Kurt Colehower, pictured, president of RS’ Private Label business, said: “People were confused about the brands and didn’t know what they stood for. By collapsing the three brands into one, we’re making it easier for customers to find value products.”
While RS has been selling ‘own label’ products for 75 years, the attention paid to the business declined as the focus on distribution grew in the 1990s. Even so, the business has a turnover of about £162million – 12.5% of group revenues – and about 250,000 customers around the world.
Colehower said the revitalisation of the private label business will be ‘an important part’ of RS’ growth strategy. “We’ll be offering customers a choice of products that will sit between the premium brands and low ends of the market.”
Explaining the focus on ‘value’, Colehower said: “Every project has a budget and, sometimes, there is the need to buy a premium product. Sometimes, the price (of a low end part) might be right, but customers will worry about the quality.” RS will reinforce the quality of its RS Pro range with the RS Seal of Approval, which represents its commitment to ensuring any RS Pro product will meet leading industry standards for audit, inspection, test and certification. “We’ll be expanding our in house testing under the new brand,” Colehower continued, “and offering traceability.”
Currently, 40% of private label business comes from tools, while 26% is from test and measurement products. The remainder of sales come from sales of automation and control and interconnect, passive and emech products.
Colehower noted the RS Pro portfolio would be expanded to include electronic components, as well as more T&M products. “However,” he continued, “we won’t be going as far as developing ASSPs; we’ll be keeping our focus on low complexity devices.”
Concluding, Colehower said: “RS Pro provides the platform to offer customers a clear value option and allows us to work closely with our key suppliers to fill out specific product categories.”
