HP India issues “advisory cum notice” to IT channel, making partner authorisation mandatory to sell its products online.
CRN reported that HP India has now made it mandatory to be an authorised partner in order to sell its products online on websites such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon, with the OEM also warning that “stringent action” will be taken against any authorised partners that have been “found flouting the norms of selling through marketplaces”.
The company detailed its policy in an “advisory cum notice”, which stated: “Only channel partners who have a valid partner contract with HP are authorised to sell HP products. In case partners wish to sell HP products online, they need to take prior approval from HP, specifically informing about all the details pertaining to sales plans and proposed online business. Any deviation from this guideline could attract strong action from HP including losing programme benefits or any other financial or marketing entitlements from HP.”
As a further deterrent to authorised sellers showing “disruptive behaviour” when selling HP products online, the OEM is also planning to put a “channel consequence management framework” in place.
The notice went on to note that there is a “growing trend where unauthorised online/e-commerce sites deal in HP products at prices intended to disrupt market and to veer away customers. We see these disruptive practices as an industry-wide issue impacting both the brand owners and the channel community, and ought to be dealt appropriately in order to safeguard the interests of customers and partners. A joint effort between partners and OEMs is crucial to curb the practices of online sites which attempt to debilitate the channel.”
HP India also announced that customers who purchase from unauthorised online marketplaces would not be eligible for any “special end-customer promotion offers” that may be available to those purchasing from authorised partners.
The notice concluded with the company stating: “We are making attempts to engage online marketplaces to impress upon them the advantages of working with HP authorised partners and acting within the fold of HP[‘s] recognised business model.”
The Recycler reported in 2013 that HP’s US partner programme had been revamped from 1 November of that year, marking big changes for distributors, resellers and customers. As part of the revamp, HP made it compulsory for all authorised resellers to comply with a new set of requirements which would give them “Qualified” partner status, with any partner not registered as “Qualified” by 1 November 2014 “no longer able to sell original HP ink and toner supplies”.