Sony Moving to Hybrid Sales System, Shifting Logistics to Tech Data

Sony is adopting a hybrid sales system this year as it shrinks the number of retailers getting direct distribution, said merchants and industry officials. The company will continue to have sales staff working with retailers and move logistics, including ordering and shipping, to distributor Tech Data, retailers said. The change, which took effect April 1, will narrow Sony’s direct sales accounts to 45 dealers, industry officials said.

Sony declined to comment on the number of retailers that will keep direct distribution. The company is bringing “more resources to bear in support” of regional, independent and specialty retailers, Executive Vice President Michael Fasulo said in a written statement. Sony is less focused on the number of direct sales accounts than on “providing the best customer experience,” he said. The company sales staff to “work closely with our channel partners so we can deliver the Sony premium experience at the shopfront,” Fasulo said.

Dealers we polled don’t expect drastic changes as a result of Sony’s offloading logistics to Tech Data, as long as Sony sales staff continue working with retailers. “We'll still have a guy we deal with, and as long as we have a relationship with the company through a Sony person, I'm OK with that, especially if we can get product,” said Bjorn Dybdahl, president of Bjorn’s Audio Video, of San Antonio, Texas.

PRO Group, whose members will work with the Sony-Tech Data alliance, views the change as “positive,” in that dealers will gain “more flexibility in how they receive goods,” said Executive Director David Workman. Tech Data has a large network of warehouses, which could allow faster delivery of goods, he said. “It gives our dealers the best of both worlds, in that we haven’t lost the Sony relationship” and have gained Tech Data, which may mean more frequent replenishment of inventory, Workman said.