WeP auctions online to promote its B2B site

WeP Peripherals Ltd has launched a very successful strategy to encourage its
channels to use the online presence as often as possible. The company has hit
upon the idea to have auctions every hour wherein the bidder can get products
dirt cheap. The vendor however puts a baseline price which is 10-15 percent
lower than the cost at which the dealer would have brought  from the
vendor. On an average there are 12 auctions per day and officials say that
results have been very encouraging with 80-85 percent of the auctioned products
seeing successful closure. The auction was launched last year.

WeP has a huge online initiative with five different web sites for different
purposes. The first is the corporate web site which is wepindia.com, the second
is the B2B website for distributors called ePeri-saral.com, the third is
ePeri-world.com for resellers, the fourth MyePeripherals.com for employees and
the fifth is ePeaceofmind.com targeted at end users.

Peperi-saral is of immense significance in WeP’s B2B strategy. The vendor
has made it mandatory for all its channels to have their interactions online.
This helps the vendor not only to track its shipments but also to meet its
targets in an organized manner.

Another feature of the site is that it allocates e-points to partners
whenever orders are made online. These points can be redeemed at a later date
from the vendor in terms of discounts or other facilities. But the more
important significance of e-points is that it encourages partners to place
smaller orders at regular intervals as against the tendency to place orders in
bulk. This not only leads to logistic problems but also shortage and
indiscipline in the market. With the launch of these initiatives, WeP has been
able to streamline processes to a large extent. "Executives do not have to
panic at the end of the month to push products into the market as targets are
met with on a regular basis," says Ranbir Singh, GM, North WeP.

Partners are given individual passwords to access the site and execute
transactions. "We usually make sure to auction popular products so that
partners can actually benefit from the deal. One of the most popular items at
the auction is LX-100 which has been auctioned a couple of times," says
Lohit Shringi, Manager-Channels Sales in the Delhi region. At the same time, the
auction also serves as a platform to liquidate non A-class products at the best
price possible. New products are auctioned to generate excitement amongst the
partners.

Channels are also a happy lot with this initiative. Says Pankaj Bandlish,
Director, Compro Computers, "We get very good deals through the auctions at
prices which are unbelievable."

BALAKA BARUAH AGGARWAL