KYOCERA GOES AROUND CHANNEL DEALERS

[Anonymous]

Supermarket bargain causes upset
One-off deal vexes reseller
A new deal to sell Kyocera printers through a discount supermarket chain has raised the hackles of at least one reseller.
Aaron
Lovelace of The World’s Best PCs in Kaiapoi, north of Christchurch, was
perturbed to find his local Countdown supermarket selling a Kyocera
printer for less than his dealer buy price.
The store was selling Kyocera’s entry-level FS720 printer at $159, he says.
“We can’t even buy it at that price,” says Lovelace.
It is also nearly $100 lower than the $257 recommended retail price listed on Kyocera’s website.
Such
deals from mass retail outlets create an uneven playing ground, making
its hard for resellers to compete, says Lovelace. Vendors and their
distributors should protect their resellers from such uneven
competition, he adds.
However in this instance the vendor and one of its distributors are behind the deal.
Countdown
parent company Progressive Enterprises worked with Ingram Micro and
Kyocera on a bulk order of the printers to sell in a once-off
promotion, says Ingram Micro marketing manager Scott Cowen.
The size of the order enabled Ingram Micro and Kyocera to provide Progressive with good pricing, says Cowan.
“Progressive bought a number of containers’ worth. With any large deal the price can be negotiated,” he says.
While
acknowledging individual resellers are unable to secure similar bulk
pricing, Cowan says Ingram Micro often uses its buying power to cut
special deals with vendors, which it passes onto resellers.
“When we buy in bulk the channel benefits. That is a big role Ingram Micro plays in looking after smaller resellers. They can ta

antage
of our buying power,” he says. “That is the challenge we face. We want
to support the IT channel, but we also sell to retail.
The recent
deal with Progressive was the first time Kyocera printers have been
sold through a supermarket chain in New Zealand, says Cowen.
Progressive
continuously looks for new technology products to offer on a periodic
basis and Ingram Micro has in the past supplied the chain with Lexmark
printers and ink cartridges, he says

[Author]

March 16, 2006 at 11:34 AM