NOWavailable - Assessment & Directions of Distribution Practices by Dealers & Resellers

What is the dealers' viewpoint on the dealer-manufacturer relationship?
What are key needs of dealers?
What is the future of the distribution channel?

Get the Answers...NAGASA's Benchmark Study...
the 1st in the Industry from the Dealers' Viewpoint.

Assessment & Directions of Distribution Practices by Dealers & Resellers

The study - the sixth in an ongoing statistical series documenting the distribution channel - was completed in early 1997 by Mason Consulting Inc. The study contains detailed information regarding the sales of graphic arts products through dealers and includes data from 76 dealers across the US and Canada.

Of these, 53 dealers had 1996 sales consisting primarily of consumable products such as film, plates and proofing material; 23 had 1996 sales of primarily equipment. The responding dealers represented some 48 percent of the NAGASA dealer membership at the time the survey was conducted, More than half of the questionnaires were completed by the owner, chairman, president or CEO of the responding dealer.

Data in the 61 Page Report

• Responding dealers reported 1996 sales in excess of $2 billion, of which 73 percent consisted of consumable items.
• More than half of the dealers responding reported doing business from only one outlet.
• Large consumables dealers - defined as those with 1996 sales in excess of $10 million - accounted for nearly 93 percent of the sales reported by the responding dealers.

Insights and Details

• Survey deals extensively with dealers' confidence in their ability to support digital technology, as well as the complexities of dealer-manufacturer relationships.
• Responding dealers indicated that they expect the number of dealer organizations to decline by more than 27 percent by the year 2000, and they expect the number of dealer outlets to decline by 12 percent during the same period.
• The report contains detailed responses to a series of questions, categorized according to the size and sales mix of the dealer, and includes verbatim narrative comments from the dealers.

In announcing the the study, NAGASA president and CEO David J. Steinhardt commented:

"This benchmark study complements a similar study exploring the channel from the manufacturers' viewpoint. In releasing these studies, NAGASA expects to encourage dialogue between dealers and manufacturers, to the benefit of the entire industry."