Questionnaire

Retailers are increasingly procuring materials from B2B online platforms like Udaan.com for better price and discount. In your capacity as a national distributor, what impact of this growing trend do you on ND business?

Arvind Pansari: There is a section of the channel fraternity which is directly procuring the material from online B2B platforms. Such a practice gives a room to partners to negotiate for a better price. However, matured partners know the benefits of buying from national distributors such as credit and service support from brands. National distributors offer a lot of promotional incentives and schemes to partners and hence, it is always prudent to buy from NDs. As far as RP tech India is concerned, I believe such things will have hardly any impact on our business and we will grow despite the growing presence of B2B E-Commerce players in the market.

You have recently launched a forum of T1 partners in the Vidarbha region. Can you shed light on this forum and its objective?

Arvind Pansari: The main objective of the T1 Partner forum is to have coordination among all the T1 partners and curb the malpractices of a certain section of the channel fraternity. We were observing lately that some partners were revealing Credit terms, Credit limit, discounting etc of other ND to get a price advantage. There were also incidents where few channel partners defaulting outstanding with one ND and billing with others. So we took an initiative to establish a forum which would keep a check on such issues and take appropriate actions against partners who are indulged in unethical business practices. The forum meets once in a month to review and discuss issues about the channel business.

What is the IT versus Mobility business growth ratio in the Vidarbha region? What are the challenges of both the industry segments?

Arvind Pansari: The Mobility industry is in consolidation mode and most of the big brands are changing their strategy to best suit in the current situation. As margins are very low, the mobility business is now following the path of the IT

industry. In IT, a major shift is done from component and peripheral to PCD (branded PCs and laptops) as there is a shift in consumers buying patterns.

According to you, what are the major challenges/ pain points of channel fraternity in Vidarbha?

Arvind Pansari: Major challenges for the channel in Vidarbha region is less focus and investment by vendors. Most of the vendors are investing in developing the market in the rest of Maharashtra and have concentrated in big cities such as Pune. Vendors need to invest resources to fulfil the increasing technology demands in this region.

What is the current market positioning of RP tech India in the Vidharbha region? What is your manpower and logistics strength?

Arvind Pansari: RP tech India’s positioning in Vidarbha has improved multifold in the last 3 years and we have expanded our vendor and channel base in the region. We currently have 25+ employees serving the entire Vidarbha from Nagpur branch office.

What unique Marketing and Channel initiatives you have implemented in the last one year?

Arvind Pansari: We regularly offer brand-specific incentive and promotional schemes to partners. Apart from that we also invite them to our branch in special celebrations and festivals.

How do you plan to penetrate the interiors of the region making the seamless availability of products to the last mile of end-users?

Arvind Pansari: We have placed our champions in other cities in Vidarbha such as Akola, Chandrapur and Amravati and their responsibility is to develop the local market. I travel entire Vidarbha and try to reach all partners at least once a year.

What are your key thrust areas for the next 3 years?

Arvind Pansari: We will focus more on breadth and depth with balancing as per the demand of the product. PCD will be the driving force for margins as far as volume is a concern and followed by component and peripherals. Our target is to reach up to 150 crore revenue in the next three year.

About Arvind Pansari

Mr. Arvind Pansari is a Branch Head of Vidarbha region in RP tech India. A Chartered Account by profession, he has over 20 years of experience in working in large Corporates. Under his leadership, RP tech India has achieved a

remarkable success in the Vidarbha region. A go getter, he is the popular face in the channel fraternity.