Prices Drop on Netbooks
Posted by Denis Clark on Fri, Jul 24, 2009 @ 01:57 PM
— Affordable SignTrak® mobility
Distributors have remarked that for the cost of one hand-held “brick” they can have seven or eight netbooks, effectively extending the power of online applications like SignTrak® to a mobile sales force at a fraction of cost of conventional mobile devices.
Since 1975, distributors have increased their product list by 200% or more1 and now sell hundreds (sometimes thousands) of products. Consolidation has grown the fleet and the sales force, and this means larger territories. The new business model is “you're going there anyway, so sell as much as you can to as many customers as you can; and if you don’t, someone else will.”
Tasks that were once accomplished by hand are now typically computer functions. In fact, technology has become crucial not just to keep pace but to stay in business. With POS being some distributors’ second or third most costly expense, using a computer device to order, track and manage POS is an efficient business model. Netbooks can make it cost effective.
A $400 netbook in the hands of a sales force is the first line of offense to control POS spending and market results. Netbooks, sometimes called ultra mobile PCs or UMPCs, typically have 9-inch or smaller screen and weigh in under 3 pounds. When introduced, prices held in the $600-$1,600 range, but 2009’s tumbling prices and growing WiMAX areas are bound to make them more attractive to distributors. For example, Acer offers a 2.2 pound netbook with 1GB RAM, 120GB disk space, Windows XP and wireless Internet capabilities for under $350. Soon, look for cell phone-like contract deals with little or no cost for the computer, just buy hours. Meanwhile, enjoy a near full-function PC (they lack DVD drives, for example) for a fraction of the cost of a limited function “hand-held data collection” device.
At the 2008 WBWAO conference in Columbus, Ohio, A-B’s VP of sales, Evan Athanas, urged beer distributors to “rapidly embrace technology in the trade in order to transform reps from order takers to consultative sales reps.” Athanas continued, “Innovation and application of new technology will become even more crucial as brand proliferation continues to accelerate.” He added, “Providing (PC) tools for salespeople empowers them and gives them more time to sell.” He concluded by saying, “The application of such technology addresses the salesperson’s lament, ‘If only I had 2 more hours!’”
Recent job postings for beer distributor’s sales representatives now routinely include among the job requirements “computer literacy in Microsoft applications.” The years 2009-2010 look to be good years to go mobile.
Footnotes
1Up to speed; computer technology keeps pace with industry changes - beer distribution, Modern Brewery Age, Jan 22, 1990, Gene Langston.