Destination Upcountry for GIGABYTE

GIGABYTE is uniquely positioned with its comprehensive range of premium-featured motherboards to meet the growing customer demands for the right performance and price ratio in the market. This is supported by a three-pronged strategy for the Indian market. Firstly, product innovation has always been a major focus area for GIGABYTE, and since 2006 the company has been setting and patenting multiple quality standards every year, such as 24 Phase Power VRM, 2oz Copper PCB, Dynamic Phase Power Switching Energy Saving Technology, All Solid Capacitor, and TouchBIOS, to name a few. In India, GIGABYTE products are distributed by Ingram Micro, Redington and Neoteric Infomatique, followed by value partners, premier partners and special service partners (SSPs).

After-sales service is the second focus area of the company. In 2011, the company opened its GIGABYTE exclusive service centers in 6 major cities, which also act as the hubs for the pan-India market. Moreover, it has appointed over 50 premier partners as special service partners (SSPs), who also act as the collection points for defected products. The company is increasing the number of SSPs across the country. Presently, it has over 80 collection points in over 80 cities, and intends to spread service support/collection point network to over 100 cities.

"The third focus area of the company is to create an ‘IT Knowledge Community' through regular system integrator (SI) training and college campus events. This is an ongoing process for GIGABYTE, which has a commitment to conduct more than 25 SI meets and over 10 college events per quarter," mentions Sunil Grewal, sales head, India, GIGABYTE Technology.

Company's Management

GIGABYTE comes under the Motherboard Business Unit (MBU) of GIGABYTE Technology, Taiwan. So, it has only one business unit operating in India. Moreover, it has managers looking after different operations such as product, marketing, and marcom, and other important functions, such as finance and accounts, human resources, administration, etc.

At GIGABYTE, Grewal is responsible for India sales, then there are regional managers based in different geographical zones-categorized as East, West, South, North and Central zones, respectively. GIGABYTE's sales team members, designated as area sales managers, are based across all major centers as well as the upcountry markets in India. These area managers report to their respective regional managers.

Since over 95% of the company's business comes from channels, all regional managers are primarily channel managers. This responsibility includes increasing the number of GIGABYTE authorized partners, pro­moting and managing incentive schemes, educating partners on latest GIGABYTE motherboard features and technologies (through SI meets and personal interactions), helping in service-related issues, helping partners organize their own promotional events, etc.

Training and Incentive Programs

GIGABYTE is committed to conduct over 25 reseller meets every quarter. "In these meets, we give our partners training on the latest GIGABYTE motherboard features and technologies. This is done with the help of updated presentations (in a highly simplified fashion), videos, technology brochure distribution, question-and-answer sessions. We regularly send out eDMs to partners on the latest products and technologies," informs Grewal.

The company ensures channel profitability by coming out with lucrative schemes under the GIGABYTE Value Partner Program (GVPP) for value partners, and GIGABYTE Channel Incentive Program (GCIP) for premium partners. The incentives range from pen drives and laptop bags, to holiday packages and gold coins, etc, depen­ding on individual schemes. The company pro­­vides channel schemes throughout the year. Apart from the regular schemes, it also conducts special schemes regionally and during festive time.

Growth Plans

The company is broadly looking to add more partners, increase channel penetration and spread in the upcountry markets, improve growth in the established markets, and enhance post-sales infrastructure for the advantage of partners and customers. The company has been organizing various meets to reach out to SIs in these regions and to educate them on how GIGABYTE motherboards can be used to grow their business. Additionally, it is also strengthening post-sales service for growing channel base. In the process, it is also increasing the number of value partners in the tier-2 and -3 regions, and today it has over 2,500 value partners across India.

"PC penetration is increasing by leaps and bounds, especially in non-metros, so is the demand for motherboards in these regions. We are working towards increasing our market base in these regions by focusing on product visibility, availability, channel penetration, and post-sales service. We are also enhancing our premium partner base across different regions to achieve a more efficient supply chain," he adds. "The company is always focused on ensuring the most ideal price/performance ratio for its products and customers. It is also working closely with distributors to capitalize on their strengths in warehousing and supply to reach more locations," Grewal concludes.