Company Deploys Service for Wangfujing Group and its Nearly 20,000 Suppliers
BEIJING, April 30 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- eFuture Information Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: EFUT) ("eFuture"), a leading front-end supply chain management software and service company in China and Beijing bFuture Information Technology Co., Ltd. ("bFuture"), one of China’s leading Sales-as-a-Service ("SaaS") providers in the retail and consumer goods industry, today announced the launch of http://www.bfuture.com.cn , a jointly-designed business-to-business ("B2B") SaaS website to connect retailers to their suppliers, enabling them to more efficiently and effectively share information and manage work processes. The company also announced that Beijing Wangfujing Department Store (Group) Co. Ltd. ("Wangfujing Group"), one of China’s largest retail chains, has become the first client to adopt its bFuture online supply chain management platform.
The Web platform will connect Wangfujing Group to its nearly 20,000 suppliers and streamline supply chain management operations by allowing them to exchange business information, arrange payment online and access purchase orders, returns, payment status, inventory levels and sales data analysis.
"IT spending in China’s retail industry is relatively low compared to developed markets, but the rapid emergence of consumers in China is driving the demand for more competitively priced and sophisticated supply chain tools," said Adam Yan, eFuture’s chairman and chief executive officer. "Our bFuture SaaS model is the ideal solution for Chinese retailers and their suppliers looking to avoid expensive up-front costs while still enjoying the advantages of high-quality supply chain management solutions. We’re able to increase the efficiency and competitiveness of our extensive network of leading retailers by offering them a platform to connect directly to their suppliers."
In November 2007, eFuture acquired a 51 percent stake in Beijing bFuture Information Technology, Inc. bFuture’s B2B supply chain management solution offers online supply chain visibility and control for retailers and suppliers, and provides increased sales productivity, improved warehouse management, simplified billing requisition, direct access to customer data, enhanced decision-making capabilities, product recommendations and market information and feedback.
"SaaS is a scalable application delivery model that allows us to provide advanced supply chain management service at a fraction of the cost of traditional software licenses," said Peter Jiang, bFuture’s chief executive officer. "With an Internet connection and a browser, our retail clients can connect to tens of thousands of suppliers to exchange and manage information, make orders and arrange payments. Suppliers benefit from the sharing of information, which helps them optimize their production and inventory management."
The bFuture on-demand SaaS delivery model offers retailers and suppliers faster payback, higher returns on investment and reduced risk while requiring fewer IT and business resources. eFuture charges suppliers a monthly subscription fee for the use of the bFuture platform.
eFuture began co-developing the B2B SaaS website with IBM China Research Lab and IBM Global Service Team in October 2007. The website, running on IBM’s hardware, middleware and Internet data center infrastructure, utilizes eFuture’s B2B supply chain management solution.
About Software as a Service ("SaaS")
SaaS is a model of software delivery where the software company provides maintenance, daily technical operations, and support for an online software platform. Software can be delivered using this method to any market segment including home consumers, small businesses, as well as medium and large businesses.
bFuture SaaS is an application delivery model under which eFuture develops and deploys Web-based software that its clients can access for a monthly subscription fee. SaaS allows eFuture’s retail clients to forego the significant costs surrounding the hardware, software licenses, IT personnel, installation, maintenance and upgrades involved in traditional software delivery models. Through a Web-based interface, bFuture’s SaaS platform gives retailer clients and their suppliers access to equivalent service and data security with minimal installation time and no up-front costs.
About Beijing bFuture Information Technology, Inc.
bFuture is a leading SaaS provider in the retail and consumer goods industry in China with a mission to connect retailers to their suppliers, enabling them to more efficiently and effectively share information and manage work processes. bFuture currently has more than 40 employees dedicated to increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the company’s clients. The company’s bfuture.com.cn makes purchase orders, returns, payment status, inventory levels and sales statistics available online for suppliers to access and control in real-time.
For more information about bFuture, please visit http://www.bfuture.com.cn/.
About Beijing Wangfujing Department Store (Group) Co. Ltd.
Wangfujing Group is one of the largest department store chain enterprises in China and is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE: 600859). Established in 1955, Wangfujing Group is known as the "first store of New China." In 2004, Wangfujing Group was selected as one of 20 key, large-scale retail enterprises supported by the Ministry of Commence of China. The company currently operates over 17 stores and ranks 26th in Mainland China with turnover of RMB 10.6 billion in 2007.
Wangfujing Group’s chain store expansion began in 1996. The company has since recruited the leading global management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company Inc. to design its chain store strategy, business systems and business processes and to conduct market analysis.
Wangfujing Group’s network of chain stores, centered in Beijing, has expanded to key cities throughout China. After merging with Beijing Dong An Group Co. Ltd in 2000, Wangfujing Group accelerated its chain store strategy, and now has 17 large-scale department stores located in many of China’s large urban centers including Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, Chongqing, Nanning, Guiyang, Baotou, Changsha, Luoyang, Hohhot and Urumqi.
For more information about Wangfujing, please visit http://www.wfj.com.cn/ENG/index.html
About eFuture Information Technology Inc.
eFuture is a leading provider of front-end supply chain management software and services in China. eFuture provides one-stop-shop software and service solutions to manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, logistics companies and retailers in China’s front-end supply chain market, especially in the retail and Fast Moving Consumer Goods (‘‘FMCG’’) industries. eFuture currently serves more than 950 clients, including Fortune 500 companies, over 750 retailers and over 200 distributors operating in China. eFuture is also one of IBM’s premier business partners in Asia Pacific and is a strategic partner with Oracle, Microsoft, JDA, Motorola and Samsung Network China. The company has over 600 people and 20 branch offices across China.
For more information about eFuture, please visit
http://www.e-future.com.cn/.
Safe Harbor
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Among other things, 2008 financial outlook and quotations from management in this announcement, as well as strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. eFuture may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in periodic reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to first parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the company’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: eFuture’s anticipated growth strategies; eFuture’s future business development, results of operations and financial condition; expected changes in the company’s revenues and certain cost or expense items; eFuture’s ability to attract customers and leverage its brand; trends and competition in the software industry; the company’s ability to hire, train and retain qualified managerial and other employees; the company’s ability to develop new software’s and pilot new business model at desirable locations in a timely and cost-effective manner; the expected growth of the Chinese economy software market in retail and consumer goods industries; and Chinese governmental policies relating to private managers and operators of software and applicable tax rates.
Further information regarding these and other risks is included in eFuture’s annual report on Form 20-F and other documents filed with the SEC. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of April 30, 2008, and the company undertakes no duty to update such information or any other forward-looking information, except as required under applicable law.
