A New High Point-Based Business-To-Business Integrated E-Marketplace For The Home Decor Industry

Furniture World Magazine

A total applications systems provider for the communities that comprise the home decor industry makes its debut on April 6, the opening day of the International Home Furnishings Market. Called RightLinx, the new Internet company will establish a fully integrated network to facilitate the sale of goods and services within the home decor industries. It includes the communities of FurnitureLinx.com, HomeAccentsLinx.com, GiftsLinx.com, GardenDecorLinx.com, HomeTextilesLinx.com, and HousewaresLinx.com. "RightLinx views the collective home decor industry as a composite, addressing each industry through its own community but interconnecting them through its central reserve of proprietary applications," says Nikhil Poddar, RightLinx president and chief executive officer. "As a vertical organization, we provide Internet-based supply chain management strategies and fully integrated e-commerce systems customized to the operations of a particular company." The proprietary technologies offered exclusively by RightLinx will accommodate all business transactions, whether internal or external, from the point that raw materials are purchased for manufacturing through production, marketing to retailers and helping them manage their sales to the end consumer. "Unlike other B2B companies, ours is a vertical organization, which eliminates the added cost of the technology middle man," he says. "As the original source and provider, RightLinx offers a proprietary infrastructure, application services and systems maintenance." RightLinx has been built from the bottom up, with more than 75 collective years of management experience in software, marketing and the home décor industries. The technology as well as the programming staff are already in place at corporate offices in East Brunswick, N.J., and a technological and research center in Sunnyvale, Cal. "RightLinx is not just a sales organization," Poddar notes. "The infrastructure exists to support the big picture, a total system of connectivity for the supply chain through delivery to the end user. It embraces the total industry through individual communities including furniture and home accents to home textiles and housewares to gifts and garden decor. Long involved in the home textiles arena with experience in manufacturing, importing and selling to large and small retailers, Poddar says RightLinx has been in development for over two years. FurnitureLinx.com and Home AccentsLinx.com offices are located at 101 S. Main St., Suite A, Plaza Level, High Point, N.C. 27260. As of April 6, they can be reached by calling 336.882.LINX or 888.225.8202, or by faxing to 336.882.5468. Their web sites are www.rightlinx.com, furniturelinx.com, homeaccentslinx.com, giftslinx.com, gardendecorlinx.com, hometextileslinx.com, and housewareslinx.com. The Rightlinx Differences: Perhaps unlike other business-to-business Internet companies, RightLinx truly offers one-stop services. The company's team of programmers have developed original systems which will run seamlessly and can be implemented in a modular fashion. RightLinx maintains the operating infrastructure so that clients are neither required to purchase or lease actual software programs, thereby eliminating the costly and time-consuming problems connected with maintaining and upgrading software technology. "A major problem faced by home decor companies is hiring qualified staff to maintain the Internet-based systems," says Nikhil Poddar, RightLinx president and chief executive officer. "RightLinx offers programming online so that we maintain the programs every day, every hour of the day, as well as routinely upgrade our proprietary software programs as the Internet system evolves." For a monthly fee, RightLinx offers full management and maintenance of its hosted services. Solutions are provided to customers on-line on a subscription and per-use basis. The RightLinx approach is comprehensive rather than segmented and focused on the specific needs of a specific industry. It is not generic programming which must be awkwardly modified in an attempt to make it work for another industry "It is not one size fits all," he says. "We created this system for the industry in modules that are easily customized to make the system more intelligent to suit the company's individual needs. "Business-to-business e-commerce has become the business medium of the future, the millennial requirement to maintain a competitive edge in a global marketplace," Poddar adds. "The challenge is transforming current, and often archaic, applications into an Internet-based e-commerce system. "RightLinx recognizes that there are many decisions to make about revolutionary -- and therefore unfamiliar -- technology. Often, the home decor executive well understands the problems but does not have the hands-on technical training to personally devise Internet-based solutions," Poddar says. RightLinx integrates all communications technologies typically used in business transactions, including the telephone, fax, EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) and the Internet. Although their software is proprietary, it has been developed through major alliances with systems developers, including Microsoft and Oracle. "Like any investment, it must be a sound business decision," he says. "We have the capability, the knowledge and the experience to show home décor retailers, manufacturers and suppliers how our systems can be implemented easily, quickly and affordably. We can show you based upon the projected return on investment." RightLinx is a vertical organization which offers applications systems and infrastructure for a fully integrated network to facilitate the sale of goods and services within the home decor industry. Communities include FurnitureLinx.com, HomeAccentsLinx.com, GiftsLinx.com, GardenDecorLinx.com, HomeTextilesLinx.com, and HousewaresLinx.com. The High Point-based company has offices in East Brunswick, N.J., and Palo Alto, Cal. Corporate offices are located in East Brunswick, N.J., with a technological and research center in Sunnyvale, Cal. FurnitureLinx.com and HomeAccentsLinx.com are based in High Point, N.C.