How Boxaroo aims to change the way companies purchase their corporate merchandise

Ever been entrusted with the thankless task of procuring corporate merchandise such as mugs and hoodies for your company?

Anyone who has undertaken this task can testify to the challenges of procuring these products. Besides having to manually source for suppliers, one has to surrender the final design of the product to the supplier too — never a good idea, given the multiple disagreements that would occur.

With poor product quality, lack of price transparency and inconvenience stemming from the slow turnaround, the corporate world is frustrated with the traditional players operating in this segment. They desperately need someone to address their grievances.

Enter Boxaroo. The online platform wants to disrupt the US$23 billion global promotional products industry by changing how companies can procure their corporate merchandise.

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Launched in August 2020 by Nikhil Charan and Robert Rajeswaran, Boxaroo automates and simplifies the merchandise procurement process through a self-serve platform that allows users to live-preview their customised orders while designing them.

Users can choose from a variety of products ranging from apparels and stationary to drinkware and eco-friendly products, such as a reusable cutlery set.

How it works

Upon payment, Boxaroo assigns a dedicated account manager to each order. Acting as a direct line of communication between Boxaroo and its clients, the account manager is responsible for the end-to-end process of the order, right until the successful delivery of it.

Simultaneously, the design created is sent to Boxaroo’s team, where a designer will evaluate factors such as colours, alignment and suitability for print. Should an edit be required, relevant corrections will be made and mockups are shared with the client through the account manager.

After reaching out to the client and getting approval on mockups and production timelines, the account manager will then contact suppliers and give the green light for production.

Boxaroo claims cancellations are permitted before production, and orders are usually delivered within two to four weeks.

Charan shared with e27 that Boxaroo places a huge emphasis on quality and sources only high-quality products from both branded and non-branded manufacturers worldwide. After all, while merchandises are a great marketing tool, they only work if recipients find a use for them.

Within six months of starting up, the platform has managed to partner with many international brands, including Netflix and Paypal, to provide branded merchandise to both employees and customers.

Challenges faced

However, Charan cautioned the journey has been far from smooth and the startup did encounter challenges along the way.

“The complexity of this industry was the biggest challenge. There’s a wide variety of product categories within the corporate merchandise industry. Furthermore, there’s a wide range of printing and decorating methods for each product, each with its own limitations,” shared Charan, formerly Head of Partnerships (APAC), Samsung.

Adopting the ‘first-principles approach’ famously embodied by Elon Musk — where complicated issues are reverse-engineered into basic elements and rethought from the ground up — Charan was able to identify existing gaps in procurement processes and address these challenges.

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By challenging manufacturing and production partners to think differently, he was able to streamline the process to ensure a better experience for users.

When quizzed on the key factors in their approach which saw them secure deals with household brands, Charan shared it was about “providing an exceptional customer experience”.

“Rajeswaran and I had always set out to avoid a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to partnerships. We work closely with individual brands to understand their problem and engages a team of designers to help personalise each product,” explained Charan.

Besides, the team designs a “digital closet” for international companies, enabling common visibility and knowledge of designs for teams located across the region.

The future of corporate products

With lockdowns still in place in many parts of the world and remote working remaining the preferred method of working, Charan foresees new trends developing within the corporate merchandise industry.

“We think large-scale events will come back at some point, but there will be an increasing number of virtual events, and if you’re attending them, you can now expect to receive a ‘swag bag’ by post,” he remarked.

The co-founder also noticed organisations are placing an increased emphasis on employee wellness, with one of its clients replacing its common pantry utensils with eco-friendly and reusable cutlery kits and mugs for each employee.

With the shift to a hybrid workplace, the common theme among HR professionals has been the effect it has on culture building. Companies have resorted to plugging the “culture gap” by turning to corporate merchandising to build employee engagement and sustain culture.

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“Our bigger clients, who conduct a lot of workplace research, have plenty of evidence to show that merchandise helps individuals cultivate a sense of loyalty and connectedness to the brand and their teammates,” Charan shared.

As for expansion plans, Charan said that while Boxaroo serves clients across Asia Pacific, the platform is looking to increase its local presence in the region.

Opining that the industry remains complex with “endless options” to create unique corporate products, he said the platform will continue to innovate in the areas of technology, logistics and its product offerings.

Focusing on the fundamentals

Bootstrapped so far, Boxaroo will consider fundraising as it seeks to expand its operations within the region. However, Charan stressed they would only do it “for the right reasons and at the right time”.

For now, the team is focused on changing current processes and mindsets within the industry to improve the experience of acquiring corporate merchandise.

Remarking that this involves “a fair bit of trial-and-error”, Charan is confident that by adopting a customer-centric mindset, Boxaroo would be able to “build a product that customers want.” Only then, will he entertain the thought of fundraising.

“Once we’re ready to grow the business, we will certainly look at the possibility of raising funds,” he signed off.

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Image Credit: Boxaroo

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