We want to do more business with channel partners who want to do the same with us

Ranjit Singh Yadav would like to believe that the economic slowdown on the
mend, the market is looking to pick up once again. He sees this period as an
opportunity for upcountry penetration and channel growth

What are your plans for the channel?

The market has been down in the last quarter. But now that that slowdown is
on the mend, there has been some positive traction since January. Hence, we are
looking at managing the business fundamentals on a short-term month to month
basis, ensuring our channel is strong and supporting them so that they can make
money as well. There are some areas where we are going to concentrate on as far
as the channel is concerned. Large format retail (LFR) is important for us and
we will expand them further. We will also set-up Samsung Digital Zones in
metropolitan cities and will have dedicated IT stores as well. These shops will
focus on selling the netbook and notebook range launched by us. These IT brand
shops in the eight cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru among
others, will throw business opportunities for our partners. We want to do more
business with channel partners who want to do the same with us.

Are you looking at revamping your channel policies in view of the
slowdown?

We will change our policies as the markets change, and as and when we
enhance our product portfolio. The way we sell monitors is very different from
the way we sell laptops. We have different policies for both. Hence, we will
customize our programs and objectives depending upon the category of products.

Do you see upcountry growth happening in the same manner as the last year?

Upcountry growth will continue and it will outgrow the growth percentage it
witnessed last year. Our monitor and components business is experiencing good
growth in the upcountry market and the penetration rate is high there. For the
printer business, we have seen huge growth in the upcountry market, which is
greater than the metro cities. This will continue for a while as the disposable
income in India is going up and the upcountry market is still under-serviced.
With broadband penetration and Wi-Fi connectivity in place, huge amount of
traction will happen in the upcountry market. Also, with the average price of
products falling, the penetration will happen faster.

Are you planning any short-term policy, given the cash crunch scenario?

At Samsung, we have an eco-system in place and various players have
different roles to play in it. We are working with the channel to ensure healthy
business and hence have taken a number of initiatives. Since we do not believe
in overstocking the channel, we track our stock levels with distributors,
regional distributors and channel partners. We have propagated that the channel
reduce the stock level so that they are not under any pressure to sell products
in view of the hard times. Apart from this, we have also encouraged our channel
to do more short-term cash business. This way our partners will be able to
retain their customers. These partners handle a number of vendors and brands,
and thereby their credit policies at the same time. This is the biggest
challenge before them. We are encouraging our partners to maintain a 15 day
stock and in most of the cases maintain stocks for even lesser days in view of
the recession.

Pooja Sharma

poojas@cybermedia.co.in