| Sub-Distributor - Emerging |
|
North
Computer Gallery, Indore
|
|
R Manikandan, Business Group & Marketing Head, LG India, presenting the award to Sumeet Arora, Director, Computer Gallery
|
Clocking a turnover of Rs 61 crore during FY 2008-09 vis-à-vis Rs 55 crore in FY 2007-08, Computer Gallery posted a growth of 11 percent. Of this, Rs 45 crore came from sub-distribution, Rs 8 crore came from retail, Rs 6 crore from corporate reselling and the government tendering business, and the rest from services.
Last year saw the company tie up with Microsoft as regional distributor for OEM software, and with Dell as its MSA. Computer Gallery also opened two sales branches in Jabalpur and Bhopal.
“We sold 6,500 Dell notebooks and 1,300 desktops. Our partnership with Microsoft for the OEM business and volume licensing contributed in the region of 10 percent to our revenues,” said Sumeet Arora, Director, Computer Gallery.
|
Performance Highlights
|
|
• Signed up as RD for Dell retail products and Microsoft OEM software
• Opened new branches in Jabalpur and Bhopal
• Conducted 10-city roadshow in a Maruti van to spread awareness about products
• Extended channel financing to select partners for expansion of their business
|
|
Company Snapshot
|
|
Company: Computer Gallery
CEO: Sudhir Arora
Year of inception: 1991
Branches: 2
Active resellers: 600
Turnover 2008-09: Rs 61 crore
Turnover 2007-08: Rs 55 crore
Employees: 47
Certified employees: 12
Principals: Dell, Microsoft, Seagate, HP, Sony, McAfee, APC
|
With over 600 active partners across MP, the company undertook several campaigns to help resellers sell more. It conducted a joint marketing exercise with retail partners in smaller cities to showcase Dell PCs and Microsoft products at prime locations. “We chose 100 counters to position these products, thus helping partners increase walk-ins and enquiries,” Arora said. The company embarked on a 10-city roadshow to promote its products on a Maruti van.
Computer Gallery extended financing to select partners for expansion of business in their territory. It launched a purchase program for employees with support from vendors, and extended the benefits to resellers.
With CRM and inventory management systems in place, the company is currently in the process of getting ISO certification. “These systems have helped in proper stock and logistics management,” noted Arora.
In order to incentivize its employees, the company ran schemes where, for meeting their targets, employees won items like microwaves, refrigerators and LCD TVs, and also international trips. To enhance their skills it conducted regular product, marketing and technical training.
Moving forward, Computer Gallery is looking to boost its corporate reselling and solutions business, and plans to add networking range to its kitty. To further enhance its systems and processes, it is now looking at an ERP implementation by the end of this year.
“We want to further expand geographical reach, and to this end we will open four new branches in Gwalior, Nagpur, Gujarat and Rajasthan,” Arora concluded.
South
Aldous Glare, Kochi
|
|
George Thomas, CEO, Aldous Glare Trade & Exports, receiving the award
|
Registering a growth of 33 percent, the company achieved a turnover of Rs 100 crore during the last fiscal. Nearly 49 percent of the company’s revenues came from the PC business, while 37 percent came from the components business and the rest from peripherals and accessories.
“One of the key reasons for our growth last year was the new organization we put in place. We reorganized our business into three units—systems, components and peripherals—with each being run as a profit center. We appointed different heads for each department with the target to grow their business faster than the overall category growth rate,” informed George Thomas, CEO, Aldous Glare.
|
Performance Highlights
|
|
• Reorganized its business into three profit centers: systems, components and peripherals
• Boosted its components business by adding Kingston and Tamkor memory products
• 50 partners across Kerala were given free demo models of latest netbook or LCD
• Took 30 resellers to Thailand under the Monsoon Miracle scheme
|
|
Company Snapshot
|
|
Company: Aldous Glare
CEO: George Thomas
Year of inception: 1995
Branches: 2
Active resellers: 400
Turnover 2008-09: Rs 100 crore
Turnover 2007-08: Rs 75 crore
Employees: 41
Principals: HP, Intel, Acer, AMD, Microsoft, Dell, Toshiba
|
Following the reorganization, Aldous launched two different Web sites, one dedicated to its systems and the other for components where daily prices are available for dealers.
The company boosted its components business by signing up with HCL for Kingston memories and Tamkor for distributing its memory modules. Aldous was also appointed by Roop Technologies as its C&F agent for Viewsonic monitors in Kerala.
Thomas said these new tie-ups contributed 10 percent to the company’s overall revenues. The company also made inroads into the interiors of Kerala by signing up 50 resellers in upcountry markets such as Kannur and Kasargod.
Aldous increased its focus on distributing high-end products. “Our effort since last year has been to be the first to distribute a new category or the latest model of a product. For this we appointed 50 partners across Kerala; they were given free demo models of the latest netbook or monitor to showcase at their counter. They were also given a certain marketing budget to do customer events and promotions. This helped us to increase our ratio of new products sales, which contributed to bottomline,” explained Thomas.
Aldous also ran a scheme called Monsoon Miracle where 30 performing partners were taken to Thailand. According to Thomas, “this was the first time any sub-distributor from Kerala took the initiative to reward its partners with a foreign trip.”
With two branches, the company aims to set up two more. “Our plan is to expand in the south, and we have already made a beginning in this direction with a branch in Coimbatore. Next will be branches in Bengaluru and Chennai. This year we have set a target of Rs 150 crore,” Thomas concluded.
West
Business Algorithms, Nagpur
|
|
Sudhir Budhay, CEO, Business Algorithms
|
The sub-distributor grew by 28 percent to post a turnover of Rs 45 crore in FY 2008-09 vis-à-vis last fiscal’s Rs 35 crore. Its sub-distribution business however grew slower at 20 percent from Rs 25 crore to Rs 30 crore. The rest of the company’s revenues came from a mix of corporate reselling, retail and services.
“We were cautious last year due to the economic situation, so instead of growth we chose to focus on the quality of business. We concentrated on smarter inventory and credit management, and encouraged partners for more cash business,” said Reeta Budhay, Director, Finance, Business Algorithms.
|
Performance Highlights
|
|
• Sub-distribution contributed Rs 30 crore to the gross revenue
• Clocked average sales of 400 notebooks and 250 desktops per month
• Added AOC monitors to its portfolio
• Rolled out a loyalty program for resellerswhich turned out to be a big success
• Invested Rs 10 lakh in deploying SAP B1
|
|
Company Snapshot
|
|
Company: Business Algorithms
CEO: Sudhir Budhay
Year of inception: 1988
Branches: 1
Active resellers: 300
Turnover 2008-09: Rs 45 crore Micro
Turnover 2007-08: Rs 35 crore
Employees: 45
Certified employees: 5
Principals: HP, Microsoft, AOC, TVSE
|
With a market coverage extending across Nagpur and Vidharbha, the sub-distributor clocked average monthly sales of 400 notebooks and 250 desktops. An exclusive HP sub-distributor, nearly 40 percent of its sub-distribution revenues came from notebooks, 30 percent from desktops and 25 percent from printers. Business Algorithms is also an exclusive sub-distribution and service partner for TVSE. In addition, the company is a Microsoft OEM license partner.
Business Algorithms has a 1,400 sq ft HP exclusive service center, and a 2,000 sq ft HP World store which brought in Rs 5 crore in revenue.
On the marketing front, the company rolled out a loyalty program whereby “resellers won points for each product they purchased from us,” Budhay informed. “These points were redeemed to get discounts on new purchases. This has helped us get more business from resellers, and contributed nearly 10 percent to our sub-distribution revenues.”
On the systems front, the company invested Rs 10 lakh in deploying SAP B1. “The ERP was deployed at the right time in an uncertain economic situation,” Budhay stated. “It helped us in inventory and credit management, and was also the reason why we could run the loyalty scheme. Every bill is raised by the SAP system, and if the dealer payment has been delayed it will not allow bill generation.” To motivate its employees the company organized many workshops by industry experts on topics such as customer engagement. And instead of increasing its employees’ pay the company introduced medical insurance for them.
Business Algorithms expects to sustain its growth in the current fiscal with its recent tie-up as sub-distributor for AOC monitors. It also plans to expand its presence in upcountry locations in Vidharbha, and fine-tune its logistics and credit management to boost its bottomline.
East
Nigama Comptech, Bhubaneswar
|
|
Manas Ranjan Sahoo, Director, Nigama Comptech & Services, receiving the award
|
Registering a turnover of Rs 41 crore in FY 2008-09, Nigama witnessed a growth of 17 percent over last fiscal’s Rs 35 crore. The sub-distribution business grew by 25 percent, contributing Rs 30 crore to the overall revenues. The rest of the money came from a healthy mix of retail and corporate reselling.
“Last fiscal our distribution saw healthy growth due to channel expansion in upcountry Orissa, plus new vendor tie-ups. We signed up with Dell, Hitachi and Zebronics as their regional distributors. We concentrated on having the right levels of inventory at all times to ensure better rotation of capital. Also, we insisted on cash payments from partners to mitigate the risk of payment defaults,” said Parikshita Dash, MD, Nigama Comptech and Services.
Revenues from PCs contributed 35 percent to Nigama’s sub-distribution earnings, with the company clocking average monthly sales of 300 notebooks and 200 desktops. Nearly 30 percent of the revenues came from selling peripherals, 15 percent from components, and the remaining from value-added products like networking and volume servers.
|
Performance Highlights
|
|
• Signed up with Dell, Hitachi and Zebronics as regional distributor
• Clocked average monthly sales of 300 notebooks and 200 desktops
• Executed a series of Moser Baer schemes for partners across Orissa
• educed inventory cycle from 30 days to 25 despite the slowdown
|
|
Company Snapshot
|
|
Company: Nigama Comptech & Services
CEO: Parikshita Dash
Year of inception: 1995
Branches: 3
Active resellers: 200
Turnover 2008-09: Rs 41 crore
Turnover 2007-08: Rs 35 crore
Employees: 45
Certified employees: 2
Principals: Lenovo, Moser Baer, HP,
Microsoft, IBM, D-Link, Seagate, Hitachi
|
Nigama has six multi-brands stores located across Orissa; these contributed Rs 6 crore to the overall revenues.
On the marketing front, Nigama executed a series of Moser Baer schemes for partners across Orissa. “Although we don’t execute or conduct any marketing programs or schemes of our own, we involve ourselves in vendors’ schemes. For instance, Moser Baer rolled out discount or point-based schemes every month last year, where partners had to collect points and achieve a certain target to avail of free gifts and discounts. These schemes helped add nearly 10 percent to our revenues,” said Dash.
With the deployment of Tally ERP 9, Nigama managed to reduce its inventory cycle from 30 days to 25 despite the slowdown. “The ERP has a detailed database of the buying records of our partners,” Dash said. “We used this to plan our inventory. In the second half we followed a strict policy of providing goods only against cash payment.”
Nigama is eyeing a turnover of Rs 50 crore in the current fiscal, with plans to beef up its notebook portfolio by adding HCL. The company is also in talks with Buffalo to sign up as a regional distributor for its external storage drives. Nigama is planning to open offices in Kalahandi, Mayurbhanj and Bargah to add to the three branches it already has.
l Methodology l Outstanding Channel Contribution l Company of the Year l Systems Integrator l Solutions Provider - Integrated l Solutions Provider - Networking l Solutions Provider - Software l Corporate Reseller l Systems Builder l Retailer l Sub-Distributor l Solutions Provider - Emerging l Retailer - Emerging l Managed Services Provider l Solution Provider - Security l
|