Tech Data Automates Special Bid Pricing, Offers Tool to Track Vendor Offers

Tech Data Corp. recently said that it has implemented mechanisms to capture and track special bid pricing promotions to arm channel partners to compete in sales opportunities.

Tech Data said that is aggregating special bid offers made to resellers by its vendors and presenting the data to its channel partners at the point of purchase. Channel partners can use the distributor’s new search tool to track all active special bid pricing available to them and their customers.

Both the data tracking and search instruments are available at Tech Data’s web site, officials said.

The distributor said that currently it tracks some 30,000 active special bid pricing promotions, including offers by vendors to assist channel partners in vertical markets such as health care, government and education and custom pricing available to specific end customers such as a hospital, university or business entity.

“Special bid pricing has been one of the channel’s biggest challenges for many years,” said Joe Quaglia, Tech Data senior vice president, U.S. Marketing.

Quaglia said that Tech Data has invested in its internal IT systems not only to automate special bid pricing promotions but also to help vendors better communicate the information to channel partners.

“We are making it easier for resellers to access, track and apply special bid pricing promotions available to them, and we are helping vendors better communicate special pricing to partners," he said.

Channel partners accessing the special promotions can apply them when purchasing products at Tech Data’s web site. The search tool allows resellers to review all special bid pricing promotions offered to them either by vendor’s name, product number, end-user name or market.

Resellers also can take the pricing information from the search tool and apply it in sales calls to customers. Channel partners can find special pricing promotions offered to users in specific markets, enabling them to present competitive bids in new sales opportunities.

One Tech Data vendor praised the distributor’s upgraded special pricing tools.

“Tech Data’s new special bid pricing promotion capabilities provide a clear competitive advantage for Lexmark partners purchasing our solutions on techdata.com,” said Gil Covey, Lexmark distribution account manager.

“We want our partners to be as competitive as possible in the marketplace,” Covey said. “To do so, they need to make the most of the special bid pricing available to them.”