The good old days, when consumers in South Africa still had to patiently wait – sometimes for months at a time – for the latest shiny gadget to slowly make its way to local shores before being able to get their hands on it, is long over.
Months before a local retailer received the rights to become the first brick and mortar franchise in South Africa to stock and sell Amazon’s wildly popular digital reader, the Kindle, the US-based online retailer had already enabled South Africans to purchase the device directly from its virtual store.
This trend among shoppers to circumvent the usual channels by simply buying a product online is placing IT channels in South Africa under tremendous pressure to better their services, says Simon Campbell-Young, CEO of Phoenix Distribution. However, progressive local distributors are not seeing this as a threat, but rather as an opportunity.
“The way that digital content and goods are consumed is undergoing vast and rapid changes. Gone are the days of purchasing a disk, installing and then using software or other digital goods on your PC,” says Campbell-Young.
“Estimates suggest that 30% of all software is now bought and delivered online or as SaaS (reaching 70% in 2014), and the continued advent of smartphones and tablets means that today’s consumers require a convenient way to access digital goods any time, any place, on any device.
“It is highly possible, and almost expected, that one consumer could have three different ways to find, purchase, and consume the same software: one for their computer, another for a tablet and a third for a phone. It would be very short sighted for the channel not to recognise this market trend and meet the needs of its customers.”
To rise to the task, the channel clearly has to adapt to handle the evolving nuances and growing complexities of selling and distributing software, as well as other digital goods. The goal is to find a frictionless way to fulfil orders across multiple consumer touch points, says Campbell-Young.
“How you deliver software to the end customer is one aspect of the story. How you actually reach the end customer is a different one. The impact of this means that channels, from traditional resellers through to the burgeoning number of app stores, will increasingly play a different, and possibly an even more important role in the way software companies meet the demand of today’s consumers.”
He explains that distribution channels, like software companies, need to adapt to the changes in the market, and implement the technology that will be necessary to reduce the complexity of selling and distributing software online (not to mention shift from delivering boxes to retailers), including supporting a model that supports affiliate marketers and app stores.
“We identified these changes years ago, and moved into the e-commerce space with great success. In addition to supporting our retail partners through the establishment of white label e-commerce sites for them, we have built our base using our specialised portals for resellers and end-users.”
Campbell-Young adds that as the company that created the first multi-vendor software download store in South Africa, Phoenix Distribution has effectively used its expertise to provide a unique white label solution for all of its customers looking to harness the power of e-commerce.
“The benefits of e-commerce solutions are obvious: cost savings, services diversification, and quick market penetration. Agility, transparency, diversity, speed of information routing, dynamic pricing, widening of audience reach, full accessibility through online technologies – these are the words that get everyone’s hearts racing faster, and these are the benefits of moving into 21st century distribution online.
“Meeting the ever-changing demands of the market are endless and, if executed properly, will benefit all stakeholders involved,” he concludes.
This trend among shoppers to circumvent the usual channels by simply buying a product online is placing IT channels in South Africa under tremendous pressure to better their services, says Simon Campbell-Young, CEO of Phoenix Distribution. However, progressive local distributors are not seeing this as a threat, but rather as an opportunity.
“The way that digital content and goods are consumed is undergoing vast and rapid changes. Gone are the days of purchasing a disk, installing and then using software or other digital goods on your PC,” says Campbell-Young.
“Estimates suggest that 30% of all software is now bought and delivered online or as SaaS (reaching 70% in 2014), and the continued advent of smartphones and tablets means that today’s consumers require a convenient way to access digital goods any time, any place, on any device.
“It is highly possible, and almost expected, that one consumer could have three different ways to find, purchase, and consume the same software: one for their computer, another for a tablet and a third for a phone. It would be very short sighted for the channel not to recognise this market trend and meet the needs of its customers.”
To rise to the task, the channel clearly has to adapt to handle the evolving nuances and growing complexities of selling and distributing software, as well as other digital goods. The goal is to find a frictionless way to fulfil orders across multiple consumer touch points, says Campbell-Young.
“How you deliver software to the end customer is one aspect of the story. How you actually reach the end customer is a different one. The impact of this means that channels, from traditional resellers through to the burgeoning number of app stores, will increasingly play a different, and possibly an even more important role in the way software companies meet the demand of today’s consumers.”
He explains that distribution channels, like software companies, need to adapt to the changes in the market, and implement the technology that will be necessary to reduce the complexity of selling and distributing software online (not to mention shift from delivering boxes to retailers), including supporting a model that supports affiliate marketers and app stores.
“We identified these changes years ago, and moved into the e-commerce space with great success. In addition to supporting our retail partners through the establishment of white label e-commerce sites for them, we have built our base using our specialised portals for resellers and end-users.”
Campbell-Young adds that as the company that created the first multi-vendor software download store in South Africa, Phoenix Distribution has effectively used its expertise to provide a unique white label solution for all of its customers looking to harness the power of e-commerce.
“The benefits of e-commerce solutions are obvious: cost savings, services diversification, and quick market penetration. Agility, transparency, diversity, speed of information routing, dynamic pricing, widening of audience reach, full accessibility through online technologies – these are the words that get everyone’s hearts racing faster, and these are the benefits of moving into 21st century distribution online.
“Meeting the ever-changing demands of the market are endless and, if executed properly, will benefit all stakeholders involved,” he concludes.