CAbi Leverages Open-Source Technology to Support and Empower Women Entrepreneurs Worldwide

INNOVATIVE FASHION COMPANY RELIES ON OPEN-SOURCE DIGITAL COMMERCE SOLUTION TO DELIVER OUTSTANDING SHOPPING EXPERIENCE

CAbi, a vibrant and successful direct-sales fashion company with “humble roots, a leadership team with integrity, and a vision to empower women” is changing lives of thousands of women worldwide.

CAbi effects change not only through a direct-sales model that allows women to operate successful CAbi consultancies, but also through The Heart of CAbi Foundation that funds micro-loans for women entrepreneurs in the developing world.

CAbi Founder Carol Anderson launched the venture in 1977. Today there are more than 3,000 CAbi Consultants and 80,000 Hostesses in all 50 states. In addition, the company notes that by the end of 2015, through both W.E. are CAbi and Make a Change programs, CAbi will have created and supported approximately 6,000 jobs in the developing world, and will have provided 26,000 adults and children with a better life.

“Ultimately, beyond great fashion, CAbi is about the connection,” CAbi states. “From the moment CAbi was created, it was more than a brand; it was a vision to bring inspiration, confidence, and a lasting sense of community to generations of women.”

A Unique Technology Model

The company’s highly-sought-after clothing and accessories for women have been featured by world-class publications such as the Huffington Post, O-The Oprah Magazine, USA Today, Cosmopolitan Latina, and more. Demand for CAbi’s products has historically been high, and continues to grow rapidly.

“We are a women’s fashion apparel company, but with a twist,” explained Kris Shenk, CIO for CAbi. “Our ‘direct selling’ model is focused on the concept of home shows where we combine both fun and personalized fashion for a really unique shopping experience. From a technology perspective, this selling model has several significant differences not captured in a regular retail or ecommerce based company. Multi-layered order processing, consultant back office tools and the need to carry a complex tree based genealogy all through the enterprise, are just some of the things that make our platform needs unique.”

Why an Open-source Solution Made Sense for CAbi

For rapidly growing companies with high order volumes, the right digital commerce platform is crucial to the operation’s success.

“After an exhaustive evaluation of possible platform options, we selected an Apache, Java based open-source platform called OFBiz (Open For Business), Shenk explained. “The OFBiz platform, while not specific to direct selling, gave a stable foundation for ERP functionality and jump-started the project without us having to go down the costly and risky road of building a custom solution from the ground up. We used all the existing functionality, security, controls, process jobs, and leveraged the e-commerce engine capabilities. We added our ‘direct selling’ flavor by making application extensions.”

Demands on the system are high-volume and nonstop. Currently, a single system displays, tracks, and processes orders for more than 20,000 orders per hour. Additional horsepower is added at the end of the month when volume peaks.

“OFBiz was a smart technology decision,” said Jacopo Cappellato, CTO at HotWax Systems. “The breadth and flexibility of OFBiz supported CAbi’s vision to create a sophisticated and powerful system.”

Partnering with HotWax Systems

“We needed expertise to leverage the OFBiz foundation,” Shenk noted, “and evaluated system integrators that could provide architecture, analysis and development support. We selected HotWax Systems because the team brought extensive OFBiz experience, particularly with bringing several of the founding members, authors and architects of the OFBiz open-source platform itself.”

HotWax Systems began partnering with CAbi in 2012, a partnership that continues successfully today.

“From the beginning, we were impressed with Kris' technical expertise and her clear vision for an innovative, custom-fit solution that enhanced competitive advantage for CAbi," said Mike Bates, CEO at HotWax Systems. “We were also impressed with CAbi as an organization. Their commitment to empowering women is inspiring and evident throughout the operation. From the executive team and board through their multiple charitable programs, CAbi stays true to its vision. As a highly talented and empowered technology leader, Kris herself is a great example."

"We selected HotWax Systems because the team brought extensive OFBiz experience...”

“After overcoming the usual implementation hurdles over a year ago, we are happily running our customized OFBiz solution.” Shenk adds, “While we continue to knock off technical debt here and there, we also continue to improve and enhance existing functionality.”

Shenk noted,“The solution, now stable as a platform, has and will continue to have a roadmap and technical lifespan. With this open source Java based system, there are a myriad of customization options as well as plug-in solutions that can continue to enhance our capabilities.

This project, similar to others, had many detours along the way, with the one constant being the outstanding team of engineers, developers and support staff committed to building this system and seeing this application successfully launched. With the help of HotWax Systems, we were able to build something that would support this organization both now and into the future.”

The Humanity of Technology

The company’s open-source digital commerce platform delivers an attractive storefront, a smooth shopping experience, and on-time delivery of purchases. All these factors contribute to the company’s success. But CAbi sees profits as a means to an end—that of empowering women entrepreneurs around the world.

“One of the things that you try to do as a technologist is to make life easier for your users, in this case our consultants.” said Shenk. “My team and I build technology to support the business and specifically to position it to support the critical relationships that are the true foundation of CAbi. We know that technology should never get in the way or attempt to replace a relationship, it should always provide a vehicle for moving that relationship forward.”

Shenk continues, “One particular example of how relationships are supported by technology is with modern social media and collaboration platforms. They now allow women entrepreneurs to reach out and connect with others around the world in ways they never could before. It empowers our consultants to be connected to a broad range of people who can not only help them succeed in their business life but to create lasting and meaningful friendships as well. Being able to join this kind of supportive technology with the power of the W.E. are CAbi program is an amazing opportunity that we haven’t yet seen the full potential of. Being allowed to participate in this is incredibly rewarding and a little humbling when you think of the full breadth and impact of it all.”

HotWax Systems congratulates CAbi for its ongoing commitment to empowering women worldwide and encourages readers to learn more about the Heart of CAbi Foundation.