Interdyn Reveals How Specialist Distributors Can Leverage The Power Of Amazon

In an exclusive interview with ChannelNews, Sam Encel and Evgeny Vizelman, Directors of premium audiovisual distributor Interdyn, reveal how they plan to operate on Amazon Australia, whilst balancing existing channels and maintaining brand authenticity.

Despite Amazon’s behemoth presence, Encel affirms that specialist and bricks-and-mortar retailers will remain their “primary channel” for premium audio-visual products:

“We believe specialists are the primary channel for our products, and as such the vast majority of our products will continue to be available exclusively to specialists, and not e-tailers like Amazon”.

As a premium distributor, Interdyn has decided to list a variety of “entry-level products” for “brand visibility and accessibility” on Amazon, whilst giving authorised dealers the same opportunity to list “at prices they choose”.

Dealers will need to meet Interdyn’s ‘Amazon prerequisites’ – e.g. be recognised as “premium skilled dealers in the applicable brand” and maintain minimum stock levels of any SKUs listed.

Interdyn will enforce high standards on their dealers who decide to list on Amazon Australia, whilst offering assistance with product listings, and actively monitoring customer feedback:

“We’re setting the bar high for any of our dealers who would like to list products distributed by Interdyn on Amazon. They’ll need to be premium existing dealers for the brand, demonstrating a history of high quality customer service and excellent product knowledge”

“For sites like Amazon, product descriptions and reviews are key, so our team will be providing assistance to participating dealers in optimising product listings. We’ll also be monitoring customer feedback to make sure the brand and its products are reflected in a positive way”.

Mr Encel believes that despite the online nature of Amazon, the customer experience is paramount, with an effective product selection critical:

“As Amazon is an online-only channel, we’ve hand-selected a limited amount of entry-level products which we think are serviceable via an online sale”

“We’ve consulted extensively with our customers, brands and fellow distributors from around the world about what the right product mix is”.

Interdyn states that overall premium distributors need to be adaptable and flexible, in order to best compliment existing channels:

“Distributors like Interdyn, who are responsible for managing brands in the local market, will need to take care in balancing their existing channels, with the need to ensure that brands are visible, and are where the customers are”

“Overall, we will stay flexible, taking feedback on board from all of our key partners and customers, and modifying our sales policies where necessary”

“We’ll trial our policy with Pro-Ject first, monitor the results, and consider how we move forward with other brands in the coming months”.

For premium products – especially audiovisual – Encel affirms that physical stores with qualified personnel are key aspects of the buying experience, and has thereby provided them with exclusive product:

“We think our physical retailers are the appropriate way to experience the majority of our products, and as such, most of our product range will remain exclusive to them”

Interdyn states that in addition to eBay, they may consider using Amazon as a clearance channel, for “left over” products after dealers have had “first preference”.