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PRODUCTS:
PCs, peripherals, software and
Sogo-branded PCs
DEALERS: 300
EMPLOYEES: 115
BRANCHES: 8
ADDRESS: D-1/1, Hayes Court, 11/9, Hayes Road, Bangalore 560025
TEL: 080-22273981/0891/6829 |
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| STRENGTHS |
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Adopted aggressive upcountry strategy to gain better margins |
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Sold directly to corporate, SMB and government segment |
| WEAKNESS |
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With several competing brands, does not have vendor loyalty |
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Increased focus on own PC business to beat margin pressure |
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For this Bangalore-based sub-distributor, fiscal 2003-04 brought good news as
the company posted 33% growth as compared to 20% in the fiscal before that.
Most of this can be attributed to the aggressive upcountry strategy adopted
by it. However, faced with margin pressures, Sogo also took a bold step of
selling directly to end-customers across corporate, SMB and government segment.
Such a move will most likely help the company move past typical 3-5% margins
that it currently operates on.
Having always restricted its operations within Karnataka, it further
strengthened its presence in B and C-class cities like Hubli, Mysore, and so on.
It also increased its active reseller base by 50%, taking the number to 300, up
from 200 in 2002-03.
The organization stuck to its philosophy of not aligning to one single vendor
and continued to project itself as a 'one-stop shop' for all kind of IT
products centered around PC.
So unsurprisingly, while it sold HDDs from Seagate, it did brisk business for
Samsung as well as Maxtor. Likewise for monitors, it sold both LG and Samsung,
and yet managed to do 1,000 units per month for Proview.
The sound business tactics adopted by the organization helped it to manage
its partners well without giving any room for channel conflict.
Intel, HP, Epson, Microsoft and Symantec were its other major business lines.
Intel contributed around 30% to its overall turnover.
The company showed some inclination towards getting into lifestyle space by
selling digicams. It indicates a stronger product portfolio in the current
fiscal.
While there were regular pressures from vendors, the company believed in its
own marketing strengths and added over 10 people to its sales force for driving
the business.
However, with margins consistently falling in peripherals and component
business, the company increased its focus on own PC business.
Towards this, it also began its retail initiative towards year-end and put in
place two outlets in Bangalore. By now it already has eight of them, and is
looking at adding another 8-10 in the upcountry locations in Karnataka.
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