Computerworld Philippines :: Exclusive Features

Peer Perspective. IT Leadership. Business Results

IT in Bloom

By Ronald James P. Panis
Computerworld Philippines

WITH a rosy cut flower business in the Philippines for more than 25 years now, Philippine Cut Flower Corporation (PCFC) assures that it’s not only a green thumb and a love for flowers that keep their offerings in bloom. Information technology has very much helped their company blossom—as proven primarily by its official e-commerce site, www.islandrose.net.

Specializing in Dutch and French variety flowers grown under the cool Tagaytay climate, Island Rose lets people order their high quality roses straight from the farm for delivery. Working with the best logistic companies such as LBC, DHL, and Fedex (Air 21), Island Rose also assures that its roses will arrive fresh – or, approximately 72 hours after harvest, as the website claims – to anywhere in the Philippines.

Their Internet operations prove to be a brilliant move as Island Rose reports in its website of selling nearly two million stems a year. Their ingenious endeavors have also merited them several awards and recognitions from the Senate Committee on Cooperatives, Development Authority for International Trade Expositions & Missions, and Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC), specifically its prestigious Technopreneurship Award.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) agency International Trade Center (ITC) in 2003 even picked them to represent the Philippines as a “best practice model” for use of information technology in the small and medium enterprises category. Their latest is the 2008 Agora Award for Outstanding Achievement in Entrepreneurship from the Philippine Marketing Association.

Distributed by leading Filipino retailers, while imported by traders in more than five countries, Island Rose has catapulted parent-company PCFC as among the top 7,000 companies of the country with its expansion towards the virtual world.

VIRTUAL BLOOM

In an email interview with Computerworld Philippines, Island Rose and PCFC vice President and marketing director Dustin Andaya shares that the rosy beginnings of Island Rose.net stemmed from the company’s desire to broaden its successful initiatives.

“Before the advent of www.islandrose.net, our business was involved in the wholesale of flowers – supplying flower shops, event coordinators, hotels, and restaurants. We did very well in this business but around the year 2000, we felt the need to find a vehicle to expand our company, independent and not reliant on industry growth rates. We created our ‘straight from the farm concept’ and used the Internet as a means to deliver this new service to a new market,” shares Andaya, adding how they complimented this move “by partnering with delivery services… [to] expand coverage nationwide without having to put up expensive branches and logistics capability.”

Proud of this accomplishment, Andaya thinks this effort spelled success for their company “because we used the Internet to offer a service that would have otherwise been difficult to acquire.” “When you order from Island Rose, you literally order first class flowers straight from the farm and have it delivered to your recipient’s doorsteps… faster, fresher and fairly priced. In the physical world, you will have to take a trip to Tagaytay or pay a middle man to do that – the option we offer through Island Rose [becomes] both cheaper and more efficient,” he elaborates.

With an online presence, orders placed with Island Rose numbers from hundreds in a regular day to thousands during peak seasons. “Through the Internet, we deliver anywhere between 100 to more than 1,000 dozen a day depending on the occasion,” the executive specifies.

The borderless realm of the virtual world also translated to overseas Filipino customers able to painlessly avail themselves what Island Rose offers. “Our services are valuable to them because they are physically unable to avail of such services in their respective countries. Through our Island Rose, they are able to keep their relationships alive no matter where they are. In a lot of ways, Island Rose has been the bridge of communication to couples, families, associates, and friends who are far apart. This is the beauty of such a service,” he says.

It’s no surprise then, as Andaya points out, that Island Rose has been experiencing continuous growth for eight consecutive years since the inception of Islandrose.net.

Tapping the numerous, creative opportunities one can mine from the Internet, Island Rose has even utilized the popular social networking site, Facebook, creating an application that lets one send virtual roses (enclosed with a personalized message) as well as purchase real flowers. One can also order flowers online via Chikka and Yehey! as well as from outlets located in Ministop and LBC branches.

“We believe that to serve our customers, we must be available where they are and our move towards social networking sites is one of the programs we employ to reach out to people. I guess it is safe to say that we will continue to broaden our customer base through social media in general,” explains Andaya.

In fact, Island Rose even lets customers earn extra income through the latter’s website. Through the Island Rose Associate Distributorship Program, one can place the chosen Island Rose banner in their own website and whenever clients click through, it will link them to Islandrose.net. Each customer that buys from Island Rose via this link automatically entitles the one who availed this program a 15% commission from the product purchased.

HARVESTING THE BENEFITS OF IT

But the level of Island Rose’s high-tech aspect goes beyond its winning e-commerce site and its other initiatives online. IT plays a major role in the backend of the company’s endeavors. “[Information technology] is a must. IT is no longer an advantage but rather a requirement. The efficiencies that can be brought about by the effective use of information technology is so huge that it can render other businesses obsolete,” opined Andaya.

Citing the electronic point of sale (POS) system for example, Andaya notes that something this simple can actually make or break a business, such as a grocery store. As he put it, “the grocery store that can get its clients out the door faster and more conveniently can literally translate to more customers and less manpower costs enabling them to lower prices and eventually ease out competition.”

It is why Island Rose made strategic and innovative investments in IT applications, which Andaya attributes to have given their business growth, competitiveness, operational efficiency, and increased profits. “Through strategic investments in IT applications, we were able to inexpensively automate our sales process, accounting, and most specially our farm maintenance. This translates to hundreds or even thousands of man-hours saved in running our operations… cheaper costs for us and affordability for our customers.”

DATA SECURITY & CUSTOMER PRIVACY

Being an e-commerce retailer, it also corresponds to online payment, which in turn pops up questions about the security of customer data. Andaya guaranteed clients need not worry as they have PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliance or Payment Card Industry security standard accreditation. “This assures us that our clients’ payment information is kept secure even from our own company.”

Elaborating on Island Rose’s highly secure payment facilities, he commented how they “never see or keep sensitive credit card data. When you buy from Island Rose, the credit card data you input goes straight to the payment gateway without passing human hands. The only item we see is an approval code that says whether the payment is good or not,” he says.

Andaya justifies this as a clever move than the previous method of manually swiping the card. With the former, a dastardly retailer can copy the card data when the customer isn’t looking. Fraud can also occur when agents ask for credit card details over the phone or through email.

He also adds that security integrity of the website can be attributed to their utilization of Network Solutions SSL and Sure Seal Business and Privacy Policy verification standards.

Software also abounds in this business. They keep track of the status of customer orders from the moment it was placed until it reaches in the recipient with order processing and customer management system software. Customers who want to update their orders can simply call in and find out the details they want to know.

Even their greenhouse facilities have state-of-the art and IT-enabled written all over it. The Island Rose website explains that the company employs the most advanced greenhouse structures to guarantee that customers get the best flowers – the very business that they take pride of.

“Our greenhouses’ climate and feeding controls are automated,” explains Andaya. Computers gather data from inside and outside the facility, determining the optimal inputs to make flowers grow with the best quality and highest productivity. Their computers achieve this, he continued, by mixing activities such as controlling vents, shading, cooling systems, plant food and irrigation. Their people of course control the settings but it is the computers that take over the repetitive tasks such as those ones mentioned beforehand. Thanks to the latter, their manpower can focus on essential activities such as nurturing for the flowers and harvesting them.

GREEN THUMB

Andaya strongly believes as well that their usage of information technology has a profound effect on the environment.

“Our farm is able to serve our customers’ demand while using very little physical space – therefore, leaving more space for other environmental concerns such as planting trees and maintaining a balanced ecosystem around our farm. Our greenhouses keep pests out of our planting area, giving us little need to use pesticides and such. Water and plant food are injected directly into our plants with almost zero wastage, [avoiding] seepage in the ground, creating pollution. We also use rain catching tanks and gutter systems that can recycle water automatically through our irrigation system. To compliment this, we use permanent structures so that there is little need to keep on replacing parts for many, many years to come. And when the time does come to replace, we use some of the most recyclable materials in the planet so that nothing goes to waste,” he details.

Their green initiative extends even to the administrative side, where sales and accounting processes are done electronically – resulting to the usage of paper and other office materials down to a minimal level.

Albeit not a techie himself (he loves to discover “new things that can make our job easier and more fun to do”), Andaya encourages his people to embrace and cultivate their inner techies. “I get a real kick out of seeing associates using new technologies and productivity tools to make both their jobs and personal lives more efficient.”

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