CU Sets Up Web Shop to Sell Mac Upgrades

Distributor claims move will not affect reseller business as channel greets idea with mixed feelings

Computers Unlimited (CU) is risking the wrath of its resellers after it set up a Web site to sell Macintosh upgrades direct to users.

The distributor announced last week that it would supply Apple?s Mac OS 7.6 directly over the Web. The site allows customers to enter credit card details using HTTPS and download software including Mac OS upgrades and Claris Home Page 2. Products from Adobe, Macromedia and Fractal will also be made available via the Web site in the future.

But there were mixed reactions from the channel. Maneesh Patel, executive director of Mygate, said the reseller had not been made aware of the initiative. ?On the surface it seems like a good idea, but it could lead to problems for customers ? it needs to be monitored. There also needs to be some protection for the dealers.?

Matthew Carr-Gomm, director of indirect reseller Apple Byte Systems, said: ?I doubt most users have the confidence to perform a complicated upgrade without the support of a technical expert. So resellers will end up making money on support.?

Justin Anderson, marketing director at Computers Unlimited, claimed that the programme was not a threat to CU?s resellers.

?I think we?re only going to be taking business that we?d normally be doing direct, so we won?t be eating into anyone else?s market. We work closely with our resellers who have known for a while that we sell direct to the user.

?This is no different, it uses the internet as a distribution channel. The margins on selling upgrades are so small that most resellers aren?t interested in them anyway.?

He added that the distributor had been selling upgrades to users for a number of years.