By Felicity Ussher, 19 November 1999 00:25
NEWS Electronics suppliers in the UK have hit back against claims that they are prejudiced against online retail. Japanese giants, Panasonic and Sanyo, were accused by start-up Web firm, Intersaver, of refusing to sell online because it reduced their profits. John Thornhill, MD of Intersaver, claimed the manufacturers would not distribute their goods via his service because it would upset their relationship with high-street distributors. Intersaver.co.uk, which went live today, offers consumer discounts of up to 35 per cent on electronic devices. But Thornhill's comments have sparked an enormous row. Sanyo has issued a statement which said that Intersaver's site was not even accessible when the online retailer asked for a distribution deal. Panasonic stressed that online retail is becoming increasingly important, but commented: "Our trading terms obviously depend on a number of factors including order quantity and the value-added services a retailer is able to offer." A source close to the situation explained: "Mr Dunhill is very commercially naïve to expect the same terms as someone who is trading hundreds of thousands of pounds per year... He can get a better deal via existing distributors." Thornhill responded: "That's nonsense. Our target is to reach the same volume trading as the high-street chains in just five to six months. We'll be spending eighteen million pounds on a TV advertising campaign to achieve this." Intersaver.co.uk does not carry stock but gathers orders for individual products on behalf of its customers. It charges ten per cent over the factory price for the service - considerably undercutting traditional outlets. "We have fifteen suppliers so far and they all support our predictions," Thornhill continued. "We can change our product offerings on a daily basis to suit their availability - and this is going to have a significant impact on the market." Five thousand people visited the Intersaver.co.uk site this morning.
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