SD Infotech witnesses traction towards Lenovo gaming laptops among 18-28 age group

Dipa Paul Managing Director, SD Infotech

SD INFOTECH provides the best range of personal computer, mini laptop, portable computers and laptop computers with effective and timely delivery. It is in the RD business in the North-East as well as being a Lenovo Exclusive Store in Guwahati. It provides Lenovo products to dealers and customers for decades. In a chat with VARINDIA, Dipa Paul, Managing Director, SD Infotech discusses about future opportunities, Lenovo’s contribution to business growth, customer trends and much more.

Briefly explain your business model. What are the growth opportunities you see for yourself in the near future?

SD Infotech caters to the whole North-East market with Lenovo consumer products, which includes the all in one laptops, desktops and various PC accessories from the house of Lenovo. With in-house sales representative in our core states and direct sales officers from Lenovo who assist the dealers with the sales and services, we specialize in working directly with our dealers to create sustainable partnerships. As IT dealers we have seen tremendous demand and growth in the past few quarters. We expect this to remain constant in the next few quarters as well. In order to further our growth opportunities, we aim to establish new customers in the form of dealers/retailers from other business entities who are not directly linked with the brand. We also expect to open a new exclusive store in the upcoming months.

How has your business grown and what has been Lenovo’s contribution to your business growth?

We started our business journey with IBM PC’s and have been associated with Lenovo ever since they acquired IBM’s PC division. In other words, we have been associated with Lenovo since the very beginning. 75-80% of the revenue we generate is by selling Lenovo products and our business has grown exponentially with Lenovo over the decades.

What is the most preferred brand/product by your customers? Have you seen any customer trends in the last few months?

The kind of customers that we’ve had in our store in the last one year have been entrepreneurs and business groups that value quality products. They are willing to shell out some extra money for good quality and sustainable products. We have also seen a significant rise in demand for the Lenovo gaming laptops with the 18- 28 age group. Lenovo’s upcoming versions of the Legion series with all its latest specifications has been very well accepted by our customers and has resulted in a significant rise in demand in this segment. The Slim and light segment of Lenovo laptops also has a great demand with working professionals who are looking for compact and quality laptops with smart features and long battery life.

How have you tackled challenges post the COVID-19 pandemic? What have you done differently during this time? Any best practices that you have followed as change during the pandemic?

Covid was definitely not something any one of us was prepared for in the beginning. It hampered our business to a great extent as the lockdown rules restricted people from stepping out, as a safety measure. Hence, customers avoided making purchases from the physical stores. In order to ensure the safety of our customers and staff (including the inventory management team and the delivery people) and to keep the business running smoothly, we started giving demos using social media platforms. Customers can now directly place orders online and we ensure the delivery. All our delivery partners have been completely vaccinated and many have even completed deliveries within 3 hours of an order being placed online. The pandemic has resulted in an upsurge of payments from the customers digitally. Also, when it comes to after sales services, we aim to provide solutions to our customers in minimum time.

What are the trends to look out for in the technology segment?

We can see that the new generation is quite technology savvy. They enjoy the experience and are enthusiastic about new innovative tech. With that, AI inclusive products and IOT are trends to look forward to in the times to come and Lenovo has already started to pave the way in that direction.

What are the consumer changes driven by technology?

Customers are now more aware and knowledgeable about the products that they want to purchase. There has also been a recent acceleration in product purchases through online channels.

How are you focusing on Lenovo’s emerging product lines and accessory business?

The current and the upcoming product line from Lenovo looks promising. They are also taking initiatives in the form of demo offers for all their business partners, in order to showcase the newly launched products in their stores. Lenovo also helps in providing regular training with the sales team to keep them updated on the products, the product specifications and various other selling points.

How are they focusing on upsell and maximizing reach to service more consumers?

In the upcoming quarters we are planning to open another retail store and hopefully we will continue to do so in different states in the years to come. For any product related enquiries, we also provide 24*7 customer service through google chat