WStore builds online presence for Fujitsu

Online reseller WStore has built and designed an online store for Fujitsu Siemens Computers.

The site will act as an alternative purchasing resource for customers visiting the main web site. WStore beat off competition from four other online resellers to win the contract.

Ian Snadden, director of channel and SME sales at Fujitsu, said: “We invited five online resellers that already had experience of working with Fujitsu to provide a tender. We were impressed by WStore’s response and its expertise in making the process of IT purchasing very simple.

“The launch of the site will strengthen our position in the marketplace but does not affect our channel approach and partnerships. Hewlett-Packard (HP) set up its own online store, which makes it a competitor with the channel. This is not a good thing.”

Stewart Hayward, commercial director at WStore, said: “When a vendor such as HP runs its own online store, it causes conflict in the channel. Resellers get scared that the vendor is suddenly going to go direct. Fujitsu’s stance is very clear: it is not in competition with the channel.”

WStore stated that it would like to work with other vendors to set up online stores. “We believe all vendors should use a channel partner to provide an online store, rather than do it themselves,” Hayward said.

Last year, WStore launched a dedicated Computer Associates (CA) online store. “We’ve just doubled the size of our software team to deal with the amount of business coming through the CA store,” Hayward said.