McAfee pushes for number one place
McAfee is beefing up its retail marketing presence following the news that it is outselling the market-leading antivirus developer, Dr Solomon's, at one of the UK's largest computer superstores at a rate of three packages to two.
Rob Eatwell, channel sales manager for McAfee, greeted the news, saying: "In the US we are the number one antivirus seller and this is a step towards our aim to do the same in the UK. The way forward is to roll up our sleeves and actively support the retailer with aggressive pricing of our Virusscan product in the stores."
Eatwell sees the independent retailer as a key to success. "We're keen to support the indies to the hilt," he said. To help sell their products, the company has developed a custom-built merchandise rack, called the Wall of Blue because of McAfee's choice of packaging colour. This will be available through distributors Frontline, Merisel, Ingram Micro and Gem.
Since its inception, McAfee has used its bulletin boards and latterly, its world wide web site to distribute demonstration samples of Virusscan.
Eatwell claims that the site is currently taking five million hits per week and that this generates a demand for the product in the retail market: "We are now a known name to the customer and our aggressive pricing undercuts the main competition. We retail for under u29 and support five operating systems in a single box to make things easier for the reseller," he said.
New viruses appear daily so to avoid a pack being outdated before it is sold, the company is offering a year's support and four quarterly updates in the purchase price. Current updates can be downloaded from the web or bulletin board for free for as long as the product remains compatible with future Virusscan releases from McAfee.
The company realises that antivirus sales require a degree of knowledge on the retailers' part so the customer can be told how best to combat the virus threat.
"We have instore training schemes covering our product set and these are so popular that we are booked up into the New Year," said Eatwell.
Where instore training cannot be given, the McAfee Store Pack, which is a self-learning package for retailers, can be supplied.