Resellers rock up to Click Frenzy

Australia’s answer to the US Cyber Monday sale, Click Frenzy, kicks off tonight, and local technology companies have jumped on board.

The sale starts at 7pm EST tonight and is expected to attract over a million customers over the 24-hour sale period. It will feature discounted offerings from over 200 retailers.

Among the list of predominantly consumer-focused participants sits several technology resellers and vendors.

Microsoft, Lenovo and Dell have signed up to the sale, along with resellers Wireless 1, Nortec IT, Mwave, Dick Smith and Bing Lee.

Nortec IT is the only B2B reseller to feature in the list of participating companies. The reseller’s strategy is not so much to generate sales, but to market itself and get exposure.

Nortec IT has gained the support of vendor partner Acer for the initiative, with the PC giant agreeing to heavily slash prices on several of its notebook models.

Nortec IT will also offer an introductory five hours of support for around $200 to try to drive users to its services business, as well as a bundled VoiP offering for retirees.

CEO David Norris told CRN resellers in the US had encouraged him to get involved in the initiative, after reporting positive experiences with their own Cyber Monday sale. 

“They said they used it to get product sales as well as generate leads to the services side of their businesses,” Norris said. “It’s worth a gamble, it’s the first time it’s been run in Australia.”

Norris said he wasn’t expecting huge sales from the 24 hour sale but was gunning for the long lead.

“It’s about exposure, and having a link back to our main services page on our website. That covers a good range of what we do, and if they see it they might take it up, or they might think of us later down the track.”

Mwave managing director Victor Lee also saw the success of the US program and decided to join locally.

“Click Frenzy is the first time we’ve had a similar event in Australia, and we thought it could be a good opportunity to engage with a bigger audience,” he said.

“Even though the situation in Australia is different to the US, I think it’s a good idea to have this type of program here.”

Mwave will offer a range of products from its vast product portfolio, which spans PCs, hardware, software gaming, networking, accessories and Apple products, but will focus on several key offering such as several TVs and hard drives at “quite attractive” prices.

Mwave’s sale products will be geared towards consumer gadgets.