BANGALORE, INDIA: In a twist of fate for the manufacturers of Point-of-Sale (POS) solution, Posiflex Technologies Inc. has acquired majority stake in its national distributor Protocol Solutions. The company is now looking at expanding its India business.

This move might remind the channel industry of a similar acquisition that had happened in 2008, where Avnet Inc. acquired Mumbai-based IBM partners – Ontrack Solutions Pvt Ltd – to establish India presence.

Now, Protocol Solution, which has been an exclusive national distributor for Posiflex range of POS solution, will restructure the entire channel ecosystem, roping in new national and sub-distributors.

Speaking to CIOL, Owen Chen, CEO, Posiflex Technologies, revealed this is a strategic acquisition, which will not only bring them closer to the market and customers but also help them broaden their market reach.

He said, "Protocol Solutions have been our distributor for a long while. India is an important market for us, and we felt that in order to increase our strengths, we need to have our presence in the country."

Chen hinted that given the growth prospect and market size, Posiflex might also look at opportunity for opening up their manufacturing unit in the country.

D.Baskaramoorthy, director of Posiflex India, informed that Posiflex is now looking at sketching a channel ecosystem, where they would have around three to four national distributors and 25 sub-distributors.

He said, "We are in advanced talks with a couple of distributors, and would soon announce the names. Our criterion for selection is domain expertise and market reach."

Protocol started its operation in India in April 1997 with its headquarters in Bangalore. Today it has branch offices in Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, New Delhi and Kolkata. They were also partners for Metrologic and Ring. Baskaramoorthy said the company would continue with its prior commitments, "as every account provides a complimenting solution to our existing range".

He added, "Our Team has engaged in providing successful solutions in both industrial automation and retail automation. Some of our prestigious clientèle includes, Ford India, IFB, Hindustan Motors, Schneider Electric, Shoppers' Stop, KFC, Pizza Hut, Subway, Costa Coffee, Café Coffee Day, Food World, Music World, Monday to Sunday etc."

Posiflex sees a huge opportunity in the unorganized retail, which comprises around 95 per cent of the existing market.

Chen said Indian retail is fast in adopting technology. "Unlike USA, UK, China and other countries, the retailer does not follow traditional ways of business growth, from a paper accounts, to Electronic Cash Register(ECR) system and finally POS. They are ready to scale up to POS solutions that are more affordable," he said.

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