Jalandhar partners want clear channel policies

The need for enhanced communication and a proper system at the distributors'
end to look into issues pertaining to dead on arrival (DoA), service and credit
policies, are some of the issues the channel in Jalandhar pointed out during the
IT Panchayat held in the region March 7. The event, held in association with The
DQ Week and DQ Channels, saw participation of more than 65 channel partners and
distributors-Ingram Micro, Redington and Compuage Infocom.

Sharing his view on the same, Rupesh Sharma, General Secretary, Jalandhar
Computer Dealers Association (JCDA) mentioned, “The market conditions are
increasingly getting difficult and the price differences at the distributors end
is certainly not helping the trade. For any given product, there is a huge price
difference at the distributors' end and as a result the dealer community has
lost their confidence in the trade. For many of HP products, Redington offers
better pricing than Rashi Peripherals and there seems to be a lot of favoritism
from the vendor's end as well.”

Reacting to Sharma's comment, Sanjeev Kumar Vyas, Area Sales Manager,
Redington India stated, “The market has not seen the kind of growth that existed
two to three years ago, and dollar fluctuation and price rise has further
created pressure on the channel. The price of a product depends upon the
distributors ability to strike a better deal from the vendor and hence nothing
much can be done about it.”

“There is a lot of delay in delivering a product and this shakes the
confidence of our customers in us. Another issue that is affecting us a lot is
the fact that distributors and even vendors indulge in unethical practices,
whereby they get directly in touch with our customers and quote a lesser price
to them,” he added.

Reacting to Singh's comment, Ramesh Verma, Branch Manager, Compuage Infocom
opined, “This disturbs the whole IT market and hence there is a need for the
distributors and the dealers to communicate the same to the vendor and work in
co-ordination.”

Ravinder Bhumla, President, JCDA on the other hand raised concerns pertaining
to delay in response from the distributors and lack of service center for
replacement of products. Taking note of the above matter, Manik Talwar, Sr
Associate-Sales, Ingram Micro mentioned, “There is a need to streamline the
system and policies, and all the distributors need to look into the issue.”

The panelists at the event included Rupesh Sharma, General Secretary, JCDA;
Sunpreet Singh of Touch Automation and Ravinder Bhumla, President, JCDA
representing the dealer community. The distributors' side was represented by
Redington, Ingram Micro and Compuage Infocom. The event was sponsored by
Gigabyte, Emerson Network Power and Symantec.

Pooja Sharma

poojas@cybermedia.co.in