The good old days, when consumers in South Africa still had to patiently wait - sometimes for months at a time - for the latest shiny gadget to slowly make its way to local shores before being able to get their hands on it, is long over. Months before a local retailer received the rights to become the first brick and mortar franchise in South Africa to stock and sell Amazon's wildly popular digital reader, the Kindle, the US-based online retailer had already enabled South Africans to purchase the device directly from its virtual store.
To ensure compatibility, Amazon even helpfully directed international shoppers to the Kindle's international versions on its Web site. Upon hearing that many South Africans were subjected to prohibitively high Internet data costs, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos made a further concession to local shoppers when he struck a deal to ensure that users do not have to pay for any data costs when using the 3G or WiFi on the device to purchase and download books.
"We've witnessed this again and again with the latest gadgets," says Simon Campbell-Young, CEO of Phoenix Distribution. "Buyers who are desperate to get their hands on a new device, now and not weeks or months down the line, can buy it online and have it shipped to them. Many of them do not want to be forced to wait the few months that it will take before distributors in South Africa make the products available to retailers.
This trend among shoppers to circumvent the usual channels by simply buying a product online is placing IT channels in South Africa under tremendous pressure to better their services, says Campbell-Young. However, local retailers that have found a way to get around consumer impatience by taking a "if you can't beat them, join them" approach and building import services based on direct access to international online catalogues are finding that there are drawbacks.
"When retailers bypass local distributors in this way, they lose control over some aspects of their business, such as delivery times, thereby placing their level of service at risk to their customers," says Campbell-Young. "If they make use of local suppliers and distributors, they will be able to meet the needs of their customers more effectively."
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Phoenix Software
Phoenix Software, a division of the Phoenix Distribution group of businesses, is a focused software publishing and distribution business that is one of the leading suppliers of consumer-related IT software products through mass retail in sub-Saharan Africa. The company has a focused retail division, covering all major and mid-tier retail outlets across sub-Saharan Africa, as well as a focused small enterprise, SME and large-scale enterprise software division. In addition, Phoenix Software is a specialist volume licensing distributor and OEM partner for numerous vendors, creating bespoke software and accessory bundling for value-added promotions across the retail and business-to-business landscape.
Having recently celebrated its 10th year in business, the company has established itself as the industry partner of choice, with a wide range of products boasting a diversity of categories. Services offered include volume licensing on all leading brands, educational discounts and retail distribution. Phoenix Software manages all services that assist customers with supply, namely in-bound and out-bound logistics, merchandising, training, marketing, publishing, key account management and market trends.
Phoenix Software's product range includes titles from leading vendors such as AVG, Ability, ArcSoft, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Exspect, Individual Software, ISLight, Kaspersky Lab, Magix, Nero, Navigon, Pinnacle Systems, Propalms, Oregon Scientific, Roxio, UniBlue, Lavasoft, Sony Creative Software, TuneupUtilities, PineApp, Parallels, Rebit, NCH, Zemana, Zoner, StorageCraft and Large Software.
The Phoenix Distribution group has a global footprint, with strategic partnerships in the US, Germany, France and Singapore. Phoenix Software is represented in the UK and Europe via a wholly owned subsidiary, PX Software, and has branches in Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Phoenix Distribution is 50.5% owned by First Technology Holdings, the largest privately owned IT company in Africa.
For more information, visit www.phoenixsoftware.co.za.
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