AVG secures Maplin as part of retailer strategy

Security vendor plans to forge partnerships with many high-street chains in an effort to bolster brand

Graham O'Reilly

AVG has signed up retailer Maplin as part of its strategy to broaden its channel model and raise awareness of it brand.

Maplin will carry AVG’s web security and anti-virus offering in its 158 stores, as well as online.

Graham O’Reilly, AVG’s UK and Ireland sales director, revealed the vendor plans to forge partnerships with most of the high street’s big names this year.

Most of AVG’s 80 million global customers are free users and, according to O’Reilly, this will provide a lucrative source of leads for potential partners.

“We have something our rivals cannot offer. We can guarantee retailers that millions of our free users are walking through their stores every day,” he said.

O’Reilly said AVG also plans to build an ISP and OEM channel this year. “This will lift the brand for everyone and benefit the wider reseller channel,” he explained.

Paul Anderson, UK country manager at anti-virus vendor Trend Micro, said encouraging existing users to upgrade from free to paid-for software would prove a challenge.

“You make a different purchasing decision when it is paid for,” he said.