Intelligent Retail recruits A/NZ partners with Connect

Following the local release of its multi-channel retail solution, Connect, Intelligent Retail is looking to bolster its A/NZ channel.

International operation head, Daniel Sheahan, said the ecommerce platform, which manages multiple sales channels, is well suited for small retailers.

“All of the barriers for small and independent retailers to move from being shopkeepers to being professional online retailers are removed with Connect,” he said.

Sheahan adds the key attraction with Connect is that it allows them to “play with the big boys” in terms of ecommerce, rotationally reducing the amount of time needed for managing the retail business.

Currently, 90 per cent of Intelligent Retail’s business is done through the channel and the remaining ten per cent is direct for “a number of key clients.”

“Our channel is not typical software or hardware, but made up of different types of people and organisations, selling to retailers, web developers, and others,” Sheahan said.

The company has six partners, though Sheahan said the aim is to have 45 resellers on-board by the end of the year.

“We’re busy recruiting resellers in A/NZ and building up a team of people to support them,” he said.

The company is looking for partners in regional centres of more than 20,000 people, starting from Cairns and working around Australia to regions such as Newcastle, Coffs Harbour, and Lismore.

Channel drive

Sheahan said Intelligent Retail’s channel model has been designed to appeal to a variety of resellers, and takes cues from other successful partner programs.

“There are different types of partners, and whatever the core business of our channel partners is, we’ll support that,” he said.

If a reseller is not into hardware, Sheahan said they can get it directly from Intelligent Retail, though they also have the option to do it all if it is their core business.

“There is a lot of scope for channel partners to make incremental revenue through services and hardware, additional software, and more,” he said.

In addition to providing dedicated sales training, the company also has a local support centre that it hopes to expand in the coming months.

Patrick Budmar covers consumer and enterprise technology breaking news for IDG Communications. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_budmar.