PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
We caught up with PCR Boot Camp exhibitor Wasp’s European sales director Hugh Furness, ahead of the event to ask him what we can expect from firm on Wednesday May 21st.
The expo and conference, held at the Brewery in London, is free to attend for retailers and resellers – to secure your place register here today.
The full conference line up has now be confirmed – check it out here.
What do you see being the biggest challenge facing PC retailers at the moment?
With the market changing and still some uncertainty it is important to focus on the product ranges and be up to speed as the customer will be, they are more educated about what they want so be the expert, also customers are expecting fast and reliable service, info and free shipping, the customers are looking for value, the challenge for PC retail is to make sure they have the latest innovative technology, know the products, and offer a fast and reliable service.
In your opinion, what’s the most important thing for retailers and resellers to bear in mind when dealing with customers?
Well as we all know the customer is well informed before they arrive in store and would have checked out several products they want, they can even check out the product with their smart phone or tablet in store so make sure you know what your talking about and be prepared to offer competitive products or better new options.
What gadget can’t you live without?
This is a hard one, I live on my smart phone, calls, emails, internet on the go as I am so busy, what did we do when it was just a and line and letters! I would say the most used product I have is my Phone and my laptop but I would be lost without my phone.
What do you think will be the next big thing in tech?
I believe the way we all live our life today, it has to be more advancements in the mobile technology, I believe this is where the next big thing is.
If you could wave a magic wand, what would you change about the channel?
I think I would change two things, first would be that distributors keep all they stock to fulfill orders from partners, the channel will only order what is available and some distributors will lose out if they don’t carry the correct stock, the other thing would be to get resellers to take on new products and get behind them and go back to basics, and sell them, don’t wait for orders to come in, go and make the market.
What is your proudest moment as a company?
I think the proudest moment was when I joined Wasp, I went to Dallas to start my two week training and found we didn’t even have a UK distributor set up in the UK or even a warehouse, the two weeks training turned in to three days as I had to get on the phone and start setting things in motion, in two weeks we had signed Ingram Micro, set up a warehouse and got stock on the water and received a £200k order, not bad for two weeks work and from that we have expanded all over the world, that was 12 years ago. That was my proudest moment for our company.?
What products and services will you be promoting at Boot Camp this year?
Wasp will bring along our Mobile Asset, Inventory Control bundles, Bar code Scanners, Mobile computers, our new Package Tracker and the new range of barcode printers, plus our Time and Attendance Bio clocks
What distinguishes you from your competitors?
Well if you are talking about barcode scanners, not a lot at the end of the day all scanners do the job but we are the only manufacture that creates all the software and bundles it with the hardware, take our Inventory Control solution, this includes the software to manage all the stock and creating barcode labels and track all shipments, they also get a Barcode printer and all the media and a mobile scanner everything they need, No one offers this.
What are you key brands/lines you carry?
Inventory Control, Asset tracking, Time and Attendance, Epos (Quickstore), Barcode labeling (Labeler), Package Tracker.
What are you most looking forward to at PCR Boot Camp?
To meet our partners and our Wasplink members all in one place, it is always great to meet new resellers as they always find our range interesting.
