Page 21 - Sphere No.13 (Dec 2004)

customer if there is a problem. Instead,
customers link directly to bigboXX.com’s
IT platform. There is no human
intervention: the system queries the
warehouse, and then comes back to the
client to confirm the order. If an item is
not available, the system finds out from
the purchasing department when the
stock will be replenished, then asks the
customer whether he can wait for a few
days. If the customer says no, the system
will offer substitute items.
The platform also includes manage-
ment tools for clients. Each has
a dedicated account that records
purchases. They can sort transactions by
item, date, volume and price. Flagging
the frequency and volume of purchases
can be a useful tool for spotting unusual
movements, indicating possible wastage
or pilferage. The system can also limit
the spending power of personnel
placing orders.
“It’s like having a credit card limit,”
says Fung.
Because bigboXX.com delivers daily,
companies no longer need to tie up their
cash in inventory, or waste valuable
storage space. Delivery is free and
there is no minimum order,
adding to the portal’s
advantage in this very
competitive market.
The portal also
uses the database to
learn more about cus-
tomer behaviour – a
key advantage of
e-commerce in pro-
foundly changing the
face of marketing. Its
customer relationship
management module
constantly mines for
indications of chang-
ing customer prefer-
ences and can
segment by industry
to glean vital
marketing clues from
order patterns of
individual companies.
“We can pull out by
segment – extra large, medium
or small,” says Fung. “We can
see instantly what the margins
are for each segment, its
revenue contribution and the
product mix.”
The platform is powered by one of
the most innovative systems on the
market, called mySAP.com.
“Our primary objective was to have
a total solution that linked the back
end with the front end, and then
to get customers and orders,”
Fung explains.
Key elements in building the portal
included such priorities as better
performance, on-time delivery and
better customer service.
“It was essential to differentiate
ourselves from others and SAP is a
prominent leading edge company known
for its innovation,” he adds.
bigboXX.com uses a series of SAP
modules, including financial accounting,
controlling, materials management, sales
and distribution, and the Business
Information Warehouse module, which
provides data mining capabilities that
give a complete view of business opera-
tions and information automatically,
instantly and accurately. SAP even
enables the company to send targeted
e-mails of special offers to customers and
provides an interactive online audit trail
so they can track every item they buy and
every dollar they spend.
Responding to the Market
bigboXX.com is continually broadening
its range of services to cater for changing
market demands. In light of the rising
demand for information management
from companies, particularly in the
banking & finance, securities and legal
industries, a Records Management
service has been launched. The service is
a value-added document management,
storage and logistics solution with its
own dedicated 10,000-sq-ft warehouse
offering secure information storage,
efficient document delivery and compre-
hensive reporting functions for manage-
ment of critical information assets.
“The service is built on our unique
strengths in the integrated IT platform,
logistics and warehousing system,”
says Fung.
bigboXX.com also operates a Print
Centre, which caters for digital and
offset printing, and a Premium Centre
that sources gift items for promotions.
Also being launched is a relocation
service for offices.
“With 40,000 customers, a large
number move office every year,” notes
Fung. “We can do that as well, since our
goal is to provide a complete office
solution. Be it a big corporation,
a medium-sized business or a small office
set-up, they will be able to get anything
they need for office operations
from bigboXX.com.
Growth for bigboXX.com in
Hong Kong will be driven by increasing
the range of products and services.
“We are also looking at geographical
expansion, although there is no time-
frame yet,” says Fung.
Through a network of partnerships,
bigboXX.com ultimately envisions
expanding across Asia, and
Mainland China is an obvious target
for expansion.
“We can easily extend the model
there,” says Fung. “But we have to be sure
we can fulfil orders. That’s the big chal-
lenge of e-commerce – meeting orders
quickly. If we can do that, the potential
in the Mainland is vast. The Mainland
has a population of 1.3 billion, and some
companies are still delivering stationery
by bicycle over there.”
SPHERE 19
We are committed
to delivering by
the next day
and have a 98.5%
success rate