The Rise and Rise of Office Supply Companies

Office supplies are one of the biggest selling items ontoasters and consumables such as tea and coffee.
the Internet - and for good reason. It seems that theThe office superstore was becoming a supermarket!
range of products available is never-ending and thereIf we fast forward a few years we then find that this
are always new things to try, buy, rent and lease.has now been replicated in an online environment and
Thing is, nearly every product that would ever make itsthe Internet based superstore actually has even more
way into the office environment can now be boughtchoice than you would expect, sometimes up to
from and online office superstore, but why has this50,000 items are available at the click of a mouse and
suddenly become the norm? Well, you can trace thethey now range from filing cabinets to tea bags.
start of this back to the attempted 'work at home'These developments also helped some purchases
culture of the 1980s. As business was becoming morewho really don't have time to shop around. The role of
connected to the Internet there was more of a drivethe purchasing department is hard enough, without
to try to do as much work as possible from alternativehaving to check every single price list for all the things
locations.they have to buy and so huge catalogs of products
The home office was born and soon it became theare usually available from the one store meaning they
norm that the extra bedroom in the house was beingcan save time and money by buying from one place.
re-named the 'office'. Suddenly a whole new range ofThere are other knock-on effects too, such as the
furniture was appearing in the traditional stores and itprice of postage and the inevitable reduction in
paved the way for more and more people to worktransport costs which affects both costs and the
from home.environment. As more and more governments try to
However, our insatiable appetite for 'things' meant weget us to make the most of our transport networks
wanted to kit out our new offices with far moreand reduce carbon emissions to meet strict new
equipment than just the odd filing cabinet and chair andtargets, we can all do our bit by reducing the number
in a bizarre attempt to ensure that our office was 'cutof 'product miles' we consume.
off' from the house, we began buying kettles andBut does this reliance on one store actually reduce
toasters.competitiveness and increase costs? Surely shopping
Commentators at the time suggested that evenaround can get us a better deal? Well, these days the
though many of us wanted to work from home, it wasInternet is so competitive and margins so low that
psychologically beneficial to actually pretend we wereoverall, once you find the best store for your needs,
in an actual office because it would free us ofyou will actually save money by sticking with them.
distractions. The newly formed home office armyDiscounting and associated deals are a big thing in this
therefore descended in their droves on the out ofmarket and very often your loyalty to one company
town (another new development) shopping mall andwill be rewarded with free items, free postage or just
decided to kit out their home offices as they had donevery good service, so you don't have to be scared to
their traditional cubicle.put all your eggs in one basket.
Of course, time is money so they didn't want to go toThe number of companies in the market actually
many stores to buy their items, they wanted them inmeans that they are all competing for your business
one place and so the big office superstore with all ofand so will go out of their way to help you and will
its space started to stock other items such as kettles,most likely put right any problems very, very quickly.