VARCentral is the First Multi-Distributor Shopfront Platform for Australasian Resellers
Australian eCommerce provider, eCorner, in collaboration with VARCentral, today announces the launch of the first online retail platform for IT resellers that offers automated daily feeds from multiple distributors and the potential for significant new revenue streams.
The VARCentral platform, based on ePages eCommerce software, is a robust, pre-stocked online store with 125,000 products in 3,000 categories available from the major Australian distributors that are currently on board: Alloys, Dicker Data, Ingram Micro, Multimedia Technology, Simms and Synnex. And in New Zealand: Dove Data Products, Exeed, Ingram Micro and Synnex.
The comprehensive functionality includes: multi-channel partnerships with eBay, Getprice and Shopping.com; secure payment gateways with PayPal and eWAY; multi-level group discounts for buyers; integrated marketing and promotions; and licence annuity tracker.
Customer deliverables through the complete shopping cycle include: user shopping list and advanced search capabilities; comparison pricing; user or merchant created quotes; and automated conversion from quote to order.
VARCentral provides reseller solutions for marketing and sales, SEO, social eCommerce, fast B2B transactions, facilitating B2C enquiries and web analytics. Its modular design adapts quickly to new requirements, business needs and market conditions.
Access to VARCentral is eminently affordable under three plans: $220, $260, $340 on a 12 month contract.
Stuart Whitmore, Business Development Manager and Partner at VARCentral said: “The difficulty in establishing a profitable online presence has been that there are thousands of products available which, while sourced from only a small number of distributors, are subject to daily changes in price, stock levels and model availability.
“While single store fronts offerings have been available for some time, this is the first multi-distributor system allowing Australasia’s 3500 independent resellers to select products and specifications, availability and price from one low cost portal. From Day 1 resellers have a fully stocked store and can start selling.”
eCorner and VARCentral have created a flexible system which allows the reseller to generate quotes and buyers to build their own specifications. This can then be adjusted based on competitive pricing or special customer discounts. Specials are automatically pushed by suppliers out to all VARCentral stores so resellers always have something new in their shop window.
ePages’ powerful SEO features ensure VARCentral resellers rank highly. And integration with comparison sites enables an even wider web presence than that offered by the VARCentral platform. Resellers can shift high volume or clearance products outside their own store.
VARCentral also provides a range of designs for resellers, from a gallery of low cost templates to fully customised sites.
John Debrincat, Managing Director of eCorner, said: “The eCorner / VARCentral partnership proves the value of building the business logic and data feeds to best support the businesses and consumers in a vertical market space. The VARCentral platform is purpose-designed and priced for the IT reseller market in Australia and New Zealand. SMBs can compete profitably with the same level of professionalism as larger operations.”
IT Logic – VARCentral’s First Customer – Highly Profitable from Day 1
With five years’ online retail experience using less sophisticated platforms, IT Logic is well placed to assess the new VARCentral solution.
Haydn Tomlinson, Director, IT Logic said: “IT Logic has only 11 staff but is now able to compete with the likes of Harris Technology and Dick Smith. With VARCentral we have the same professionalism in our online retail offering, the same access to suppliers as the big guys. Customers can order today for delivery tomorrow. And we hold no stock.
“Rather than spending $40,000 building an online retail presence from scratch, we have an immediate, highly profitable store for a small upfront fee and $220 per month. VARCentral is fast, it has a great look and is very easy for us to tweak.”
The VARCentral Google Analytics tool, with links to eBay, Facebook and Twitter, ensures very high rankings: “It used to take a $10,000 per month Google advertising spend to turn over $100,000, with little margin. With VARCentral we pay nothing and within two weeks of setup we were appearing in the top two pages of a natural search. We are getting sales through Google which we’ve never had before,” Tomlinson said.
“In Year 1 we expect to improve turnover by 15-20 percent and increase that to 40 percent in Year 2.”
As part of VARCentral’s end to end service Tomlinson said: “They helped us streamline our processes. We now operate one set of internal procedures and purchase order documents for all suppliers which has greatly improved our administrative speed and accuracy.”
About eCorner Pty Ltd – www.ecorner.com.au
eCorner™ is an Australian provider of secure eCommerce solutions. We help organisations of all shapes and sizes to realise their eCommerce potential. To do that we use ePages™ software – a proven eCommerce technology with over 50,000 customers worldwide. Our eCommerce infrastructure is based right here in Australia and we extend and support that platform locally.
We also help organisations beat spam, phishing and virus attacks with Cloudmark™ – the market leader in anti-spam and anti-phishing technology. For more information on eCorner, please visit www.ecorner.com.au or call our customer service team on 1800 033 845.
About VARCentral – www.varcentral.com.au
Built by IT resellers for IT resellers, VARCentral is the platform underpinning increased sales, improved customer retention, accelerated innovation and reduced IT costs.
Powered by ePages, VARCentral includes marketing and sales, SEO, social eCommerce, B2B and web analytics solutions. VARCentral offers the most complete set of solutions for both B2B and B2C eCommerce, creating opportunities to sell via portals like eBay while making the most from social networking sites, blogs, forums and a variety of secure payment options.
VARCentral’s eCommerce specialists provide design, consulting, technology, implementation, training and ongoing support services.
About IT Logic - www.itlogic.com.au
IT Logic is a solutions provider offering product, services and remote support with offices in NSW and Queensland.
For further information please contact:
Shuna Boyd BoydPR 02 9418 8100
