D&H Distributing Rides E-Commerce Wave

Finding a way to effectively tap that buying practice was a bit of a challenge at first. After all, selling products over the Internet is only half of the equation for channel partners. The distributor also needed to find an easy way to integrate a solution providers' value-add proposition.

But after spending a little more than a year on development, D&H created a way for its customers to effectively sell products online and add their own value while receiving high commissions. It's a Web storefront service called Rite2U, and there's no cost for VARs to participate.

"We hope this brings new business opportunities to D&H and our resellers in terms of sales and service," said Jeff Davis, vice president of sales at D&H Distributing.

The whole point of Rite2U is to give solution providers a Web presence where they can refer existing customers and initiate new sales without having to spend time and money on a personal Web site. Most SMB solution providers will agree that their time is better spent in the field with customers, rather than back in the office matching price drops with SKU numbers and product shots on a Web site.

For those people that think Web storefront programs are passe, think again. D&H had more than 1,000 solution providers sign up to participate initially, and now the company gets about 25 new sign-ups per week.

Washington D.C.-based service and solution provider Erol's PC had been pushing D&H to develop a storefront program and was one of the first few customers to sign up for Rite2U.

"We're actually thrilled with it because it's kind of a no-brainer," said Mark Lanham, purchasing manager at Erol's PC. "Basically we just sit back and collect commissions, and we service the customer."

Lanham remembers one time a customer had called the store to buy a 19-inch monitor. The monitor he wanted was selling for $199 in the store and for $181 on the Web site. Lanham recommended the customer buy it from the Web site and take advantage of a lower price and fast shipping service.

That way, the representatives at Erol's can focus their energy on larger or complex sales and simply follow up with a phone call to the monitor customer to see if they need additional service. Lanham had been pushing D&H for four to five years to develop a program like Rite2U. "It just makes sense. It adds more customers for us and D&H," said Lanham.

The main Rite2U Web site is hosted and maintained by D&H. Each qualified reseller gets a personally branded Web storefront with links for up to 11,000 products in D&H's linecard. Solution providers even get a unique URL, such as http://anyreseller.rite2u.com.

Even if end users go to Rite2U's main Web site, there's no way for them to make a purchase without selecting a solution provider who will follow up on the sale. From the main site, an end user can enter his zip code, and Rite2U will display contact information for up to 20 solution providers that service that local area. The solution provider can then call customers to find out if any installation, service or support calls are needed.

While other distributors have tried Web storefront programs and run into major technology hurdles, D&H believes that it's bringing a new strategy to the e-commerce forefront. D&H created and owns the technology and created a wholly owned Rite2U subsidiary to manage the day-to-day operations and customer service.

Another goal of Rite2U is to simplify software licensing. After all, D&H got the concept for Rite2U after working with Microsoft and its new online license aggregator wizard. From the start, Microsoft has been a technology partner in developing Rite2U, with its eye on licensing applications, said Davis. In addition to thousands of other products, consumers can also purchase and manage their own licenses using Rite2U's five-step licensing wizard.

Product shipments are fufilled by D&H and branded with Rite2U and the solution providers' contact information. D&H even assumes all credit risk for fraudulent purchases. In return, solution providers receive agency model-type commissions of 15 to 40 percent, depending on the product. Commissions are 12 percent for all Microsoft products.