This article first appeared in News in the Channel magazine issue #37.
Academia enjoyed a successful 2025 as the business scaled its digital and eCommerce capabilities, and this was topped off by winning Reseller Website of the Year at the recent Stock in the Channel Awards.
Staff at Academia were celebrating in November when the company scooped the Reseller Website of the Year at the Stockies, which capped an excellent year for the business.
Here, Marc Winn, head of eCommerce at Academia, talks about the company’s recent success and the reasons behind it.
News in the Channel: How was 2025 for your business? What were the main successes?
Marc Winn: 2025 has been a very strong year for the business. One of our biggest successes was continuing to scale our digital and eCommerce capabilities while maintaining a high level of service for our customers. Winning Reseller Website of the Year at the Stockies was a standout moment and a real validation of the work that’s gone into modernising how we support customers online.
Beyond the award, we saw increased adoption of self-service ordering, stronger engagement from procurement-led customers, and improved efficiency across sales and operations as more transactions moved through our digital channels.
Q: Did the business face any challenges in this period and how were they overcome?
MW: Like much of the channel, we faced ongoing challenges around supply chain volatility, pricing fluctuations and rising customer expectations around speed and availability. Internally, managing scale while continuing to innovate was also a key challenge.
We overcame these by investing in better data visibility, tighter system integrations and closer collaboration between teams. This allowed us to respond more quickly to changes, communicate more clearly with customers, and remove friction from the buying process.
Q: What were the biggest trends you saw from customers in 2025?
MW: The biggest trend was a clear shift towards self-service and digital-first engagement, particularly from procurement and larger customers. Customers increasingly expect real-time pricing, stock visibility, instant quoting and the ability to manage orders online without needing to pick up the phone.
There was also a stronger focus on compliance, approval workflows and integration with procurement systems, rather than purely transactional buying.
Q: How did customer demand change over the course of the year?
MW: Demand became more predictable and structured as the year progressed. Early in the year, customers were cautious and focused on cost control. As confidence returned, we saw increased project-led purchasing and more forward planning, particularly in education, public sector and enterprise accounts.
Customers also became more selective, favouring partners that could offer reliability, transparency and ease of doing business over purely price-driven decisions. This helped us in winning tenders and ranking on frameworks.
Q: What do you put your success down to in winning the Reseller Website of the Year award?
MW: Our success comes down to a relentless focus on customer experience and building a platform that genuinely supports how our customers’ procurement teams work.
Rather than treating eCommerce as a bolt-on, we’ve invested in it as a core part of our proposition – combining strong functionality, performance, security and usability. Crucially, we’ve shaped the platform around real customer feedback and continuously improved it based on how it’s actually used.
Q: What is your assessment of the health of the channel currently?
MW: The channel is in good health, but it’s evolving. Margins remain under pressure, and customers are more informed and demanding than ever, which means resellers need to clearly articulate value beyond product supply.
Those who invest in digital capability, services and customer experience are well positioned. The channel is becoming more sophisticated, and that creates opportunity for businesses willing to adapt and innovate.
Q: What do you think will be the main trends in 2026?
MW: In 2026, we expect continued growth in digital procurement, automation and integration. Customers will increasingly expect seamless connections between reseller platforms, procurement systems and internal approval processes.
AI-driven search, personalised experiences and smarter data insights will also play a bigger role, alongside a continued focus on sustainability, compliance and governance.
Q: What are your plans for the future?
MW: Over the next 12 months, customers can expect continued investment in our eCommerce platform, with enhancements focused on speed, usability and deeper procurement integration.
We’ll also be expanding self-service functionality, improving automation across quoting and ordering, and delivering clearer insights for customers through better reporting and account visibility. Ultimately, our goal is to make buying through us simpler, faster and more efficient – while continuing to support customers with account manager led expert advice and service when they need it.
