Office Products News

UK dealers under more pressure from lockdowns

Office products dealers are facing on-going challenges in the wake of the pandemic.
 
A survey of more than 100 independent resellers has highlighted the economic impact of the second lockdown in the UK and steps being taken to mitigate the loss of revenue.
 
The report- titled  'The Changing Dealer: resilience in the face of adversity'' found that two-thirds respondents at the time of survey felt their revenue will only recover to 70 per cent in the post-lockdown period.
 
The survey also revealed: 
  • Nearly 90 per cent of dealers believe home-working will become far more prevalent in future.
  • More than  80 per cent of dealers felt that online competitors will pose a much greater threat in the future.
  • Around 80 per cent are very or extremely likely to make changes to their business model.
According to Office Power, understanding the customer base via a strong customer database and customer relationship management (CRM) is how dealers can build up loyal and profitable customers in the face of increasing competion from the likes of Amazon.
 
“It is also important to have high levels of integration between CRM and online systems enabling promotions, on-site messaging and merchandising that can be targeted towards what the individual customer wants to see,” the company said.
 
“It is critical to extend this customer understanding to the sales team so that they are able to hold the right conversation and offer the right products at the right price,” it advised.
 
Date Published: 
8 December 2020