by Colin Hay
Harris Technology is riding a wave of record success accelerated by the effects of COVID-19 driving demand and the country’s growing adoption of online shopping.
Speaking with TechInvest Magazine recently, company CEO, Garrison Huang, said that with a lean and scaleable business model which is accelerating growth, HT8 won’t be considered a small cap stock for much longer.
He said the company’s recent high growth in sales is anticipated to continue as it is driven by current online trends. Its partnership with global online giant Amazon, marketplace focus and planned product and category expansion are also growth initiatives being undertaken.
“We are a pure play online retailer. With no physical shopfronts, HT8 is placed ahead of the curve with its online retail model that traditional retailers struggled to adopt when COVID hit.
“Our peers have been slow to react to the retail trends in comparison to HT8 and we see that being a significant advantage for us moving forward.
We are strategically placed in the attractive eCommerce marketspace and we have proven to be a nimble organisation with vast scalability, which is benefitting from a frugal overhead structure,” Mr Huang said.
An example of that nimbleness was highlighted recently when Bitcoin was trading at all-time highs. Due to its long-standing relationships with a network of global vendors, the company was able to secure an impressive supply of high-end graphics cards traditionally used for high-end PC gaming but in this case for powerful computational capability applied to Bitcoin mining.
Mr Huang said this was just another example of how the company has a major advantage through spotting and catching the trend when opportunities present themselves.
Asked about the company’s recent record run of sales and profits, Mr Huang said the company’s relationship with Amazon was obviously a particular driver, but noted the upswing had also been fuelled by the changing nature of the local retail sector.
“The Australian retail landscape is definitely showing an increasing preference towards online platforms, accelerated by the pandemic and very quick delivery times,” Mr Huang said.
“Online marketplaces continue to grow as the convenient alternative to shopping centres, so we look forward to further growth alongside Amazon Australia which is emerging as one of the national destinations of choice for online shopping,” Mr Huang added.
Mr Huang noted that the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows that even as Australia largely keeps the virus under control, 40 per cent of Australians were still working from home at least once a week in February 2021, compared to just 24 per cent before March 2020 which attributed to ongoing demand for home office and IT products.
Mr Huang also pointed out that, according to Canada-based eCommerce specialist Shopify, 10 years’ worth of eCommerce growth occurred in just 90 days at the height of the pandemic.
Mr Huang said the company has identified a number of growth opportunities and what will be the hot items in the near term.
“We think gaming, small home appliances, home entertainment, refurbished devices and computing will definitely command strong ongoing demand. With regard to the hot items, we are seeing a lot of interest in graphics cards, notebooks, home office kitting and of course gaming in this new stay-at-home lifestyle,” he said.
“A significant trend has emerged during the pandemic with a surge in popularity in online gaming. PC gaming has become one of the most popular forms of entertainment worldwide, meaning the demand for top-end gaming products is surging.
“We have noted that gamers are after custom-build PCs, gaming headsets, mouse-and-keyboard setups and more to meet their needs.”
Mr Huang said HT8 is always looking to add quality brands in its selected category markets.
Keeping its eye on the ball at all times, has made this large scale operator – with 30+ years of vendor relationships – a significant player in the Australian online marketplace.
