businessinfomag.uk
magazine
14
Cover Story
Try something new
Ricoh has spent the last 18 months
developing its printer offering for
the retail and etail markets, with
impressive results. Last year it grew
retail and e-tail sales by 67% and its
sales have continued to grow this year
despite a decline in the overall market.
It now aims to raise awareness of its
mid-range printers amongst small and
medium-sized businesses, many of which
might already have a Ricoh A3 MFP but
be unaware of the company’s award-
winning desktop printers and MFPs.
Ricoh is spear-heading this campaign
with an eye-catching Quality Pledge
promotion (see box). Customers who buy
a mid-range Ricoh printer and later decide
they don’t like it will be able to summon
Ricoh to collect it from their premises and
receive their money back in full.
Risky? “Not at all,” says Steven
Hastings, Ricoh UK IT Distribution Channel
Director. “I have complete confidence that
once someone starts using one of our
devices they will quickly come to depend
upon it for the smooth running of their
business and document processes.”
Why Ricoh?
When
Business Info
challenged Hastings
to justify this claim, he produced a list of
seven reasons why small and medium-
sized businesses should add Ricoh
printers to their shopping lists:
1
MFP leadership
Ricoh already has an excellent
reputation in the business world. It is
the UK’s Number One supplier of office
MFPs and businesses of all sizes rely on
Ricoh devices for carrying out essential
business processes, from the production
of high quality colour documents to
the digitisation of document workflows.
Today, one in four office MFPs sold in
the UK is a Ricoh device.
Ricoh understands the needs and
priorities of business customers and this
is reflected in the printer range’s strong
focus on Total Cost of Ownership (TCO),
energy-efficiency and productivity
features. Many time-saving features
on Ricoh departmental MFPs can also
be found on its desktop devices. For
example, all new models of Ricoh
mid-range desktop MFPs have duplex
Automatic Document Feeders as
standard so that two sides of a page can
be scanned in a single pass. For ease of
use, there is a consistent user interface
across all Ricoh devices, from desktop
printers to departmental copiers.
2
Manufacturing excellence
With its heritage as a manufacturer of
A3 and A4 MFPs, Ricoh knows all about
the importance of building products to
last. Just like its MFPs, Ricoh printers
are designed to withstand the knocks
of office life and use by employees
who may feel no responsibility for a
machine’s upkeep. They have a robust
design and use long-lasting components
for longer duty-cycles, reliable operation
and high productivity in the most
demanding business environments.
3
Two-year warranty
Customers don’t have to take claims
about build quality on trust. All Ricoh
printers come with a two-year on-site
warranty as standard, giving customers
peace of mind that their investment in
new equipment is safe. If Ricoh can’t
fix the problem over the phone, it will
provide a replacement.
4
Low TCO
The build quality and reliability of Ricoh
printers reflect the priority that Ricoh
and its business customers attach to
total cost of ownership (TCO) over a
device’s lifetime. Other factors that
contribute to a low TCO on Ricoh
printers include automatic two-
sided printing as standard; the option
of economical high capacity toner
cartridges; individually replaceable toners
and drums (on some products); and an
Economy Colour Mode, which saves
money when proofing by printing colour
images with less toner density. Hastings
says that over three years the TCO of a
Ricoh device is typically 25-40% lower
than that of competitor machines.
5
Energy-efficiency
Another factor contributing to the
low running costs of Ricoh print
devices is their energy-efficiency.
Ricoh is renowned for its sustainable
business practices and this focus on
environmental responsibility extends to
product design. In addition to paper-
saving features, such as automatic two-
sided printing, Ricoh printers have some
of the lowest TEC ratings in their class.
6
Click contracts
For easy management and just-in-
time consumables delivery, Ricoh can
supply its printers with a Ricoh Click
contract. The customer buys or leases
the printer and signs a separate Ricoh
Click contract covering consumables,
servicing and support for a fixed cost
per page. Contracts are available for
anything from one to five years with
3-month contract renewal options and
As Ricoh launches a take-back scheme for its laser and LED printers, we find out why it is
so confident that small and medium-sized businesses will love its printers and MFPs
