Comments on Harpreet Sidhu’s Blog‘s blog

Blog’s website:        https://blogs.ubc.ca/harpreetsidhu/

 

 

 

Staples is facing  transformation

Up to 225 Staples retail stores will be closed inin the United States and Canada. Due to the lost of customers to mass market chains and e-retailers, another quarter of sales decline is estimated . The main factor for the nation’s largest office-supply company to reduce retails stores is that more and more customers are shopping less often in stores and more online, with sales slipped nearly two per cent to $5.22 billion, but online sales increasing by 8 per cent.

Interestingly, modern customers prefer to shop by showrooming. They visit the store in person to test out a product and learn the products directly, but then go home to buy a cheaper version online.  In order to fit in the new way of  shopping , the best mode for Staples is Online To Offline. It means combining the online shopping and the front line transactions together.

It is beneficial for Staples to transform some retail stores to online stores. By reducing the amount of brick-and-mortar stores, it enable Staples to decrease rent and operating costs, inventory costs, wages and so on. As a result, the firm could provide a lower price to purchasers. However, the online office products market is quite competitive. Staples would face threat from Amazon, Wal-Mart, and BuyOnlineNow.

Additionally, it is only in the brick-and-mortar stores where salespeople could communicate with the customers face to face, therefore they could introduce the advantages of buying office products in Staples. This means that, they can a provide better user experience.

 

 

Sources:

1. “Retailers Need Not Fear “Showrooming” As More Young People Drawn To Physical Stores.” International Business Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. <http://www.ibtimes.com/retailers-need-not-fear-showrooming-more-young-people-drawn-physical-stores-1579135>.
2. “Staples closing up to 225 stores in Canada and U.S. as it bleeds customers to mass-market rivals.” Financial Post Business Staples closing up to 225 stores in Canada and US as it bleeds customers to massmarketrivals Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. <http://business.financialpost.com/2014/03/06/staples-store-closures-canada-us/>.

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3. “What is O2O stand for? What are the differences between O2O, B2C and C2C?.” ChinaAboutnet. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. <http://www.chinaabout.net/o2o-stand-for-differences-o2o-b2c-c2c/>.
4. Pictures:http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/MK-BM160_Staple_G_20110518174220.jpg