Business news


Ricoh launches AV Managed Services


Ricoh today announced the launch of its AV Managed Services to give customers better control of their meeting room and workplace expe- rience. Part of an integrated service delivery model and infrastructure, Ricoh’s AV Managed Services have been designed to help customers make best use of space, improve the


employee experience and


achieve cost savings. The provision also helps businesses to realise low touch working practices needed in the post-pandemic business world. Services relating to AV remote con- trol, monitoring and troubleshoot- ing have been created to keep workplaces running. The three packages from Ricoh – ranging from purely reactive response to remote monitoring all the way to the most comprehensive option of proactive monitoring, control and support – allow for smarter use of energy consumption, room booking functionality and device management. They are each quick to deploy and underpinned by Ricoh’s extensive network of ser- vice engineers. With a team of experts based at Ricoh’s AV Network Operations Centre in Warsaw, customers are supported with dedicated skills, tools and best practice in remote management. The facility forms a centre of excellence and single point of contact to ease customer burden and provide a dependable resource. The support provided also includes an easy to use re- quest tool with correspondence handled personally by staff based at the centre.


David Mills, CEO, Ricoh Europe, says: “The current conditions are tough for businesses, regardless of size and industry. Crucially, our track record of delivering as-a-ser- vice solutions and ability to offer


continued from page 2 MediaStar appoints AVM as new distributor


MediaStar because we have managed our channel partners directly in the UK previously,” said Mark Stanborough, Sales Director EMEA and APAC at Me- diaStar Systems. “However, AVM is a great fit for us. They under- stand our technology, which en- hances their existing range, and they focus on selling a complete solution, which we value very highly.”


“Our technical team has a deep understanding of the solutions we sell, and works in tandem with our vendors and our re- sellers to deliver extra value and


maximum margin,” said An- drew Rothery at AVM. “We have known MediaStar Systems for many years, and we are de- lighted to be working together to promote the company’s best- in-class visual communications tools.”


The MediaStar Systems range serves the corporate, retail, publishing, hospitality, sports, healthcare, educational, and government sectors, amongst others, and delivers robust versatility and scalability in a comprehensive hardware and software solution.


global coverage means that cus- tomers receive leading managed services technology and support regardless of the challenges ahead.”


Ricoh is leveraging market leading monitoring and control platform Utelogy to support cus- tomers in overcoming challenges brought about by the need for actionable intelligence. The plat- form supports Ricoh’s commit- ment to providing best in class user experience by proactively managing and monitoring the connected workplace.


Jonathan Mangnall, Managing Director EMEA, Utelogy, com- ments: “We are delighted to collaborate with such a reliable, renown and innovative technolo- gy partner with an unrivalled rep- utation for delivering outstanding managed services. Ricoh shares our obsession for delivering great customer outcomes and inno- vative solutions, which is why this is the perfect partnership. We look forward to a long and rewarding future of providing customers with the best meeting experiences augmented by world class robust support.” Edward Hamilton, VP & Gen- eral Manager, Communication Services, Ricoh Europe, adds: “This exciting development builds on our existing Managed Services for our Print, IT Services and Application Services. Our AV Managed Services customers are supported by a team of experts able to advise on the best way to optimise work environments. As a new centrally coordinated and managed service, we provide customers with a single point of contact for their AV deployment, procurement and technology needs now and into the future.”


New remote site survey tool from CDEC


In light of the Covid-19 pan- demic, CDEC has been looking to implement changes to the way it does business in order to reduce the risks of spreading the virus. One aspect of this is the introduction of a new digital site survey tool, developed alongside leading classroom technology providers Clevertouch, BenQ, SMART, Promethean and View- Sonic. The system guides users through all the elements covered in a traditional survey without having to physically visit the lo- cation.


Carried out via video call, the remote site survey tool is simple to use and asks all the questions that a site survey would normally cover, including screen type and size,


preferred manufacturer, wall structure, and mounting op-


Although COVID-19 has strong- ly affected Spain, Magic Outlet closed the month of May 2020 with a 441% increase in sales compared to 2019. With diverse commercial offers and an in- creased customer and producer database, the Spanish market- place achieved a surge of 321% increase from April to May 2020 compared to the previous year. Venca, the leading eCommerce fashion company in Spain, has also experienced similar results, with over 3 million monthly vis- its and over one million unique monthly users between Black Friday 2019 and the end of April 2020. April, in particular, had a 40% increase in unique users (without a push on PPC activity) compared to April last year. Jennifer Puzzo, Head of Cli- ent Services at Kooomo spoke with Carmen Sánchez Osuna, Venca Business Development & Partnership Manager and Magic Outlet Brand Manager to discov- er how the organisation experi- enced, and resiliently overcame the COVID-19 emergency. Carmen outlined how “Venca


and Magic Outlet have made great efforts to adapt to the circumstances arising from COVID-19. From a move towards more


entertaining communi-


cations (online games and The Suitcase of Smiles) to the ratio- nalisation of our offerings that are more suitable and sought af- ter right now. We have prioritised “At-home” products in particular, and we have highlighted and pro- moted categories dedicated to


tions and location. For rooms of a similar setup, it is only necessary to complete the process once, simply add all the room names/ numbers that are to be included in each survey and all the infor- mation will be saved.


Once all the questions have been answered, the customer will re- ceive an email detailing their re- sponses along with a visual of the how the room would look. The customer simply clicks to con- firm their choices and a quote will be generated. The tool will be extended to include addition- al configurations such as meeting rooms and hall solutions in the near future. Toni Moss, managing director at CDEC, said: “This new remote survey tool is an incredible time saver, efficiently guiding cus-


sport, homecare and entertain- ment. All this has been possible thanks to the strategy that the group undertook - we expanded the product catalogue to further diversify the range offer.” Since last year, the brands have also acted as a marketplace in order to allow businesses to sell online - taking advantage of Ven- ca's database, know-how and logistical and technological infra- structure. Both Venca and Magic Outlet had to rethink the original busi- ness plan that had been set for 2020. Carmen adds, “We adapt- ed the commercial offer in line with the needs related to social restrictions. For Venca, it was simple, given it is currently an eCommerce store that offers a wide range of products in addi- tion to fashion. For Magic Outlet, however, we decided to broaden the range of products and give greater visibility to categories that were not usually promoted such as home, home clothing and py- jamas.” The


Spanish online fashion


business began to recover from the week of April 20 - when re- strictions began to relax and con- sumers needed more outfits for outside the home. Organic traf- fic until mid-May reached Black Friday results, reaching + 40% compared to previous months and exceeding + 130% on Magic Outlet compared to the previous year. Venca is one of the oldest eCom- merce companies in Spain. The company started its business in


Opinion


“This new remote survey tool is an incredible time saver, efficiently guiding customers through a detailed site survey in a simple, step-by- step remote service that streamlines planning.”


tomers through a detailed site survey in a simple, step-by-step remote service that streamlines planning no matter the size of the project. The CDEC team


will be on hand throughout the process to advise and guide cus- tomers to make sure they achieve the best results in every teaching space.”


"At-home’ products online quadruple sales"


1979 by selling via catalogues. It gradually left that business behind in favour of online dis- tribution, establishing its eCom- merce store 1997. The compa- ny’s transformation accelerated since in January 2017 when the management team, led by Jor- di González, purchased Venca from Otto Group.


Based in a 42,000 square me- tre logistics platform in Vilanova I la Geltrú (Barcelona), Venca now operates under the umbrel- la of the Digital Lola company. After deciding to abandon its historical catalogue and close its physical store in the centre of Barcelona, the company re- organised its staff in September 2019, with a view to starting 2020 as a smart and mainly digital company.


Despite the lockdown, the company expects to end 2020 with slight growth compared to the previous year. This is down to accelerating the distribution of third-party brands who already have a database of roughly 50


partner companies. To date, the Spanish company concentrates its own brand activity, launching six collections each year, in addition to the monthly capsules of wom- enswear, menswear, childrens- wear, plus sizes, lingerie, accesso- ries and homeware.


Carmen concludes, “For a long time, Venca has followed a strat- egy of expanding and diversifying offers to be more relevant to ‘real’ women and their needs. Magic Outlet also benefits from all of this, which is where, especially in this lockdown period, the stock was liquidated. As for the future of Venca, our intention is to continue to diversify the offer, incorporating more products from other catego- ries. We will continue to increase the size of its catalogue with new products and categories. Magic Outlet will continue to be the key element for liquidating products and generating opportunities for customers. In this way, we want to continue investing in real women and in their most loved environ- ment, not only in fashion but also in accessories.”


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