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REDINGTON(2):Channel Partners Tripled

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DQC Bureau
New Update

Conscious efforts on channel development brought in rich dividends for Redington in terms of sheer numbers. The number of partners tripled from 800 to over 2,500 during 1999-00. These were supported with offices in 13 locations.



Redington successfully adopted the strategy of aligning its sales force with individual channel partners. This had the desired effect on sales and the company achieved a 76 percent growth. The strategy was planned at the very beginning of the last financial year and clearly reflected in the top line growth.



The objective of this strategy was to serve the needs of the channel in the best possible way. The result was that the strategy helped Redington to improve productivity and satisfy channel partners in their business needs.



The flexibility in Redington's product offerings and channel policies helped it to address the specific needs of its partners. It also helped in increasing the number of channel partners substantially for the company.



In the fourth quarter, Redington addressed the corporate segment in a focused manner. This brought in big orders contributing to the upswing in business.



The company introduced state-of-the-art information systems and communication infrastructure in the middle of last year helping it to substantially increase the growth in the second half of the year.



Corporate restructuring was carried out at the beginning of the second half to bring in better alignment between various functions directly involved in the process of delivering value to customers. These efforts too had their desired effect on the company contributing to its robust growth.



There was a clear focus on supply chain and credit management. The restructuring also helped improve co-ordination between various business groups and field, and overcome functional roadblocks while providing quality service to channel partners.



The result of these initiatives was that the growth, which was 52 percent in the first half, went up to 90 percent in the second half.



One of the significant contributors to this growth was the implementation of the state-of-the-art integrated ERP solution and setting up of sophisticated communications infrastructure. These measures helped Redington to streamline supply chain, which in turn resulted in improved availability and higher fill rates.



This also helped the company to cut down costs significantly and provide accurate information and provide faster response to channel requests.



The shortage of hard disks in the third quarter affected the business slightly. At the same time, oversupply of monitors resulted in their prices dropping sharply. This took a couple of months for the monitor business to be back on tracks.



Redington added Samsung hard disk drives to its product portfolio. This helped the company to fill the gap in its offering to systems assembler segment. More products were not consciously added since the company wanted to consolidate the infrastructure to support the high growth coming from its existing product lines.



Redington is looking for a 60 percent growth this year. This is a conservative estimate because the initiatives taken last year should actually result in better growth this year.



The company is focussing on the upcountry market this year. Several new tie-ups are also in the offing. The idea is to move up the value chain through new products and tie-ups.

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