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DSGi has signalled its intentions to enter into the VAR market with the announcement that it has formed a team geared towards breaking into the mid-market and enterprise sector.
Under its DSG International Business moniker, which the group’s PC World Business and Equanet brands are a part of, its Advanced Solutions division will begin targeting companies of 300-plus employees.
DSGi’s group sales director said that the company is hoping to make a significant impact in the sector with the division.
"We can now take care of customers’ complex solution requirements – on contracts worth anything from £10,000 to a multimillion-pound monthly deal,” he said speaking to CRN. "It also means that we will be bidding for contracts that ordinarily we could not have done before."
He also indicated that the firm is hoping to grow rapidly to over 100 specialists during 2008. The firm will start with 60 specialists, and is expecting to go up against existing channel businesses that have many years of experience in the enterprise space.
He also, however, suggested that the company is unfazed by the challenge. "Some of the lower-end system integrators will also be affected as smaller customers go for our support offerings."
The move comes as DSGi announced that it would be trialling new store formats in Scandinavia, in an attempt to combat poor sales during the winter months when most citizens go to shopping centres rather than retail parks due to the poor weather.
The three stores leading the trial, ranging from around 30 to 50 sq metres, opened last month. They sell a range of mobile phones, MP3 players, digital cameras and other smaller electrical accessories.
They are branded ‘Powered by Elkjop’ – the group’s brand in Scandinavia – in order to capitalise on its existing customer base.
Speaking about the launch, DSGi’s Nordic sales director, Pål Vedal said that the stores were "a brand new concept" and would target consumers looking to make impulse purchases. He added that the first couple of weeks had exceeded all expectations.
DSGi’s Scandinavian operations account for around a fifth of its total sales and has seen growth of 24 per cent in recent years.
