All about Shillong

What can one expect out of a market when the entire trade is driven by the state government tenders and the bloodline is only retail with a fossil association suffering from its own ‘ego'?

This is Shillong, rather a satellite of Guwahati seemingly keen to emerge a leader in north-east India but constrained by its own capacity and modus operandi. While the older stock of the first breed of entrepreneurs ask for the young bloods to take the lead, the later is always ready to put the ball back to the ‘elders' court seeking "guidance and advice".

The DQ Week reached the city of Shillong amidst a plague that is called "bandh"; too common in the eastern part of the nation with its premiere Tech Caravan in the city aspiring to find a concentrated and committed channel market but instead, saw a ‘chain of retailers' and a casual category of tender-baggers.

As the evening of Tech Caravan began straightaway taking up issues in the market and the ire of channel partners directed towards some national distributors and service issues, the picture, however, is not as gloomy as it may seem. Shillong is a market big enough to generate Rs. 36 crores annually solely in retail and government projects would lead to tripling the amount, coupled with the fact that the number of channel partners has doubled over the past 4 years; but what mattered the most was the absolute lack of distributors in the area and the credit system imposed upon the traders and retailers from the biggies back in Guwahati and Mumbai. Logistics and support services too featured atop as a priority concern.

Speaking about a key issue in the channel market, Rajiv Kalra of Digital Dimension said, "One of the key national distributors (name not disclosed) is putting up harsh payment terms in forms of advances and cash returns and recently another distributor from Mumbai is following suit. The problem is not about having credit but about the realization of payments whereby cash flow is getting hit".

Further, a majority of the dealers added that the IT trading in the area was turning out to be cash-driven rather than credit-driven for some partners while some of the "newer entrants" have access to easy credit from Guwahati.

Besides, like all north-eastern states, the problem of logistics is pertinent as supplies and spares (changes or service replacement) has to be routed and then rerouted via Guwahati. The problem also leads to problems in service issues and inventory.

"A majority of key vendors do not have any service centre here and often we have to bear the brunt of irate customers. We think we need to have proper service centres in place here for prompt support. Vendors should realise that having local service facilities will boost their sales only as service support is a prime factor in a purchase making decision", said Sharad Bawri of Lifeline Enterprises.

The key point of discussion, however, centred around reviving the association and generating workable commitment from the attendees in Tech Caravan. Although the immediate revival of the association seems a delusion after the end of the Tech Caravan, an "interest has been generated" and maybe in 3 months time, partners may consider in regrouping.

The sponsors of the Tech Caravan in Shillong were Uniline and Norton, each of them explaining the benefits of partnering with them in their respective speaking slots.

As The DQ Week bid adieu to Shillong trailing down through Elephant Falls, it left the channel partners with the promise to take their concerns (especially the national distributor issue) to the concerned level and offer viable support to the city in reviving its Jurassic association.