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New Delhi
March 28th, 2008
In a bid to strengthen its market position and leverage its presence in the
consumer segment, Dell India has recently entered into the retail space with
Croma. Now according to industry sources the company is in the process of
appointing a national distributor and will also adopt the stock and sale model
soon. Incidentally, Dell is already working with Delhi-based Iris Computers,
which acts as its logistics partner.
Commenting on the plans of appointing a distributor, Rajiv Ahuja, Director -
Communications, APACS, Dell India said that as the company expands its market
reach there could be change in sales model. "But as of now Dell is
primarily focusing through direct sales that contributes to a large portion of
our business," he added.
However the channel community has been abuzz with the recent reports of Dell
signing up partners in regions like Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi and
Gorakhpur. It is reported that the company is heavily banking on leveraging the
retail presence of the appointed partners to gain a firm foothold in upcountry
cities, where it has very little brand recall at present.
According to one leading dealer in New Delhi the company has already sent out
feelers to several partners in smaller cities to start stocking Dell and
promoting it aggressively. Rajan Anandan, Vice president and General manager,
Dell India admitted to this and said that for B-class cities Dell would
primarily go through the channel route. "Upcountry is a potential market
for Dell and in the coming months the company will announce the names of its
partners in the regions," he shared.
Market sources have also confirmed that Dell is entering into consumer and
SMB space in a major way, which is why the company has directed its focus on the
retail and channel expansion. Having a national distributor will only result in
better market reach, which will help Dell to bolster its current revenue.
"Dell wants to beat its competitors and understanding the potential of
upcountry market, the company is tying up with partners because that is the best
way to reach large number of customers. Very soon Dell products will be
available in stores of small towns and even the direct orders made by customers
in these regions will be fed by the local dealers," shared a dealer in
upcountry market on the condition of anonymity.
Dell declined to share the specific names of partners appointed in upcountry
market and commented that officially it has yet not announced the tie-up with
any partners and hence future plans and market vision cannot be shared for the
same. Though Dell has no been keen to share details of its channel partners in
metros as well as in upcountry, their dealers don't mind. These partners claim
to do have good business with the company and said that they enjoyed a profit
margin of around 10-12 percent which is better than those offered by any other
brand in the market. Page(s) 1
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