MERLION – “The Best Russian IT Distributor in 2017”

Editor staff of CRN/RE summed up the results of the sixth rating “Best Russian IT Distributors of 2017”. Again, MERLION has entered the TOP-5 in all four categories.

The respondents were surveyed from the end of May to the end of October 2017. The survey was respondents were the representatives of 663 IT companies from 75 localities. Top managers (general, executive, commercial directors and their deputies), employees of purchasing, sales and logistics departments, as well as managers of marketing departments of dealer companies were involved in the survey.

In the course of the survey, it was necessary to assess the importance of each of the 12 criteria for the work of distributors specializing in deliveries to different groups of partners (assemblers, retailers, system integrators), as well as software distributors and specialized (niche) distributors: “Prices”; “Profit formation programs (system of discounts, rebates, etc.)”; “Breadth of assortment”; “Availability of the product at the warehouse”; “Availability of B2B system (possibility to place online orders, track the passage of goods, etc.)”; “Presence of clearly worded standards (formalized rules, procedures) for work with partners”; “Flexibility, individual approach to partners”; “Ability to solve problems”; “Management of relations with the vendor”; “Financial support (credit/leasing/factoring, etc.)”; “Consultations, assistance in development of projects”; “Marketing support”. The presented list of criteria remains unchanged for the fourth rating in a row.

The editors emphasize that they “do not provide respondents with an initial list of distributors. Participants of the survey were to decide themselves who to name as the suppliers which, in their opinion, are worthy of the title of “The best IT Distributor”. Thus, the lists of claimants in each nomination were formed on the basis of the “open list” principle.”

According to the results of the survey, MERLION took the first place in nomination “Distributor for the collector” and entered the TOP-5 in the remaining three categories: “Distributor for the system integrator”, “Software Distributor”, “Distributor for Retail”.

In two nominations, the respondents granted MERLION the highest marks:

• According to the criterion “Breadth of assortment” in nomination “Distributor for Retail”. This year, the nomination turned out to be one of the most unpredictable – there were less than five companies which crossed the channeling threshold (only the distributors, which are really well known in the channel are admitted to the final), as a result, only three companies claimed the title of the best distributor.
• According to the criteria “Availability of B2B system” and “Breadth of assortment” in the nomination “Distributor for the collector”.

It is worth to note, that the electronic discounter CITILINK (retail project of the distributor) appeared in the rating the second time, along with MERLION. This company entered the list of applicants for the title “Best IT Distributor”.

The authors of the rating note: “In the history of our research there were the respondents who believed that the title of the best distributor should be awarded to the companies which in their essence have nothing to do with the distribution business. This is easily explained by the fact which in our market there are different interpretations of the term “distributor”. And for some partners, the distributor is the company from which they are buying, but not the one who buys from vendors and builds a sales channel. <...> We are no longer surprised with the manufacturers focused on the release of retail goods, who appear in our rating. We were more surprised with the fact that none of the respondents included the manufacturers in the list of applicants this year for the first time in a long while. We even hoped which at last our educational work yielded results and second-level partners learned to separate distributors from vendors. But this year, again, during the second rating in a row, our retailer respondents, when filling in the questionnaire, indicate the companies of completely different orientation as the candidates for the win. These are large retail networks, online stores and discounters selling digital equipment. And this year the preliminary list included both federal players and representatives of individual regions <...> So what is the reason for the appearance of retailers in our rating? As in the case with manufacturers, the reason is very simple: it became more convenient for local players to buy goods from these companies.”

In conclusion, it should be noted that in this rating MERLION is permanently among the best distributors for the sixth time in a row (previous ratings were issued in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015).

We thank our partners for the high appraisal of the work by MERLION!