Sphere
#39
2015
17
<<
n 2000, the world was
exploding with ill-conceived
dotcom ideas. Pets.com
anyone? One idea, however,
was solid – the idea that a
provider who could reduce the price of
everyday office supplies and make them
easier to order would make a killing.
bigboXX.com was born.
Within a year of opening, the firm broke
all the rules of wholesaling, by moving
to purchase goods directly from the
manufacturers of office supplies.
“By doing so, we maintain a high level of
quality control with product certifications
we obtain ourselves,” says Ronnie Fung,
Chief Executive Officer of bigboXX.com.
Silver linings
Clear focus and initiative turned threats
into opportunities. bigboXX expanded to
hygiene products during the economically
disastrous outbreak of SARS in 2003.
Surgical masks became household items,
and offices and institutions were handing
them out to employees daily. Two medical
institutions quickly entered bigboXX’s list of
top ten customers, joining banks, logistics
firms and developers.
Another downturn provided another
opportunity. bigboXX entered the business
of outsourced record management when
customers downsized their offices in
response to the post-SARS economic
downturn.
Go green!
Following the financial crisis in 2008,
bigboXX again looked for untapped
opportunities. Falling sales of traditional
office supplies products pushed the
company to find a way to help customers cut
their costs. It did so by capturing the ‘save
the planet’ zeitgeist and created a line of
I
environmentally friendly products including
green printing products and toilet paper.
Stealing the show is bigboXX’s energy-
saving lighting brand – LightboXX, which
produces LED light bulbs accredited by
world-leading manufacturers. The firm
also offers solutions for office lighting plans
to help customers reduce their lighting
output – and thus their energy consumption
and costs – without changing the original
lighting effect. As the firm’s fastest-growing
business, LightboXX has broken out of
bigboXX’s traditional home market of
Hong Kong and is exporting its products to
Europe and Asia, where 4,000 sites will be
illuminated by the end of 2015.
Saving the planet can be good business –
definitely big business. “With a commitment
to corporate social responsibility, bigboXX
achieved business diversification,” Mr Fung
says. “Three years ago, our best-selling
products were computer supplies and
printing paper. Pantry supplies, including
paper towels, tissues, snacks and beverages,
and LED products, now hold the top spot.”
Family support
It’s always good to be part of a big family.
Working with the CK Hutchison Group gives
bigboXX advantages in information sharing
about the latest trends in office supplies and
in securing bulk purchases in cooperation
with the Group’s retail arms. Savings
negotiated directly from manufacturers
are passed on to smaller customers,
giving bigboXX a competitive edge in the
marketplace.
Recently, bigboXX collaborated with
Hutchison Global Communications Limited
and Canon Hongkong Company Limited to
launch the Cloud Document Management
Service, offering cloud-based solutions
including document collection, scanning,
and indexing of records to make documents
easy to find later. This service also helps
firms cut back on paper consumption.
Everyone in the boXX
As bigboXX.com turns 15, several plans are
already underway to further the company’s
green initiatives and to strengthen its ties
with customers. It is set to launch a new
web page for its green furniture products
which have flexible configurations for
changing workplace needs. It also aims to
create a loyalty programme in the form of
a membership system for SMEs to provide
them with rebates and market updates. And
finally, its solutions service will extend into
managed print services to help customers
drive down operational costs and maximise
corporate productivity.
“We approach our business with a ‘total
solution’ logic to provide for every need
a customer has, or might have. What
we are shooting for is the moment when
our customer thinks, ‘Well, I will just get
everything I need from bigboXX!’” Mr Fung
concludes.
“With a commitment
to corporate social
responsibility, bigboXX
achieved business
diversification.”
Ronnie Fung,
Chief Executive Officer of bigboXX.com
