1. How channel ecosystem can benefit by reselling and pushing best in class memory brands today?
IT business now has become very challenging. Dealers struggle to manage their costs. Hence they are forced to cut costs. But this needs to be done keeping a long term perspective.
Unfortunately, dealers have become ‘Penny wise Pound foolish’ these days. Memory is the first product which comes under the hammer. In order to save on costs, they chose inferior memory modules which come from unauthorized channels and are without warranty. Hence, when these come for warranty, which has a real high chance, they end up losing the entire cost of the module.
We urge channel partners to opt for Genuine memory modules, as they ultimately save money in the long run. We, at ZION, offer a silver coin for every module that comes under warranty, along with instant replacement. This ensures extra profit to the channel when any module comes for warranty !
2. What are some of your key focus areas when it comes to pushing your products in the memory segment?
Our focus is now 2 pronged. On one hand, we focus on the system integrator who wants to build good quality, headache free systems. This integrator might be building desktops, thin or mini PCs, or even servers.
We have a dedicated team working with server partners and Thin PC Assemblers who focus on building robust server client solutions for corporates.
Our second key focus area of focus is the end consumer who has the knowledge to build his own PC. Mainly gamers and PC enthusiasts are our targets. We do this by regularly interacting with them through campus activities, gaming events, both online and in cafes, as well as through our facebook page. Our facebook page www.facebook.com/zionram.in has more than 23000 followers, majority of whom are between 15 and 25.
3. Where are the big opportunities in this space? How closely do you work with your channel ecosystem in India?
There is still huge opportunities in this area. Still a huge chunk of memory modules used in India are either sub-standard Chinese products or pulled out modules. These may seem cheap in the beginning. But ultimately end up more expensive when they fail when we look at cost of replacement and headache to get it replaced at consumer site.
We have been regularly educating our channel partners across India the disadvantages of such memory modules. This is done through dealer meets as well as personal visits by our sales team. Lately we have been interacting with our channel partners through whatsapp as well as emailers to educate about perils of using inferior products.
4. What are some of the big challenges that you see in this space today?
One of ZION’s major challenges today is the stagnation of Indian desktop market. On one hand,we have the inferior quality memory modules which flood the markets through unauthorized channels. On the other hand, we have big MNCs with global reach who want to buy Indian market share. Everybody is fighting for the same market.
5. How can these challenges be converted into opportunities?
We believe, the key to sustaining under such challenging times is offering good quality memory modules on a consistent basis.Zion has been doing so over past 17 years!
We have been able to add new customers who have realised the losses they have been making selling inferior modules.
6.Please share some of the innovations that you as a company are bringing in the Indian market today?
On the marketing front, we are doing the “Silver coin for RMA” promotion which is a one of a kind promotion in India. None of our competitors are doing it. Also, from time to time, we run unique promotions. For gaming, we are organizing the Xtreme Gaming League in Mumbai which will host more than 1000 amateur and professional gamers. The unique proposition is the prize that we are giving away. The winning team gets a chance to go to Goa ! More details can be found on www.zionram.in/xgl.
On the product front, we are developing new Gaming rams under the ZION XTREME Gaming Series. These Rams are highly stable even when overclocked as well as working ahead of schedule to launch the full range of DDR4 memory modules !
7. What are some of the big advantages that you bring for your end customers, as well as your partners today?
For the partners, we bring Peace of Mind. They know that on selling ZION Memory modules, their profitability is assured. Even if it comes for warranty, they make money via the silver coin promotion. Not only this, ZION memory modules are compatible with all motherboards. Hence, a dealer can confidently recommend ZION, where another brand didnt work !
For the end consumer, we bring high performance and reliable and instant post sales support. Any consumer can walk into our service center without a purchase proof any where in India and claim warranty!