Further making good on its commitment to catering for underserviced areas of the South African technology reseller space, Channelware has announced the opening of a new branch office in East London to service the needs of local resellers in the Eastern Cape area.
Located at 70 Stewart Drive in Bayville, the new branch opened its doors [...]

Because they don’t have the same buying power as their enterprise and corporate sized counterparts, small and medium sized technology resellers have classically been neglected by technology distributors and wholesalers. Channelware’s here to change that…

SMB-focused distribution company Channelware has announced the launch of a turnkey layout, design and short-run print operation at each of its six branches throughout the country.

Commits to serving the needs of the much-neglected SMB technology reseller sector in previously underserviced areas of South Africa

Channelware is a new distribution company aimed expressly at servicing the needs of small and medium sized technology resellers in previously underserviced areas of South Africa.

Stephan van Rensburg, managing director at Channelware says the company has designed its go to market strategy around the goal of addressing the need for a local distribution presence in many outlying regions of South Africa and in doing so, assisting smaller resellers with loyal and defined customer bases to overcome many of the challenges they face on a daily basis.

“Our primary differentiator is undoubtedly our regional stockholding policy, which ensures resellers have access to the products and solutions their customers require, moments after an order is placed,” he says.

Channelware has also gone to great lengths to ensure that an unusually wide variety of products and solutions are available at each of its branches.

“Our product line-up consists of both the products resellers would normally expect from a technology distributor, such as computers, notebooks, printers, accessories and networking equipment, but also office automation equipment and things as far afield as reams of bond paper and stationary,” he says.

“We have gone to great lengths to make the vast array of products and solutions, spread out across the companies in the MB Technologies group and beyond, available to our resellers,” he adds.

Van Rensburg says Channelware has pursued this stockholding strategy since it sees no valid reason for its resellers to have to visit more than one distributor or have a relationship with a raft of different companies, just because they need access to products outside of the pure technology realm.

“By addressing our resellers’ needs, both in terms of technology solutions and products that are complementary to technology solutions, we believe we’re fulfilling a vital need and saving them time and hassle,” he says.

While on the topic of convenience and time-savings, van Rensburg says the environment Channelware has created in the front-shop of its branches is one that generally invokes excitement and interest from resellers that haven’t frequented one of its outlets before.

“We have designed our branch environment to help resellers operate more efficiently. As such, from the moment a reseller arrives in one of our branches they will feel at home,” he says.

“We have friendly staff, tons of stock on display and everything from computing facilities to printing, copying, laminating and faxing facilities that have been placed in a hot-desk environment, for their convenience.

“Thus far our wide range of products and solutions, as well as the unique in-branch environment we have created, has received extremely positive feedback from the resellers that have already begun dealing with us,” he says.

Although van Rensburg says favourable credit terms are available to resellers that have undergone Channelware’s credit-vetting process, many of its resellers are still comfortable to deal on a cash-on-collection basis because of the vital niche it is addressing in the town or city.
“We have great aspirations for this company and faith that by continuing to address the needs of the SMB reseller market specifically, we will be able to expand the operation far outside of the branches we have already opened in Nelspruit, Pretoria, Polokwane, Durban, Bloemfontein and Boksburg.”

In fact, van Rensburg says that the wheels of expansion are already in motion.

“In the next six months we will open branches in Randburg, Midrand, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London and Witbank,” he confirms.

“Channelware is committed to blazing a new trail in distribution and in doing so, shaking this market up somewhat. We look forward to expanding our operation substantially over the coming years and bringing that much-needed local touch to the SMB resellers across South Africa that truly deserve it,” he concludes.
ENDS

Channelware is the SMB-focused distribution arm of the MB Technologies group. It is focused on providing SMB-sized technology resellers with goods and services within the information technology space that makes their servicing their customers simple.

The company currently has six branches located in largely underserviced areas of South Africa and will bolster this presence with a further six new branches before the end of 2009.

All of its branches boast a comprehensive stockholding of the products and solutions available to its reseller channel, making same day fulfillment on orders a standard business practice.