Newark distributes down under

U.S.-based distributor Newark is expanding outside of the Americas for the first time and is doing so with a Sydney office to support the electronics supply chain in Australia and New Zealand.

Newark’s business down under will be strictly Web-only and aims to complement the business of its parent company, Premier Farnell Group, which already operates as a high-service distributor in Australia and New Zealand. The announcement further evidences the trend of distributors turning more and more to the Web as a means to sell product. I recently spoke with DeWight Wallace, president of Newark, and one of the key points he made was Web operations as a driving force behind future company expansion. Premier Farnell has also stated it expects as much as half its sales to come from online business within three years; the U.K.-based company currently sees 25 percent of its sales from online. And they aren’t alone. Avnet’s Roy Vallee has pointed to the Web as a means of substantial growth in a single-digit growth industry. 

The move also exemplifies the growing importance of the Australia/New Zealand market. No, I’m not saying it’s a hot market or that it will ever be a huge market. But Australia is looking at setting its own RoHS-like rules, which — just as it does any time a new set of environmental regulations enter the electronics supply chain — will complicate global distribution if enacted. (See what Gary Nevison of Farnell has to say about an Australian version of RoHS in his Electronics Weekly blog.)

Details on the Web sites

-The Newark Web sites for Australia and for New Zealand each offer 130,000-plus products from more than 350 manufacturers, available for delivery from the U.S. to the customer in three to five days;
-Customer service will be local, an advantage over some other Web-based distributors; Pricing and ordering is in dollars;
-The sites allow buyers to search by part number or description;
-And while freight is an obvious additional cost, Newark claims it if offering competitive volume pricing for small quantity orders.

Australia: http://au.newark.com
New Zealand: http://nz.newark.com

Have some thoughts on expansion through the Web, the Australia/New Zealand market or what Newark is doing with the Web sites? Share them below.