Epson has made changes to its channel partner programme and appointed Pinnacle Africa as its second largest distributor of printing solutions.
Epson says it made the changes this month to extend its footprint in southern Africa, as it plans to remove channel bottlenecks within the large format printer and projector supply chains.
Kelvin Reynolds, newly appointed GM of Epson SA, explains that its previous partner programme did not benefit all channel partners equally because benefits tended to be confined to the largest and most profitable partners.
Reynolds explains: “The previous programme was a hybrid strategy and was customised for the big distributors. Epson formalised the programme into a single strategy that was standardised across all the large and small partners.”
This left specialist partners struggling to compete on the same scale as larger partners. “We've now got better coverage and indirectly there is more credit available in the system for individual resellers. Epson SA formalised the partner programme into a centralised transparent strategy and standardised it across the partners.”
He says: “We've standardised a number of the benefits, rebates and trading terms across the programme, which means all of our partners are now on equal ground and are able to better compete based on differentiated service offerings.”
Pinnacle Africa
As part of Epson's channel strategy, it appointed Pinnacle Africa this month, as a Tier one broad-based distributor of Epson printers, scanners, multi-function devices and projectors.
Reynolds says this appointment is an important step in Epson's drive to underpin its growth targets in southern Africa, as Pinnacle Africa employs over 530 staff and operates in all major centres through branches and partners in SA as well as throughout most of the SADC region.
“Pinnacle Africa will also perform the role of a logistics partner, alleviating any supply bottlenecks that have been experienced in the past, particularly in the light of increased demand for Epson products,” says Reynolds.
According to Epson, 40 business partners have signed up to the new programme. Reynolds says its programme is divided into two levels; Tier one being distributors such as Mustek, and Tier two being the resellers. He adds that Epson will focus more on its Tier two resellers to form a closer relationship to the end-users of the product.
“The channel partner programme will enable us to have a better understanding of the needs and demands of the end-user and help us to market directly to the end-user of our broad and complex product line,” says Reynolds.
Epson SA currently operates in SA, Mozambique, Botswana, and Namibia. According to Reynolds, Epson is currently in negotiations with two other countries in southern Africa. Some of Epson's specialised distributors include eProfile and Solution Technologies.
Epson indicates it will roll out a line-up of high-performance business inkjet and large format printers, as well as low-end colour business laser printers.
Share
