{"id":36037,"date":"2019-09-05T12:19:24","date_gmt":"2019-09-05T19:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=36037"},"modified":"2019-09-05T12:19:28","modified_gmt":"2019-09-05T19:19:28","slug":"online-retailer-threats-to-dealer-community-are-you-at-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/feature-articles\/2019\/09\/online-retailer-threats-to-dealer-community-are-you-at-risk\/","title":{"rendered":"Online Retailer Threats to Dealer Community: Are You at Risk?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Image by Steve Buissinne<\/a> from Pixabay<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In our September issue, we take an overview of the perceived or real threats posed by online retailers such as Amazon and Staples, the latter fortified by its acquisition of DEX Imaging. The question is, can these giants make meaningful inroads into the office technology space beyond their current standing? Or, to quote Alfred E. Neuman, the Mad<\/em> magazine mascot, \u201cWhat, me<\/g> worry?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Larger dealerships, particularly those with sophisticated\nmanaged service offerings, might offer a simple shrug of the shoulder. They\u2019re\nalready knee-deep in competitors and have already mapped out strategies to fend\noff any barbarians at the gate. But the struggle could well be real for\nworking-class dealers, lifestyle businesses and the more meager among your\nbrethren, who already face difficult competition scenarios in an\never-constricting environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, we posed the following question to our state of the\nindustry dealer panel. As retailers scale their service proposition, which\nsegment of the dealer community is most vulnerable to losing client share?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most Vulnerable<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Kevin DeYoung, Qualpath<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Those dealers doing business in the small office\/home office\nspace will prove to be the most vulnerable, notes Kevin DeYoung, the president\nand CEO of Qualpath. Also at risk are those who serve the extreme small end of\nthe SMB space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are certain customer profiles which lend themselves to appreciating the value-add that an indirect channel would have to offer versus another customer profile where that value-add isn\u2019t appreciated,\u201d he said. \u201cTherefore, the scale that would come from a large retailer in combination with a DEX Imaging is more appreciated because it saves them more money.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dave Clark, AIS<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dave Clark, vice president of sales for AIS of Las Vegas, sees\nthe greatest threats facing dealers who provide copiers and printers only, even\nif they have wide-format machines and 3D offerings. \u201cIf you\u2019re not in the IT\nspace, the workflow space, the integration space, and you\u2019re not helping a\ncustomer manage information from multiple access points and helping them create\nworkflows, then really you\u2019re just an output provider,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s\nreally no value in that. Those are the ones that are really going to suffer\nthrough this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s going to happen, as we\u2019ve seen over the past few\nyears, those dealerships will continue to be going away. They\u2019re going to be\nbought by a company that does provide those types of services, dealers who want\nthe MIF and customers to go after to sell those services. Otherwise, they\u2019ll be\ngoing out of business because they\u2019re not staying ahead of the trends and client\nexpectations of delivering a valued technology partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Kevin Morris, OneDOC MPS<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The value-add of managed services needs to be real. Too often, dealers who claim to have MPS are overstating their value proposition; it sounds nice on their website, but the level of execution is lacking. Kevin Morris, president and CEO of OneDOC MPS\u2014like Qualpath a pure-play MPS provider\u2014was vetting a potential acquisition that claimed to have a managed print services offering. But out of all of their devices, only 135 printers were under contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not Inclined<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morris wonders how many dealers in the country in the $2\nmillion to $5 million range are in the same boat as his example, where 135 out\nof about 700 MIF were under contract. \u201cThose companies are extremely\nvulnerable, because they haven\u2019t made an attempt at MPS offerings, and they are\noperating the same way that they did in 1975,\u201d he said. \u201cThey probably have\nowners who are a little bit older and they haven\u2019t pursued MPS; they just felt\nmore comfortable selling copiers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Chip Miceli, Pulse Technology<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dealers who leave service money on the table will soon find\na competitor willing to snap it up. Chip Miceli, president of Pulse Technology,\nnotes that dealers who do not make deals with selling organizations are the\nones most vulnerable to losing client share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cService\nis where profits are highest,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the right position with the right\narrangements, dealers can pick up revenue. As an example, we do service only\nfor several organizations. Dealers should be open to this possibility.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In our September issue, we take an overview of the perceived or real threats posed by online retailers such as Amazon and Staples, the latter fortified by its acquisition of DEX Imaging. The question is, can these giants make meaningful inroads into the office technology space beyond their current standing? Or, to quote Alfred E. Neuman, the Mad magazine mascot, \u201cWhat, me worry?\u201d Larger dealerships, particularly those with sophisticated managed service offerings, might offer a simple shrug of the shoulder. They\u2019re already knee-deep in competitors and have already mapped out strategies to fend off any barbarians at the gate. But the struggle could well be real for working-class dealers, lifestyle businesses and the more meager among your brethren, who already face difficult competition scenarios in an ever-constricting environment. Thus, we posed the following question to our state of the industry dealer panel. As retailers scale their service proposition, which segment of the dealer community is most vulnerable to losing client share? Most Vulnerable Those dealers doing business in the small office\/home office space will prove to be the most vulnerable, notes Kevin DeYoung, the president and CEO of Qualpath. Also at risk are those who serve the extreme small end of the SMB space. \u201cThere are certain customer profiles which lend themselves to appreciating the value-add that an indirect channel would have to offer versus another customer profile where that value-add isn\u2019t appreciated,\u201d he said. \u201cTherefore, the scale that would come from a large retailer in combination with a DEX Imaging is more appreciated because it saves them more money.\u201d Dave Clark, vice president of sales for AIS of Las Vegas, sees the greatest threats facing dealers who provide copiers and printers only, even if they have wide-format machines and 3D offerings. \u201cIf you\u2019re not in the IT space, the workflow space, the integration space, and you\u2019re not helping a customer manage information from multiple access points and helping them create workflows, then really you\u2019re just an output provider,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s really no value in that. Those are the ones that are really going to suffer through this. \u201cWhat\u2019s going to happen, as we\u2019ve seen over the past few years, those dealerships will continue to be going away. They\u2019re going to be bought by a company that does provide those types of services, dealers who want the MIF and customers to go after to sell those services. Otherwise, they\u2019ll be going out of business because they\u2019re not staying ahead of the trends and client expectations of delivering a valued technology partnership.\u201d The value-add of managed services needs to be real. Too often, dealers who claim to have MPS are overstating their value proposition; it sounds nice on their website, but the level of execution is lacking. Kevin Morris, president and CEO of OneDOC MPS\u2014like Qualpath a pure-play MPS provider\u2014was vetting a potential acquisition that claimed to have a managed print services offering. But out of all of their devices, only 135 printers were under contract. Not Inclined Morris wonders how many dealers in the country in the $2 million to $5 million range are in the same boat as his example, where 135 out of about 700 MIF were under contract. \u201cThose companies are extremely vulnerable, because they haven\u2019t made an attempt at MPS offerings, and they are operating the same way that they did in 1975,\u201d he said. \u201cThey probably have owners who are a little bit older and they haven\u2019t pursued MPS; they just felt more comfortable selling copiers.\u201d Dealers who leave service money on the table will soon find a competitor willing to snap it up. Chip Miceli, president of Pulse Technology, notes that dealers who do not make deals with selling organizations are the ones most vulnerable to losing client share. \u201cService is where profits are highest,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the right position with the right arrangements, dealers can pick up revenue. As an example, we do service only for several organizations. Dealers should be open to this possibility.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":36038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1650,82,87,1638],"tags":[3155,3077,3521,697],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36037"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36037"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36040,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36037\/revisions\/36040"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}