Three finalists selected for 2020 Champions of Business Awards

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Three finalists selected for 2020 Champions of Business Awards

The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce has announced the three finalists in the category of Business Technology sponsored by bmobile for its 2020 Champions
of Business Awards as follows:

*Excellent Stores Limited (Alex Siu Chong):
Excellent Stores, a well-known retailer went through several changes since its inception in 1958 as Excellent Trading and re-branded to Excellent Stores in 1988. Anticipating the need for integrated systems and new technology, the company implemented a full ERP system in 2015 and integrated its e-commerce platform that was launched in 2014.
During the current period, the company was driven to rapidly adjust to an e-commerce environment as during the lockdown the number of products online went from 8000 to 15,000 with 100% of the company’s revenue was being derived from online sales, as compared to a mere 1% pre-COVID-19.

The change involved all staff in all departments – from Operations to Marketing to IT. Branch staff were “repurposed” to fill orders from branches which had become unofficial warehouses for stock. Warehouse distribution operations shifted from a focus on replenishing physical stores to deliveries to online customers.
The company has also fully adopted a “collaboration over competition” mindset and by providing other retailers the opportunity to go online with Excellent Stores, utilising the high traffic site.

It is anticipated that the trend to e-commerce will continue to escalate, and Excellent Stores is banking on its investment in technology to survive and thrive in the months and years ahead.

*PrinTree Powered by the DocuCentre (Nekesha Bartholomew-Ramey):
PrinTree is a platform for sourcing, selecting and outputting a client’s print needs from a remote location anywhere on any day; it is a “one-stop online shop for personalisation of print collateral”.

PrinTree Powered by the DocuCentre, the platform was launched in May 2018, the implementation of these services was new to the T&T market. It is available to anyone with an internet connection. Understanding the culture of the T&T market, PrinTree invested
heavily in human resources to manage its website traffic and customer interaction.
A live chat along with more traditional methods ensured that there was consistent and timely communications with clients. A variety of payment options allowed them to tap into the broader market, including online payment, wire transfer and instore cash on delivery. To make life easier for the client, they partnered with TTPost and FedEx for delivery services.

They also partnered with local store owners at various points across the country to serve as collection points as a no-cost delivery option. PrinTree recently won “Best Online Print Service” in LATAM and will be making the official announcement by the close of the year.

*ShupHub.com (Roanna Maharaj):
ShupHub is an online e-commerce platform that is fully customisable to vendor and product requirements. The platform allows for retail and
wholesale functionality. Its technology enables vendors to e-commerce their products within minutes while being in full control. They are able to have their e-commerce store for free without monthly or annual fees.

ShupHub has an online credit card payment system as well as through PayPal for both local and international clients. They also accept debit and cash payments for domestic deliveries. They implemented an automated delivery system via UPS and have also integrated with DHL for worldwide shipping. Most recently, a mobile app was developed, which was launched at the end of October, 2020.

All of these developments have one major target in mind – to enhance the experience of shopping for customers. Currently, the global pandemic has significantly increased, and will forever change the face of online shopping. Since its launch in 2018,
ShupHub has been on a steady growth path, and has more than doubled its annual revenue.
The award recipient for the 2020 Business Technology will be revealed on November 20, 2020. Due to COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings, this year the Awards ceremony will be conducted
will be broadcast nationwide on CNC3 and live streamed.

Champions of Business is one of the T&T Chamber’s Signature Annual Events. The program awards and celebrates excellence in business in four main categories of Entrepreneurship, Business Technology, Internationally Known…T&T Owned Company of the Year and the Business Hall of Fame.

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