Winning on Speed, Price, and Service

Cellular Accessories for Less (CAFL) is a Los Angeles-based seller of accessory products for wireless/cellular phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). An industry leader in corporate accessory solutions, CAFL strives to provide quick, responsive customer service and quality products at an exceptional price. With a vast inventory of more than 6,000 products, CAFL leverages its significant buying power to offer customers price savings of 20 to 50 percent over competitors.

"Our analysis shows that accounts have increased their purchases by an annual average of 32 percent since using Ariba."
- Mitch Langstein, Director of Marketing, Cellular Accessories for Less

The Need for Fast, Accurate Content
"We work in a very technical business, and to guarantee the success of our customers we have to provide all the correct protocols and compatibilities so they can quickly select the products they need," explains CAFL marketing director Mitch Langstein. The rapid pace of change in the cellular phone industry-with up to ten new phones introduced every week-makes accurate, updated information even more crucial. "Our customers expect us to have all the products and accessories available for them right away," Langstein says.

Prompted by customer requests and the desire to provide a value-added service to enhance the company's competitive position, CAFL made the decision to integrate to Ariba® Supplier Network™ (Ariba SN) and become an Ariba® Ready™ supplier four years ago. CAFL saw that Ariba capabilities could accelerate the speed at which they delivered information about their products-as well as its accuracy. "In fact, people are using our catalog nationwide as a resource for factual data, whether or not they buy from us," Langstein points out.

Helping Customers Make the Right Choices
To help customers get their purchases right the first time, CAFL needed tools that not only deliver comprehensive product data but also allow quick, easy updates. "The number one feature for us is Ariba® PunchOut™," Langstein says. PunchOut lets customers instantly click out to the CAFL website for extensive content on products, functionality, and compatibility, then pop back to Ariba SN to complete transactions. Up-to-the-minute alerts and hyperlinks with detailed specifications enhance accuracy even more. And automatic updates eliminate the redundant processes typically required to match catalog and website content. "With PunchOut, our customers always get the latest, greatest content, because a minute after we post new information, they have access to it," Langstein points out. "That's a crucial advantage in a business like ours where change is constant."

Quick Ramp-Up Boosts Efficiency and Cuts Costs
CAFL used its existing eCommerce site as a template to ensure the new site would have the same look and feel, which proved valuable to the company and its customers. "It saved us a tremendous amount of time and money," Langstein says. "And our Ariba PunchOut enablement was very short."

Once set-up was complete, CAFL was able to add new customers in about five minutes with a simple one-step configuration process in a back-office web application. Automated billing, tracking, and similar capabilities have slashed effort and expense, and order efficiency has improved as well. "With PunchOut, our orders are emailed right to us, and we can convert them quickly into invoices," Langstein says. The friendly user interface makes it easy for buyers to correctly specify what they want, eliminating the need to call customers for order clarification.

Increasing Orders and Acquiring New Customers
Analysis shows that existing CAFL customers who switched to Ariba have increased their purchases by an average of 32 percent. "We've picked up new divisions in the companies that initially got on board," says Langstein. "The good news about Ariba spreads within a business, so they channel more spend to us." Multiple divisions can fill cellular purchases under one category rather than expensing them in different cost centers, which helps companies track spend with greater clarity and accuracy. Ariba makes it easier for customers to share negotiated price discounts throughout the organization, maximize use of approved vendors, reduce processing expenses, and simplify transactions-advantages that increase their CAFL purchases even more. And Ariba's flexibility and ease-of-use helps customers better utilize CAFL's extensive product line, service, and support.

CAFL currently transacts with seven Ariba® Buyer™ customers on Ariba SN, and expects to add more soon. "We've also gained valuable new customers by offering Ariba capabilities," Langstein says. For example, ADP, Inc. needed a rapid solution when New Jersey legislation made it illegal to talk on cell phones without hands-free equipment. The company learned that CAFL was an Ariba Ready supplier at an AribaLive event in 2004. "CAFL offered to supply us with an integrated PunchOut solution that would take little time and minimal resources, and we were up and running within four weeks of that initial meeting," says John Wohlleber, CPM, business alliance manager of the Business Process Team at ADP. "We've found that CAFL's full range of solutions for a very wide range of phones and for some very dated phones are among the best offerings available. CAFL works well for ADP, and we're glad to have them as a supplier for both corporate and personal wireless needs."

Moving Forward with Confidence
CAFL appreciates the stability Ariba SN offers. "Other systems we've used have proven more transient, whereas all our customers who use Ariba have maintained it for the four years we've participated, and they don't seem to be leaving," Langstein notes. "In fact, most of them embrace it more as time passes."

As a company that differentiates itself with a high level of service, CAFL had some concern that the reduced need for direct customer contact that results from joining Ariba SN might harm customer relationships. "Instead, we've been able to deliver on our promises-our products arrive fast and we give support quickly, and we can still have strong relationships with our customers without so many phone discussions," says Langstein. Because problems have been minimized, personal interactions no longer center on putting out fires. "Now we can spend more time talking about strategic business concerns, because Ariba lets our customers control their purchasing with more sanity and peace of mind."

CAFL is optimistic about its future with Ariba. "As more companies see the value of Ariba SN as a bonafide spend management tool, we think they'll also see the value of working with strategic Ariba suppliers and take advantage of what we can offer them," Langstein says.