics retail industry in India sooner than later," says Sushil Bandi, Country Manager - Indian Subcontinent, Western Digital.

"Retail is an important and a rapidly-growing segment for us in India. We are looking at having a strong presence in this space in the coming months," says Sushil. 

Seagate has been quick to recognize the fast-growing retail market and has led with products for that segment. Seagate does not engage in direct sales in India. Seagate has been collaborating closely with its partners to deliver an unparalleled record of innovation to India, in both the retail and business markets.

Since 2008, Seagate has been collaborating with channel partners to support a series of Retail Access Points across India’s fast-emerging cities, addressing the country's expanding market and customer needs. 

These Retail Access Points are located in cities such as Bhopal, Coimbatore, Dehradun, Jamshedpur, Kanpur, Ludhiana, Madurai, Mysore, Nagpur and Visakhapatnam, bringing information on Seagate's industry-leading storage solutions to a broader and fast-growing range of consumers. These access points help customers to browse and reference detailed information on Seagate products and trained service staff can address their queries in person. This programme has been continuously growing with a great response from our channel partners and customers.

Seagate Partner Programme, which was brought to India in 2005, is fully supporting partners' unique business requirements. The Seagate Partner Programme provides high-powered services to increase profitability of its channel partners and meet their specific business needs.  This programme includes an interactive web portal for easy access to value-added information, training sessions and customer support. 

Seagate continuously educates partners about new opportunities and carries out regular training on the products and technologies that we are introducing, so that they are able to maximize their results by offering best and optimum storage solutions to their customers. 

BenQ has been present in the IT space since 2003 and working on SI/VAR/Reseller channel since then. In organized retail, BenQ is present in CROMA and Home Solutions LFR the two largest chains pan India. BenQ has continually expanded its retail presence in order to reach out to an increasing number of customers across India.

"For channel segmentation, there are four important cogs in the wheel, namely -1) SI/VAR, 2) Computer Reseller, 3) Computer Assembler, and 4) LFR.  Internationally, we do have Exclusive Retail stores, but in India there are no exclusive stores. With bringing more product lines to India, it would be possible for BenQ to open the exclusive stores which we see in the near future," says BenQ.

The organized retailer surely requires a different approach from that of the regular channel partners in terms of Branding / Training / Support and customer schemes. 

According to Sushil, the demand for video surveillance devices in India is maturing, as they are now seen as a basic component of security systems. The systems have also undergone a shift from analog to digital format. This transition has brought about a demand for the best performing and reliable hard drives that are compatible with the latest technologies in the space - whether it's software to aid in the recording and analysis of high-resolution images, networking systems to more efficiently mirror and archive, or technologies such as smart sensors and biometrics.

WD products have been well received in the market. While each is uniquely positioned, all WD products represent ground-breaking technology that puts the user in total control. We have pioneered technologies like SmartWare and Advanced Format Technology that assist the consumer to store more data/GB, and also provide easy back-up and retrieval options. "Our GreenPower range of energy-efficient drives is another example that demonstrates our technological superiority," says Sushil.  

Retail and channel

"Both resellers and retailers are crucial to any business like ours. They bring in their distinct expertise to the table. Since they cater to different customer base, we have to ensure the right mix of strategy is used to help both resellers and retailers provide the best shopping experience to the consumers. 

Western Digital, as a company, invests in making resources available to its partners in terms of product training, brand guidelines and promotional schemes to help them serve our customers better and help them take the right purchase decision.  

WD's partners have made a huge contribution to the company's growth.  It is of paramount importance for us to ensure that the partners accelerate growth, differentiate their business and increase profitability for themselves. 

WD's utmost priority is to take care of the profitability of the channel partners.  Therefore, their support for our brand is only natural. “We constantly strive to offer more value and services to our partners to sell WD products. The result is that WD has now established itself as one of the leading HDD brands in India. We believe that the partners associated with us should share this success and grow with WD equally," says Sushil.

"As we leverage the channel partners' network to reach out to our customers, so it is only natural that we help them enhance their skills in understanding and implementing our strategy," says WD. In this regard, WD has invested resources in sales as well as channels to enhance support for its channel partners across the country. "We are supporting channel partners with 'Select WD' programme and other Reseller scheme programmes every quarter," says Sushil.

Seagate Partner Programme,which was brought to India in 2005, is fully supporting partners' unique business requirements. The Seagate Partner Programme provides high-powered services to increase profitability of its channel partners and meet their specific business needs.  This programme includes an interactive web portal for easy access to value-added information, training sessions and customer support. 

Seagate continuously educates partners about new opportunities and carries out regular training on the products and technologies that we are introducing, so that they are able to maximize their results by offering best and optimum storage solutions to their customers. "Our Regional Customer Councils serve as a platform for interaction with partners," says Rajesh Khurana, Country Manager - India & SAARC, Seagate Technology.

The Seagate Regional Customer Councils (RCCs) is an important pioneering initiative from Seagate in the channel space. The RCCs comprise enterprise partners, system integrators, retail partners and sub-distributors invited from all the regions of India. This programme is to gain direct partner analysis and input as to the effectiveness of Seagate's programmes in India.  RCCs meet once or twice every quarter.

"Seagate considers our channel partners to be very critical to the success of our business. We will continue to analyze the market trends and explore ways to achieve better success with our partners," says Rajesh.

At BenQ, it is of paramount importance to maintain the channel hygiene with creation and communication of channel schemes and timely distribution of the incentives to the channel partner. Even if some exceptions are there, we ensure that the settlement happens to the satisfaction of all the parties involved. As a policy, BenQ provides signed and authenticated letter for scheme communication so that in future any disputes can be settled within the right perspective.  

According to BenQ, "The Indian channel community expects fair and speedy settlement of schemes. The partners get excited and involved with us in making the channel schemes a success whenever we have launched them in the Indian market." 

"The expectations of the channel community for the product and innovative offers run concurrently to what happens in the international market as in today's world the information is not limited with geography and only with intent. Hence, the partner sees what is happening internationally and expects the same in the Indian market," says BenQ. 

Finally...

In recent times, India's retail market has begun to reach a much more advanced stage of maturity. Consequently, companies are continually expanding their retail presence in order to reach out to an increasing number of customers. 

The Indian retail market, the fifth-largest retail destination globally, has been ranked as the most attractive emerging market for investment in the retail sector by AT Kearney's eighth annual Global Retail Development Index (GRDI), in 2009. Further, organized retailing is growing at 50–55 per cent in small towns compared to 30% in large cities. 

For more contact:
edit@varindia.com