MARKET REPORT Voice, Data and Mobile Distribution
Distributors:
Relevant
in a Digital
World?
Is distribution still relevant in a digital world? Comms
Business Magazine looks at the key issues for
channel distributors as they too face up to the
possibility of disruption and challenges coming at
them from all directions
Staying relevant in a digital
world is challenging for
many. A good example
right now would be the
retail sector where on-line sales
by slick logistics and still slicker
marketing operators such as AO
and Amazon are taking bigger
and bigger slices out of their
traditional, bricks and mortar
footfall-based outlets.
We recently had arguably
the biggest weekend of the retail
sales year in the form of Black
Friday. So often a retail outlet
dominated event, footfall in
the high street and retail parks
fell for the whole of November
by 3.2% year on year as Black
Friday increasingly becomes an
online event.
is was not a blip; it was
the 12th month of consecutive
decline in footfall, the British
Retail Consortium (BRC) and
Springboard’s Footfall Monitor
shows and in the week of Black
Friday itself, footfall actually
declined by 5.5%, more than in
any week of the month.
Clearly retail outlets have an
enormous problem to address
if they are merely to survive, let
alone thrive.
Challenges facing distributors
are di erent but none the
less symptomatic of digital
disruption such as from online
vendor portals where customers
and resellers can order directly.
is is more prevalent of course
for items that literally are plug
and go.
So, is distribution still
relevant in a digital world?
Comms Business Magazine
looks at the key issues for
channel distributors such as;
HOW ARE DISTRIBUTORS HELPING
RESELLERS WITH THEIR DRIVE TO
IMPROVE CLIENT CUSTOMER SERVICE
EXCELLENCE AND BUSINESS PRODUCTIVITY
ENHANCEMENT?
John Nolan, UK&I Sales
Director at Westcon, says that
the much talked about ‘trusted
adviser’ status of resellers means
partners must deliver value
that goes right to the heart of a
Winners of the Best Hosted Telephony Platform
Wishing you a happy and
prosperous new year
customer’s business.
“ is demands intelligence
and the appropriate tools
to ensure an intimate
understanding of a customer’s
estate and future needs translates
into long-term mutually
bene cial business.
Such services liberate
customers to focus more on what
drives value into their business
and less on cost-absorbing
administration and avoidance of
potentially damaging downtime.
Tel Sales: 01708 320000 or Email: sales@nta.co.uk
18 | Comms Business Magazine | January 2019 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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