- DUOGO Sdn Bhd launched its first product, a Smart Business solution called iBOXFAN in April 2019 and subsequently registered iBOXCHAIN as a franchise brand in 2021.
- Despite its humble beginnings, the company is on a track to help SMEs undergo Digital Transformation with its award-winning iBOXFAN Smart Business solution.
- DUOGO provides its merchants with Cloud POS, marketing and engagement tools, Big Data analytics, and access to financial support. Today, more than 3,000 Malaysian small businesses in the F&B and retail sectors use iBOXFAN Smart Business solution.
- On top of that, DUOGO won the Asia Pacific Top Golden Brand Product 2019/2020 and MTPN’s 2019 Excellence in Smart Business Solution award. Recently, it was recognised by CGC with the 2021 Merdeka Award and the Asian Association of Business Incubator (AABI) 2021 Torch Award for Best Nominee. The company is also a Malaysia Book of Record holder.
DUOGO is a provider of Cloud Point-of-Sale (POS) with built-in data analytics, franchise management system, and ERP solution. Its franchise brand iBOXCHAIN is registered with KPDNHEP’s MyFEX. The company is also a Technology Solution Provider (TSP) under the National SME Digitalisation Grant as well as a partner of Huawei and Pernas. DUOGO is also recognised by the Malaysia Book of Records as “Malaysia’s First Certified Software Engineering & Development Hub Franchise Operator”.
DUOGO’s mission is to address the needs of the under-served SMEs who are capable but neglected by conventional financial entities. Its goal is to help SME underdogs to adopt digital technologies and ultimately become success stories. Despite the prevailing challenges of Digital Transformation in Malaysia, Dr Abdul Razak is convinced that they are many aspiring small business owners out there who aspire to transform themselves but they have not been provided with an affordable and easy-to-use business platform that can scale up with their growing needs. DUOGO with its iBOXFAN platform intends to address these pain points.
DUOGO ‘s golden formula to success
DUOGO’s iBOXFAN Smart Business solution is a suite of tools that provide businesses with the ability to unlock their potential. DUOGO’S journey started when its founding members visited Shenzhen back in 2017. While exploring for new business opportunities, they saw first-hand how digital transformation helped China become the technology world leader it is today.
“Imagine, Shenzhen was originally a fishing village and now it has transformed itself into a hub for innovation-driven industries in less than 10 years. The transition is very impressive. They were early adopters of digital technology and believers of Digital Transformation,” Dr Abdul Razak tells WargaBiz.
“There I saw beggars accepting donations via QR, taxi drivers accepting cashless and short queues at McDonald’s because everyone was paying with their e-wallets,” he adds.
He and his team thought it was a good idea to bring the cashless payment concept back to Malaysia and that’s how their journey began. The company ended up spending a year doing a market study, product development, integration with 3rd party, and testing. The company went through several iterations to improve the technology to be what it is today. Finally, iBOXFAN version 1.0, which included features such as a cloud-based Point-Of-Sale, membership, and voucher management as well as the ability to accept up to eight e-wallets was released as a mobile app in April 2019.
By end of 2019, iBOXFAN had already amassed more than 2000 merchants nationwide. Amid the pandemic, DUOGO released its version 2 iBOXFAN, allowing its existing retail merchants who are unable to open their stores to go e-commerce mode in a single click and also allowing for scheduled appointments.
DUOGO: From underdog to an international player
“In China, it’s uncommon for retailers to accept cash. The advent of super apps such as WeChat has vastly transformed the way businesses are being conducted. The adoption of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets has made online businesses much easier and more convenient in China with support and enforcement by the government. However, we realised that the most important and useful data reside not with the merchant but with the e-wallet operators. That epiphany inspired us to help small merchants level the playing field and create their fanbase hence iBOXFAN.”
“Without a reliable system to help aggregate and analyse data, merchants will not be able to determine the true cost of business and the customer’s lifetime value. While lack of customer profiling and targeting leads to poor marketing strategy. We’ve noticed that there wasn’t any fully-integrated business platform offered in the market so we decided to build a solution that addresses merchants’ unmet needs,” he explains.
With IBOXFAN’s smart business solution, merchants will not only be able to get access to real-time sales transaction data but also inventory, expenses, and customer data. This will help them to improve their real-time decision-making regarding their business operations and customer engagement.
The secret of getting support from financial entities
Dr Abdul Razak frequently emphasises the importance of data in business financing and creating long term value for a company. He clarifies that data plays a significant part in all types of businesses. Today, most small merchants especially those in the retail sector are unable to get funding for their business because of their inability to show continuous proof of sales and income reflected in their company bank account.
Using DUOGO’s proprietary algorithm, the strength of a merchant’s business in terms of not just sales but also customer base, reputation, and market engagement can be quantified. These Digital Engagement Scores and certified data are then shared with DUOGO’S financial partners who want to have access to granular data to have a clearer view of a merchant’s potential and refine their risk assessment of a merchant.
“Ultimately, we are trying to help merchants get the financial support they sorely need to grow their business. It’s not easy changing a conventional banker’s mindset but we are slowly building momentum with more innovative finance partners opened to provide various types of financing to our merchants,” he points out.
Adding to that, DUOGO is also working closely with Pernas, an agency under the purview of the Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry (MEDAC) to help establish a platform to educate, market, and source for domestic and foreign investment into Malaysian franchisors. The company is also a technology partner of Pernas for its Digital Transformation program.
“Digital Transformation is not a Destination but a Journey”
Getting ready for the digital economy
The outcome of Digital Transformation will not be fully realised unless a business has invested in the right talent and team to design, develop and manage digital initiatives it undertakes. As such DUOGO has taken up the responsibility of producing these talents through its HRDCorp certified Online-Merge-Offline (OMO) Training and Digital Transformation Specialist diploma course.
In April 2022, DUOGO will open its first physical Digital Transformation Centre at Sunway Geo under the iBOXCHAIN brand name. “The vision here is to create a hub to support SMEs on their digital transformation journey. Currently, we have over 2000 merchants and we hope to create 20,000 more success stories of SME underdogs in the next 5 years,” he shares.
Do visit IBOXCHAIN Digital Transformation Centre to find out more about iBOXFAN Smart Business solution while picking up practical knowledge on Digital Transformation, Big Data Analytics, and cloud computing.
“HELPING SME UNDERDOGS BECOME MARKET HEROES”
DUOGO Sdn Bhd
Address:A-04-03A, Tamarind Square, Persiaran Multimedia Cyber 10, 63000 Cyberjaya, Selangor
Website: https://www.iboxchain.my/
Facebook: iBOXCHAIN
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