Alibaba.com e-Business of the Year 2008 - Rory Mcloughney

We sell our core product, the NSD Powerball, via a large number of web based independent distributor around the world bringing up the challenge to satisfy a large and different customer base. We like to think of ourselves as a 100% customer driven organization who will literally bend over backwards to ensure that our customers are completely satisfied. As such, we are offering lifetime warranty as we are confident about the quality of our products.

We have also a tradition of long-term & trustworthy relationships with our several suppliers around the world.  Trust from our customers and suppliers are and always will be the core of our business.

2. Passion

We have always been passionate about what we do!  We came across power ball in 1997 and have developed our e-commerce platform the same year. It was risky but also exciting to base our business on one platform. The e-commerce platform helped us sell our products easily around the globe allowing us to grow steadily for 11 years. Internet is our main channel for sourcing new dealers and suppliers. Without internet and especially without Alibaba.com, we would never be where we are now!

3. Growth & Accomplishments

Our business being mainly based on our platform, we were always aware of the power of internet as a core selling and buying channel. When we discovered Alibaba.com, we thought that globalization was less of a challenge! While we were using our platform to launch new products, innovations and/or ideas, we had Alibaba.com to help us sell and source around the world. Advertising and branding are really expensive but key channels. Alibaba.com allowed us to close big deals while developing awareness around the world.

4. Innovation

As an online based business, our platform and online advertising were always part of our business model. We first use traditional web based advertising as well as Google advert and SEO. 

We are always following up on the latest innovative online channels/tools to implement our communication plan through the web.

Our platform is also a great tool to develop an interactive relationship with our customers, who are always “pushed” to give their feedback and to enter our community section. As stated before, we strive to develop great relationship with our customer base.

We always took seriously our social responsibility as citizen and as a business. We mainly undertake two main contributions towards our society. One is giving a big part of our revenue to several charities in Ireland. The second one is to encourage our users via our online community and our customer service to sponsor several charities. We also propose a sponsorship program for some of our users depending on their needs and situation.