Page 19 - Sphere No.13 (Dec 2004)

Since the dotcom bubble burst a few
years ago, predictions that there
would soon be a new era of “virtual
companies” with “paperless offices” have
been significantly toned down. The
traditional office is healthier than ever,
and will be a cornerstone of business life
for a long time yet.
It’s somewhat ironic therefore that
bigboXX.com has built its success on
applying a dotcom strategy to selling
traditional office supplies.
To classify bigboXX.com as a pure
dotcom company is not entirely accurate.
In reality the company is a trader with
a fleet of 20 delivery vans and three
warehouses storing its huge inventory of
over 8,000 items for offices – everything
from pens and paperclips to computers,
printers, furniture, potted plants and
pantry supplies. What distinguishes
bigboXX.com from other stationery sup-
pliers is that it uses a virtual shop front,
deploying advanced computer systems to
interact efficiently with customers.
In Hong Kong, office supplies is a big
business-to-business industry, with
a corporate market estimated to be worth
HK$3 billion a year. As a significant
consumer, Hutchison Whampoa has not
overlooked its potential. Such was the
motivation behind the establishment of
bigboXX.com, which after only four years
since launching is today the biggest office
supplies provider in Hong Kong and one
of the few dotcoms that has not only
survived the high-tech meltdown but
has thrived.
The sales volumes of some products are
quite staggering: 500,000 paper clips a
week; three million sheets of copy paper;
20,000 file boxes. Each week, bigboXX.com
also sells the equivalent of 2,000km of
bathroom tissue!
“We can essentially supply anything you
want,” says Chief Operating Officer,
Ronnie Fung. “And if we haven’t got it, we
can source it very quickly. We are evolving
into a total office service provider and it’s
a unique business. Many companies offer
one service, others provide several, but we
supply everything. It’s a one-stop shop for
all office products and services. We are
positioned as procurement experts.”
Products are sourced
worldwide and new
suppliers are constantly
coming on board. Russia
and South America will
soon be supplying paper,
for example.
With turnover rising steeply, and
a workforce up from just 10 at the start to
130 at present, bigboXX.com is now
officially Hong Kong’s leading office
supplies provider.
On its books are 40,000 registered cus-
tomers, with 15,000 of them active at any
one time, including premium customers
like HSBC, DHL, Midland Realty,
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill
Lynch, ABN AMRO and Federal Express.
Even the Salvation Army is a customer.
Consolidating its market-leading
position, bigboXX.com recently announced
a major office supplies contract with
Hong Kong’s MTR rail network, worth
more than HK$24 million over the next
three years.
“This is strong endorsement of our
dedicated efforts to providing top-notch
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