Expanding platform

Q&A/ Brian Campbell

Software piracy cost India USD 1,250 million in 2006. At the receiving end of such rampant piracy has been Microsoft whose Windows XP and Vista operating systems and MS Office applications are often illegally replicated to equip the thousands of PCs and laptops that Indians take home.

Brian Campbell, Director, Original Software Initiative, Microsoft India, tells Sayantani Kar how the latest marketing portal is geared up to raise the pitch for Microsoft's campaign encouraging purchase of genuine MS software.

What is the idea behind the portal www.buyoriginalms.com?

We came across home users and small companies who needed just 2-3 copies who complained that it was difficult to buy original Microsoft software offline in their towns.

Then there were consumers who paid the price for original MS software but ended up with a pirated version installed by the vendor. We realised we couldn't ask people to buy genuine software without providing a channel to buy it from.

Hence, we decided to add a full-fledged online channel that would reach atleast 92 cities as against the 33 cities covered by our traditional distribution channel. We had seen purchases from towns such as Jabbalpur and Bhatinda in our pilot run with Indiatimes last year.

With this extensible platform consumers can just log on to get original Microsoft products from a choice of partners in more than one payment mode. On the other hand, the site also allows anyone to register as our partner, customise the site that they would link to and retail our products online.

Any India-specific slant to the initiative?

This is for the first time that a Microsoft subsidiary has, instead of just an e-store, created a customisable platform which is much easier for both our channel partners and our consumers to use.

What is the size of the target audience that you plan to reach?

Today, there are over 29 million consumers in India who regularly access the internet. It is this sizable audience that we hope to reach, especially consumers in smaller towns.

Why would consumers want to log on to buy MS products online?

The benefits offered by this portal "� competitive pricing, plethora of partners to choose from and the ease of access "� are sure to encourage the Indian consumer to shop online for original Microsoft products.

Payment options will range from net-banking, EMIs, to cheques, apart from credit cards and there is the guarantee of Microsoft to allay any reservations about online payments. We plan to introduce payments over the phone as well.

Not just payments, small enterprises, instead of buying product packs can just buy Get Genuine volume licenses to legitimise their versions, so there are different options to go original as well.

Interestingly, around 10 percent of people surf the net for information do it to research software. So the portal will double as a stop for information on genuine Microsoft products, aided by our push-to-call facility to answer further consumer queries.

A blogger as a channel partner? What is the process to participate?

There is no entry barrier. Partners, who can be either web-based or traditional offline resellers, can visit the site www.buyoriginalms.com and sign up.

Web-portal, shopping sites or even a blogger can leverage their site's traffic for selling our software. A traditional reseller can visit the site, select the products that he stocks and get a linked site with the url, for example, http://resellername.buyoriginalms.com.

What are the incentives for partners on the site?

Web-partners who sign up can earn a margin on every sale they make through this platform, without holding any inventory themselves, since Redington, our distributor, ships the products. For a large offline reseller, this channel will allow them to divert low-volume consumer retail traffic.

Another advantage is that the buyoriginalms platform, much like a white label engine, can be easily integrated into any website: the link to our site can be easily customised to replicate the look of the site re-directing the consumer.

Affordability is a roadblock to the adoption of original software. Since this portal will bypass a part of the brick and mortar set-up, will there be any price benefits passed onto the consumer?

While we will monitor the physical supply chain (downloading the software is not yet an option for the consumer) and also the customer feedback on different sellers on our platform, we can't dictate prices to the partners, except for the MRP set by Redington.

However, there will be a market force automatically at work since a consumer can simply compare the prices a product is being sold for by different partners on the site. This will make prices more competitive.

To remove the myth of high-priced original software, Microsoft is bringing the right price to the right customer by tailoring different versions of the same product to suit different kinds of users.

A home user, requiring only the basic office functions, needs the Office 2007Home and Student Edition that is available for as less as Rs 4,900 instead of a full-fledged Office 2007 Professional Edition at Rs.14,000.

How does the supply chain work?

The backend is being handled by StudioSmile. The product packs will be shipped by Redington for purchases through a portal, say Indiatimes or Rediff, and by the store if bought from one of our traditional partner's website. The products will reach the customer within two weeks.

Volume licences as part of GGS takes about three weeks because the hard copy of the contract has to be prepared and shipped from Singapore.

What are your expectations in terms of growth in sales following the launch of this website?

An IMRB and IMAI report expects the B2C eCommerce industry to grow by over 30 percent to reach about Rs 9210 crores by the end of 2007-08. This tells you of the potential for an eCommerce portal of this nature.

Add to that the fact that Microsoft is campaigning to educate the consumers of the benefits of original software and customising products for different users. We are positive that a significant amount of original software buying will be routed through this portal.

Is Windows 7, Microsoft's next OS, slated for a 2009 release?

Vista is the new kid on the block, and going by Microsoft's policy, there will be a gap of three years before another OS.