Compaq Demands Sales Support
From E-Stores
(03/30/99, 8:33 p.m. ET)
By Aaron Ricadela , Computer Retail Week
Compaq Computer said it plans to begin
reauthorizing Internet retailers by early May,
imposing program requirements that limit
Web stores' ability to undersell its products
while demanding top-notch customer
support, company officials said Monday.
Compaq will release two sets of requirements, for
consumer and commercial product authorization, that
establish pre- and post-sales support criteria and other
demands.
Internet retailers will need to meet these requirements in
order to sell Compaq's products, company officials
said. Web stores will need to clear additional hurdles
for commercial authorization as those requirements will
be more stringent.
During the week of Feb. 15, Compaq, in Houston,
notified Internet-only retailers that ithad halted their
authorizations to sell Presario PCs while the vendor
developed a new Internet program and partner list.
Internet retailers, including Buy.com, Cyberian Outpost,
PCsave.com, Shopping.com (since acquired by
Compaq, and Value America had their Presario
authorizations terminated.
Bob Fernander, vice president of Compaq's
Commercial Business Unit, North America, said the
company plans to reauthorize a short list of Internet
retailers within 30 days.
"We want to create an authorization process that will
ensure online retailers provide pre- and post-sale
customer service and support, and that they add value
in addition to price. We think that will narrow the
number of Internet-based retailers that are authorized,
and will limit their ability to use our products to drive
traffic to their site," Fernander said.
"You can't have people using your product to drive
traffic to their site and offering very poor customer
service. It can tarnish your brand," he said. "We don't
think it's healthy for our other channels of distribution if
these people are hurting us as they grow."
In February Compaq insisted Buy.com, in Aliso Viejo,
Calif., remove all Compaq products from its website, a
Compaq spokeswoman said. Buy.com had been selling
Compaq's full line of consumer and commercial systems
and servers, including unannounced products, she said.
Buy.com could not be reached for comment at press
time, but CEO Greg Hawkins said this month he intends
to work with Compaq to regain sales rights.
Meanwhile, Fernander pointed to a start-up online
retailer, MegaDepot.com, Seattle, as an exemplary
Web store that provides online sales consultation and a
responsive customer-service staff. The company's
website includes a discussion thread where customers
can trade product recommendations.
Despite Value America having its rights to sell the
Presario terminated, the company is still authorized for
Compaq commercial products, in part because of its
extensive telephone support and outsourced service
arrangements, a spokesperson said.
At PCsave.com, in Dallas, president and CEO Philip
Wise argued for his company's eligibility. "We certainly
don't use Presarios to drive traffic to our site. If I put a
product on my site, I hope to sell the darn things," he
said. Furthermore, PCsave.com, a division of corporate
reseller CompuCom Systems, provides 60-day,
24-hour free help-desk support on all purchases and
trains its telesales reps weekly, Wise said.
Cyberian Outpost CEO Darryl Peck said in a
conference call with analysts Monday that he's
confident Outpost will regain authorization from
Compaq. Peck told Computer Retail Week, "We
would like to see it happen by April, and my hunch is
that it will."
Compaq executives will meet in Houston this Thursday
and Friday to further specify Internet program
requirements.
A source close to Compaq called the 30-day
reauthorization time line a target and said the company
also is considering making an announcement the week
of May 3. |
