Johannesburg, 25 Feb 2014
Esquire Technologies, the award-winning broadline distributor of technology, digital lifestyle, consumer and mobile products, has won the EMEA Channel Academy Multichannel Initiative of the Year Award for 2014.
The 'EMEA Channel Academy: 2014 Awards' took place in conjunction with regional channel event DISTREE EMEA. Distributors, retailers and vendors operating in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region submitted application packs to enter the Multichannel Initiative award.
A VIP jury of international channel experts met in Monaco to assess the submitted entries. The VIP jury selected Esquire's world first Virtual Reseller Network (VRN) as the winner of the 2014 Multichannel Initiative Award.
Esquire's VRN concept has taken more than eight years and ZAR10 million to establish itself in the South African market. The awards ceremony, which took place for the sixth year in a row in 2014, was held on 13 February in Monaco.
Speaking at the event, Asgar Mahomed, Managing Director of Esquire, said: "I am dedicating this award to our team that has spent many sleepless nights and long hours to get the VRN concept off the ground and make it a phenomenal success."
The 'EMEA Channel Academy: 2014 Awards' and DISTREE EMEA were attended by more than 1 000 senior executives from vendors, distributors, retailers and e-tailers operating in the EMEA region. The event is the largest independent annual regional gathering of senior executives working in the volume technology and consumer electronics channel.
Esquire has successfully expanded its VRN concept growing the number of partner e-commerce Web sites using the system from 19 to 450. Esquire allows resellers VRN sites to use its real-time stock system for price checking, product information and stock levels via their Web site. Once the consumer places an order with the reseller, it is automated to Esquire's back-office system and delivery is completed via a dedicated courier service directly to the reseller's client via the Esquire logistics arm.
VRN offers a fully-fledged e-commerce Web site for resellers to utilise, allowing them to add their look and feel to the Web site. Esquire ensures that resellers' costs are minimised by securing special credit card rates, reduced delivery fees from a dedicated courier company, aggressive rates on hosting and payment gateway charges. This is done to ensure the reseller remains competitive against multinational retail stores and traditional channels.
"This is a fantastic award for us. And we believe it places us, yet again, on the map as an innovative company that delivers top-class solutions for its resellers," explained Mahomed. "This award is also arguably our best to date - and it makes all the hard work worthwhile. We are continuing to invest time and money to develop and enhance the VRN concept, which has become an integral part of our business plan for our resellers going forward."
Frederic Simard, Director and Co-Founder at DISTREE Events, said: "We would like to congratulate Esquire Technologies in South Africa on winning the 2014 Multichannel Initiative of the Year award. The quality of entries was very high. The success of VRN demonstrates the importance of distributor innovation in EMEA channels - especially in emerging markets."
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