Page 20 - Sphere No.13 (Dec 2004)

services to our customers,” notes Fung.
“Companies today are not just looking
for products; they demand value-for-
money, efficient logistics, and cus-
tomised services, which is why we make
extra effort to determine how office
administrators make their decisions.”
Approximately 10% of business comes
from Hutchison itself, which benefits
both sides. Hutchison receives the vital
supplies it needs to run its businesses,
which in turn has fuelled bigboXX.com’s
double-digit growth every year since
start-up, with over 20% growth in the
first seven months of 2004 alone.
“Support from within the Group
comes not only through sales but also
from on-the-ground expertise,” says
Fung. “In the early days especially,
Group companies like A.S. Watson con-
tributed logistical expertise gained from
PARKnSHOP and others, and proved
invaluable with sourcing and procure-
ment. Our unique strength is that we are
not only one business, but part of
the Group.”
While economies of scale – reflected in
extremely competitive prices – are
a major factor in the operation’s
success, bigboXX.com also has a leading
edge on the blend of dotcom and
logistical expertise, which enables it to
not only provide a virtual shop front but
also the ability to deliver anything
“by tomorrow”.
“Speed is of the essence and that is our
core competency,” says Fung. “We are
committed to delivering by the next day
and have a 98.5% success rate.”
Along with speed is also a “satisfaction
guarantee”. Any item can be returned
within seven days if a customer is
not satisfied.
Powerful Platform
Though anyone can order by phone
through a call-centre or fax, the model
mainly revolves around online ordering.
Fung likens bigboXX.com to the
amazon.com of office supplies, though
not yet on such a global scale.
“As an e-commerce company, we
utilise a fully integrated IT platform,
communicating data to warehouses and
delivery teams,” he explains.
“We can monitor every purchase and
sales transaction in real time and gener-
ate a profit-and-loss statement and other
reports at the end of the day – which few
companies can dream of.”
The website is not a glorified fax
machine like many others, where sales
staff take over manually once the order is
placed, phoning the warehouse to check
if an item is available, then phoning the
E - C O M M E R C E
SPHERE 18
Four years since
launch,bigboXX.com
is the biggest office
supplies provider in
Hong Kong