Just wanted to post this again in case someone missed it. Great news about DELL.
Fez
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TBR Completes First of Quarterly Distribution & Fulfillment Satisfaction Study
HAMPTON, N.H.--(Business Wire)--Jan. 7, 1999--
Delivery Time, Product Availability and Accountability Cited as
Key Differentiators between Vendor Direct and Traditional Channels
Technology Business Research's 4th quarter 1998 Distribution and Fulfillment Customer Satisfaction Study marks the commencement of a new quarterly research program designed to track perceptions of the channel from the viewpoint of end users, supplemented by the channels' satisfaction with their vendor partners. Based on a total of 350 interviews with end users and leading channel players, the study is an expansion of TBR's quarterly end user primary research, which also includes the Corporate IT Buying Behavior and Customer Satisfaction Study, a measure of end user satisfaction with their primary hardware systems vendors. Customer satisfaction levels with channel players by type, including corporate resellers such as Compucom (Nasdaq:CMPC), Inacom (NYSE:ICO), and Vanstar (NYSE:VST), local/specialty VARs, and direct vendors such as Dell (Nasdaq:DELL) and Gateway (NYSE:GTW) are part of this in-depth analysis.
The key recurring issues cited throughout the study, among end users and channel players alike, are delivery time and product availability. Out of box quality, accountability for hardware repairs, and ease of doing business are also among the principal areas that differentiate the direct vendors from the corporate resellers, in particular. In addition to product availability, end users indicate pricing/volume discounting, specials/incentives, and service/support as critical factors motivating them to shop around between the channels.
End users cite corporate reseller weaknesses including delivery, availability, global presence, some service/support areas, primarily parts replacement and complete systems repair. The exception is Inacom, which is consistently rated higher by its end user customers in the sample than its competitors in the same class. Local and specialty VARs score relatively well for ease of doing business and on-site support and score higher than the corporate resellers for delivery and availability. Principal weaknesses of local/specialty VARs include global presence and returns policies. End user customers of the direct vendors, Dell and Gateway, score their vendors significantly higher than the traditional channels for delivery time, availability, accountability, and service and support, with the exceptions of technical support response and on-site service which are cited as shortcomings for Gateway. Dell also scores well above the norm for global service/support availability, systems customization, and hardware evaluation/selection advice.
On the issue of loyalty towards the channel, the study shows that about one in five end users interviewed has switched channel partners in the past 12 months and Dell appears to be the primary beneficiary. Many of these companies report switching channels due to a requirement to consolidate the number of vendors from whom they buy and for standardization and cost reduction purposes.
From the viewpoint of the channel, the three primary hardware vendors are all perceived as failing in their commitment to fair policies with the channel although there are varying degrees of dissatisfaction among the channels. Compaq (NYSE:CPQ) is perceived as the least satisfactory vendor partner due to inconsistencies and changes in its Ts & Cs (returns, inventory, rebate policies, etc.) as well as a view that the vendor is disloyal to its channel base by moving to a direct model. IBM (NYSE:IBM), perceived as not living up to its promises in the areas of returns and inventory policies, price protection and margin sharing, suffers to a greater degree for its longstanding product availability problems, while receiving very high marks for its warranty terms. Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HWP) appears to be the "winner" in that its terms and conditions, while rated significantly higher than its competitors only average around a B-, are at least considered more consistent, and receives high marks for ease of doing business, technical support response, and overall distribution strategy.
Additional areas covered in the research study include Web site usage and satisfaction, service and support issues (extent to which companies' internal support staff solves problems, 3rd party contracts/extended warranties, DOA accountability, and system failure tracking), and perceptions of whitebox and channel assembly issues.
The end user sample consists primarily of MIS/IT or purchasing managers at medium and large companies (500 or more employees) who buy a minimum of 100 systems annually. The sample represents an installed base of over two million desktops, servers and notebooks and a purchase intent of over 600,000 systems over the next 12 months. The channel sample consists of purchasing, operations and marketing managers at the leading systems integration, corporate reseller, distributor, and specialty VAR companies. A complimentary copy of the Executive Summary for this report is available at TBR's Web site at www.tbri.com. |
