01732 759725 36 RESEARCH In November 2022, Keypoint Intelligence surveyed 203 office equipment dealers, IT resellers and managed service providers – all decision-makers – across Europe. Deborah Hawkins, Director of Office Team shares some of the key findings from the 2022 State of the European Channel report Channel survey A4 has been heavily in demand and the #1 reason for resellers to add brands, is to expand the A4 portfolio. Resellers are generally very loyal to their suppliers and are not known for switching brands they carry on a regular basis. It’s usually a long-standing relationship built up over many years that is of great value to both. BUT the pandemic caused a lot of disruption and will continue to cause turmoil. Of the 203 resellers surveyed, 67 per cent reported that they had added a brand in the past year. The great overhaul is of course the shift to hybrid work forms, resulting in a decentralisation of the workforce and the equipment required. This in turn led to more demand for A4 rather than A3 devices and a flurry of activity to source the former to serve immediate needs. The top reason for resellers to add brands in the past year was to expand the A4 portfolio. But it wasn’t only about A4. The top four reasons to add brands all revolved around hardware for the hybrid office – scanners to support digitisation, A3 to support centralised print and devices suited for work from home. Only 16 per cent of the resellers we spoke to reported dropping a brand in the past year, which speaks to the level of loyalty, and when they did drop, the major reason was due to stockouts and/ or backorders. Backlogs continue to plague the channel and restrict business opportunities Resellers also report that stockouts and backlogs continue to plague business. The survey showed that A3 and A4 hardware had the highest level of backlog – with 36 per cent of resellers reporting serious backlog on A3 and 32 per cent on A4. Supplies, parts, and scanners fared slightly better but continue to have small backlogs. Bring on re-use as combat for the supply chain issues of the past two years and those that are expected to continue into the future. Almost onethird of resellers’ machines in field are already classified as second use. That means that after a first life in the field, the device was either refurbished or reconditioned and placed back into the market for a second use. This trend not only supports the issue of backlogs but is key for customers to increase their sustainability efforts. The race to zero is on and companies must prove that they are doing their bit. This can come in a multitude of ways – through devices that use less energy, implementing remote service practices, recycling and reusing hardware and supplies. Keypoint recommendations This is not a time to sit back on your laurels and continue as previously. Embracing change is the only way forward and whilst uncertainty amongst customers still exists, resellers should be proactively talking to customers about that change. Office print volume is not coming back to former levels. Have a plan for diversification in place. To serve the remote worker at home. To serve the hybrid worker on the move. To serve new technology needs that have expanded way beyond print. At the same time, look to tighten cost structures, there is a lot to be saved by transitioning parts of service programs to remote. Plan now for a future that will be different. https://keypointintelligence.com Major threats to resellers’ hardware revenue include customers’ desire to reduce costs, downsize fleets and switch to less-costly A4 devices – all largely driven by the switch to hybrid/workfrom-home model. There is no doubt that the pandemic and ensuing shift to hybrid work has disrupted the market for office equipment. With the increasing permanency of new work forms, we expect to lose some 20-30 per cent of office print compared to pre-pandemic levels. Resellers are understandably concerned about their future business. In reflection of the shift to hybrid work, resellers report their customers’ desire to centralise print more, change fleets to more A4 and save costs. Those first two factors – centralise and decentralise print – both indicate a high level of uncertainty in the marketplace. Companies still don’t know the number of workers that will be in offices in the future and for how many days. They also often don’t know if they can afford to change offices with the current state of inflation. The only thing we do know is that change is abound and resellers already report that the majority will be putting their prices up by 1-10 per cent to combat rising costs. This is not a time to sit back on your laurels and continue as previously. Embracing change is the only way forward. A3 Copiers continue with highest backlogs Deborah Hawkins
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