HP expands Amplify to cover retail channel

HP has expanded its Amplify channel programme to include shop-front dealers and retailers that want to work with the vendor.

Amplify was launched on 1 November last year to the commercial channel and will now include the vendor’s ecosystem of more than 1,350 online, omnichannel and bricks-and-mortar retail partners.

The plan is for HP to transition retail partners to the HP Amplify programme from the start of August and across the rest of the year. Amplify will give retailers access to the two tracks – Synergy and Power – to provide support and rewards for those that join.

Synergy is the entry level, with minimum entry requirements and standard benefits. Power partners get additional rewards, data-driven insights and more support through the portal.

Based on three pillars – performance, capabilities and collaboration – there will still be target setting, along with the skills that partners hold or are prepared to learn, and finally collaboration, where knowledge is combined and shared around products and buying behaviours.

The timing might appear strange, given the way most retailers have been hit by the coronavirus pandemic, but HP quoted numbers from Ascential Edge that indicated a positive shift to e-commerce. The market watchers noted that e-commerce sales grew by more than 27% last year and will account for 40% of total sales of consumer-packaged goods by 2025.

“For the IT industry overall, and the retail channel specifically, it is clear that business as usual is no longer an option,” said Christoph Schell, chief commercial officer at HP. “HP Amplify not only makes it easier for retail partners to do business with HP, it provides a clear path, built on a proven framework, to transform their business for today while enabling long-term sustained growth in the future.

“Together with our partner community, we are reinventing how consumers experience our products and services, by investing in our shared capabilities while developing new areas of strength to remain competitive.”

One of the key features of Amplify is the sharing of data between partners and HP to help the vendor get a picture of the market demands, which it can respond to via partners.

Quentin Duminy, global buyer at French retailer Group Auchan, said: “We will increase our common knowledge of the consumption patterns using data analytics in order to redesign the customer journey, improving experiences online and in-store through HP’s Amplify for Retail programme.”