IT Network targets VARs in online drive
InterX subsidiary IT Network will place resellers at the heart of its drive to make itself the de facto portal for buying IT products online.
InterX subsidiary IT Network will place resellers at the heart of its drive to make itself the de facto portal for buying IT products online.
Information generated by users of the portal is now being offered to re-sellers that promote the IT Network through a hyperlinked banner on their websites.
Rob Wirszycz, recently appointed chief executive of IT Network, said the activity reports generated by IT Network's Bladerunner software would be passed to resellers to give them "invaluable customer preference analysis".
He said 250 out of the portal's 4,500 registered resellers have signed up to the scheme, with most of the rest expected to follow. Wirszycz denied that providing corporate users with access to buy direct from a vendor through a reseller link was a threat to the channel. "We will remain channel agnostic," he said.
Developing reseller partnerships will form part of Wirszycz's goal to take IT Network from "the start-up phase" into a period of strong growth.
He will also spearhead the portal's expansion to other vertical and overseas markets, with further announcements expected "within six weeks".
IT Network is also seeking to form alliances with distributors providing value-added services such as online product configuration and software licensing.
Wirszycz's first week as chief executive underlined his hands-on approach. Marketing manager Guy Shackleton was laid-off last Wednesday, with Wirszycz taking on his duties. "IT Network hasn't had a figurehead until now, and I'm going to put my stamp on the organisation," he said.
He insisted there would be no further redundancies.
- InterX stock soars on back of interim result
- InterX's share price continued to soar to more than 10 times its December value, following the group's interim results last week.
For the seven months to 5 February, InterX achieved sales of £201m, a 36 per cent increase on £148m the previous year. Pre-tax profit fell from £3m to £451,000, reflecting the group's online expansion.
InterX said in a statement that sales at distributor Ideal Hardware had grown strongly during the period. UK gross margin of 7.7 per cent reflected the impact of lower margins resulting from its appointment as a Compaq distributor in 1998. It added that it expects to be in advanced negotiations with a buyer for Ideal in early April.