Office automation equipment, printing and imaging technology company, Ricoh is looking to expand its business operations into the African market.
Currently, SA is Ricoh's only base on the continent, prompting the company to look at employing different strategies to capture a share of the emerging markets, with Angola being one of the first focus areas.
According to Jacques van Wyk, Ricoh SA's ?executive GM of indirect channel operations, the first step is the recently signed two-year distribution agreement with consumer electronics distributor Rectron, for Ricoh's consumer, small office home office (SOHO) and small business printers, multifunction printers, consumables and solutions.
"This signals growth for our South African IT distribution channel and a broadening of Rectron South Africa's printer portfolio. Ricoh SA will extend the channel business into other African countries, using South Africa as the base of operations," adds Van Wyk.
Speaking from the company's headquarters in London, where Ricoh is hosting strategy sessions as part of its Freedom to Operate event, Van Wyk explained that the company considered a number of factors to make this move possible.
"These included establishing operating companies in African regions to expand the brand's presence on the continent, and tapping into our print and production, office automation equipment, cloud-based solutions capabilities and other IT services."
Richard Allison, who is responsible for the company's Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions, adds that it has studied printer market trends to gauge where the African market is heading.
"Our research indicates that, unlike Europe, pricier colour printing costs are driving Africa to remain a predominantly monochromatic (black and white) printing market, with colour cartridge refilling very low in comparison to countries like Russia and the Ukraine in Eastern Europe," said Allison.
The biggest growth point in this market, he noted, stems mainly from page volume, which continues to decline in Europe but is growing steadily in emerging markets such as Africa.
"From this research, we've also picked up that device intake is growing significantly in these markets, meaning that functionality has converged and people can print from any device. The African market is also not copy quality conscious," adds Allison.
He added that Ricoh will look to improve on areas that have presented challenges in the past, such as improving the customer experience by simplifying packaging and making user manuals easier to read.
"Logistics is another aspect where we are exploring delivering directly to countries we operate in and will involve our distribution partners to streamline costs and achieve a quicker delivery time," Allison adds.
This is the right time, he concludes, to replicate parts of the company's business models that have been successful in similar markets and use them to achieve consistency, which will further enhance the brand's reputation in the African market.
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