Epson consolidates channel network

Bengaluru: Epson has consolidated its channel network so that all its dealers can sell all its products and consumables. The reason behind this move is to help these partners have a wider range of products to take to their customers, while the consumable business assures them of recurring returns on a continual basis.

"In the past two years we had started our channel integration program, by telling them not to be satisfied with the thin margins on a single product sale. We are coaching them on how to retain the customer, maximize them and make them a source of revenue for longer time. So all our partners who were earlier selling our printers also sell our consumables," informed SM Ramprasad, Senior Business Manager-CPG, Epson.

Last year the company managed to integrate all the regional distributors who are called Epson Accredited Partners (EAP), and this year it managed to bring the Epson Certified Partners (ECP), to get them to sell printers, projectors, scanners, multi-functional devices and consumables. The over 180 EAPs source consumer products directly from Epson or business products through national distributors, while the 4,500 ECPs have at least 70 percent of their business coming from end-user sales.

At a time when compatible and re-manufactured consumables are finding favor in the market, will the partners really be able to position the relatively higher priced vendor cartridges? The reason why vendor or genuine cartridges are facing tough competition from these compatibles because of the price differential between the two.

This is why Epson has introduced cartridges for its entry-level printers which are priced at just Rs 250. "We have the patented DuraBrite ink even in these printers which offer better output and longevity of the printed document. This is also why we have almost 35 percent YoY growth in our consumables business in this fiscal year and completed our annual target in December itself," Ramprasad said.

The company has also decided to do away with the mass channel gatherings and is instead focusing on having structured training program where it educates partners on how they can have a better sell through within their existing infrastructure. "These partners have been able to position more than Epson products, because partners who were selling to home users can now cater to SMB customers as well," added Ramprasad, while talking about the benefits this integration means for its partners.

But the company has reserved service for its third party service providers who will not be involved in selling to the end customers. This is because partners are not often comfortable sending their customers to those service centers who also sell the products for fear of losing their clients. Currently, Epson has 170 service centers across 130 cities who offer onsite warranty all over the country.

Besides this, the company is now working on a new concept for demo service, which will be removed from the demo outlets it has with large format retail outlets currently. Ramprasad however was not willing to share the details at the moment.

The company is currently basking in the success of its portable picture scanner product-Picture Mate, which currently has 30,000 installations in the country, most of these with photo studios and photographers on the move. To ensure that this product reached the smallest cities in the country, the company has worked with a channel mix of IT and photographic dealers. "A 4x6 photo on this machine costs around Rs 9, which gives the photographers a very healthy margins," informed Ramprasad.