Hello
I will be totally frank with you guys here in an effort to be totally transparent on the issues with Logitech so that as customers you all fully understand what has caused the removal of Logitech products from Overclockers.co.uk
Last year Logitech had a meeting with me. In this meeting we discussed their new pricing strategy and my aim was to get our businesses working together closely again.
Logitech pulled their G series from the market briefly in the hope that a rebrand of the range and alteration of key skus would mean that they would regain their channel control.
Logitech have a great reputation and I felt that it was important for Overclockers UK to be a key partner for their brand relaunch in gaming peripherals.
Previously, Logitech products were always driven to resellers in end of quarter deals from UK distribution. This meant that retailers would take bulk stock at silly prices that distribution needed to clear. To customers this was great as you would regularly see OcUK and our competition providing huge discounts on products frequently.
The problem with this was that the above practice, whilst beneficial to end users, is very detrimental to channel control. Logitech were not happy that they had zero control over their market in this region.
By making their whole range end of life and rebranding it all, they set the record straight. they removed themselves from the market for a while and allowed these deal SKUs to run dry.
Flash forward to my meeting with Logitech around a year or so ago. New rep and a new attitude, they tell me that they are looking for an exclusive retail partner to support their brand and uphold margin.
We agree on pricing and I phased in the whole range as the ONLY online retail partner for the brand. Currys and PC World were the retail partner.
The agreement we made was to uphold our price points and leave them in line with Logitech's own RRPs. there was also an agreement stating specifically that I would not alter my pricing without prior consent from Logitech.
So the brand relaunched here and we enjoyed fairly decent sales. Within a few months, Logitech sales had picked up to a healthy level matching other brands such as Roccat.
A few more months go by and I notice that more and more retailers are listing the new G series products. At this point, there was zero communication from Logitech to Overclockers UK
Pricing across the board in peak season was dropping alarmingly low. Some skus being sold by major Logitech 'partners' at well below our cost price.
I contacted Logitech numerous times regarding the matter to express my concerns and ask why Overclockers UK were sticking to the agreement but seemingly every other retailer listing Logitech was selling at close or below distribution cost with seemingly zero penalty.
Logitech's response:
Rich,
Appreciate your frustrations on this but retail pricing is at the retailers discretion, we obviously cannot comment on other customers pricing also.
I have previously given you some support via sales out allowances but in this instance we cannot support price protection as this is not activity supported by Logitech.
When we do have promotions running I aim to match this across my customer base but we have moved to more 'value added' promotions such as vouchers, redemptions, stock/samples prizes etc.
I am happy to put in a catalogue of offers for the OCUK customers but I cannot support you on price.
This email was a reply to a complaint I made highlighting that I could purchase a G27 racing wheel from Currys & PC World at a price including VAT that was 15%+ less than official Logitech distribution pricing ex VAT.
This is the same representative, who one year before was pressing the importance to us of channel integrity and pricing control within the UK from tier one partners.
Essentially, Logitech are happy for retailers to price their products at cost or below and are unwilling to assist Overclockers in matching prices because we have purchased stock from official distribution channels rather than sourcing unofficial or out of region 'grey' stock.
Either way, Logitech do not care. Despite requests for support and our constant attempts at communication to build relationships and support their brand on our website and promote to our community, we have received zero support and no interest from any Logitech representatives in rectifying this problem.
There are no future plans to reinstate the brand.
Instead we will be offering our full support to our featured peripheral partners.
I will be happy to answer any questions regarding this information within this thread.