Price difference is ailing us

In the recently held IT Panchayat, conducted by DQ Channels and The DQ Week
in Vijayawada, a major debate took place between the reseller community and the
distributors. Srinivas Kokonda, Sales Manager, Ingram Micro; MVSR Sarma, Sales
Manager, Neotric; Shivaprasad, Sales Manager, Rashi Peripherals and Vinita
Bhatia, Executive Editor, DQ Channels were on the panel. Rajkumar Baid of Baid
Electronics was invited to join the panel on behalf of all the resellers
present.

The event was attended by more than 50 channel partners and was sponsored by
Sify Technologies and Delta UPS. Dev Narayan, Deputy GM, Sify Technologies and
Srinivasa Reddy, Regional Manager, Delta gave a presentation during the event.

Voicing the opinions about the reseller Baid said that there is a difference
between the prices offered by the distributors to sellers in Vijayawada and
Hyderabad. Sarma, however, disagreed, stating that they offer the same price
across the region. Srinivas of Ingram added, "Pricing is equal. It is vendor
driven. The percentage of discount differs because of the number of units
purchased."

Channel partners at the event

Bhatia raised the issue about geographic limitation to all the distibutors on
the panel. To which, Srinivas responded, "There is no such thing as area
restriction for us. We cater across the country."

Baid moved on to the next concern, which was dumping of goods in Vijayawada .
He said, "Most distributors dump goods which are sourced in excess from
Hyderabad. Only after supplying all the dealers there, they get it to Vijayawada.
Srinivas however, disagreed and said, "I am questioned always when will the
material flow from upcountry to Hyderabad and not vice versa. We do not dump
goods. Since the demand is more in Hyderabad than upcountry, the flow of
material is high."

Vinita posed the next question on non-availability of stocks to all the
panelists. Baid remarked, "Goods never reach here on time.When we order a fast
moving product, we have to continuously follow up. Even then, on so many
occasions I have not received my order because of some big dealer in Hyderabad
wanting it."

Srinivas responded by saying, "We try and pull from other distis if we don't
have our stocks. But we request all of you to foresee your resquirement and give
us suffiecient time to fulfill it. If all of you plan your stocks and
projections in time, then there will be seamless flow."

There were other concerns brought up like lack of service centers, no
maintainence of TAT and sustainability. All the distributors were of the opinion
that a collective action force is required. They also felt, that the respective
vendor should take initiative and come forward to resolve such issues.

A positive outcome of the panchayat was that Ingram Micro has promised to
open up a warehouse soon in Vijayawada, which should take care of product
non-availability.

Revathi Raghavan

revathir@cybermedia.co.in