Navotech Computer Parts and Laptop Melaka Review

For a small town computer parts retailer, Navotech surprisingly offers very good service and extras. As most of us techies will know, PC parts and components sold in KL such as in Low Yat, Sungei Wang and SS2 and elsewhere, have very competitive prices. Dealers will update their pricelist almost weekly. Profit margins are like 1-5RM.

The reasoning: need to grab customers, move inventory and best of all, they know there is a huge number of "walk-in" customers, daily and even more during the weekends. Customers just casually browsing may find a price attractive, and thus will buy on the spot. Students, foreign travellers, IT techies, small medium enterprises, Buying Managers, cyber cafes, universities, out-of-towners. Literally the chance and choice of customers and their potential is great and the way to grab them is offer a "transparent" pricelist, let the sales staff "talk" and give a good smile and service to seal it.



Now back to 2nd tier towns or simply "upcountry". In Bangkok, the city is called the city. And everywhere else is "upcountry". So towns like Seremban, Melaka, Kangar, Sibu. How can they compete? There will never be a throng of 100 000 walk-in customers. The crowds are never a crowd.

So offering price is one. But due to the logistics of importation, incoming goods into the country will firstly arrive in KL city first. Thus ironically the cost of transportation is the lowest and thus they are able to offer a lower price.

So for shops like Navotech, their prices will be slightly higher - to factor in the cost of transportation from KL to Melaka. And the uncertainty of stocks not selling that well? Yes that is big. They have to be prudent and smart in researching and selecting items that will potentially sell. Mouse? USB drives? Networking? Will there be a demand for advance Gigabit routers with dual band channels along with ADSL2 and 3G ready ports?

When I checked their branch outlet in Taman Kerjasama, I was fairly happy there was a small crowd. Like 6-7 customers. The place is packed with speakers in the front section, and accessories on the inner side. A two section counter is the sales-staff station. There are USB mouse, wireless keyboard, networking products from TP-Link all in stock.

What I like about their sales personnel is they are ready to answer and check prices. For laptops and tablets (which prices are fixed by manufacturers such as Asus, Acer so there is a slight advantage) they bundle in with free 16GB of MicroSD card, optical mouse and even 8 years of technical software support. I don't need that 8 years of support, but perhaps many newbies, people who aren't tech savvy, need help and this gives a very fresh assurance of "we'll always be here to help you" comfort.

Most laptop offers will come with a plethora of free gift choices. Yes choices! Meaning you can choose. All tidily segmented to Gift A Package, Gift B Package, and all the way to Gift F Package!

So if you're visiting Melaka, in Melaka, living in Melaka, travelling here, try to get to this shop. And not to be single lane, along Navotech's retail outlet there are at least 4-5 more other IT shops to browse and compare prices. It's not the great Lowyat, but at least you'll have a chance to compare.

I recommend here rather than buying in Hatten Square.