Adcom makes its mark in the market

Advantage Computers India Pvt Ltd, a major importer of IT products based in Nehru Place, had launched a range of peripheral products under the brand name Adcom in mid August last year. In the five months of its existence, the brand has been able to create a lot of impact in the market. So much so, its competitors are reducing their prices and are trying to gather their channel partners together.

The Adcom brand was launched when the sentiments in the industry were lowest. This launch was hailed a risky proposition at that time, but this risk seems to have paid off for Sanjeev Bhatia, CEO, Advantage, very well. Already giving fierce competition to Mercury, Intex, Surecom and similar brands, Adcom is planning to invest its expertise in expanding channels and increasing the product offerings. It is as of now very strong in north India and certain regions of south India.

"We have the right mix of the pricing, product identification and quality of service. We are not looking at bringing a product in India to sell quantities, but we study the product requirement and then only we introduce it in market," elaborated Bhatia. He added that with a full-fledged product identification team, the process of choosing products is done meticulously. Every product undergoes a long testing period and is then introduced to a few selected resellers, which provide the first-hand end-consumer feedback. After this the product is inculcated in its portfolio.

"Our channel policy is also unique, we do not believe in dumping and unnecessarily pushing our products. We don't want our channel partners only to generate quantity margins but also to grow in size," pointed out Bhatia. To start with, the selection process of a channel partner is rigorous in which genuinely interested distributors or resellers are selected. Inventory is liquidated from the resellers' stock before the next consignment of the product is given. Also, to curb the undue discounting of its products, it is providing small stocks to its channel partners to keep a balance between demand and supply. Educating the resellers about their products is foremost for Advantage.

The networking division of Advantage that sells various networking products under the Adcom brand name and provides networking solutions is also doing well. It has already appointed distributors of its competitive brands as its dealers.

Ashish Maydeo, MD, Gramtech Infosys Pvt Ltd, an Adcom networking product distributor, said, "Adcom's networking products have just been launched, initial feedback is not too bad. The products are yet to pick up in the market."

In the last quarter (OND), Adcom brand had a turnover of Rs 10 crore and is aiming at Rs 20 crore revenue in JFM, which Bhatia thinks is an under-estimated target.