Primary Suppliers:

• Staples
• Office Depot
• WB Mason

Market Share and Financial Performance:

Staples: The leading player in the office supply industry with substantial market share and revenue. In 2020, Staples reported revenue of $14.1 billion and a net income of $402 million. Staples has a strong presence in both B2B and retail sectors and has been adapting to changes by enhancing its supply chain and expanding digital marketing efforts.

Office Depot: The number 2 position reporting revenue of $10.2 billion in 2020 with a net income of $75 million. Office Depot often competes closely with Staples in terms of pricing and promotional strategies. The company has focused on providing a variety of payment options and maintaining a robust rewards program.

WB Mason: The largest privately held office products dealer in the U.S., with sales of approximately $1.5 billion. The company is known for its extensive reach and personalized customer service, catering mainly to small and medium-sized businesses. WB Mason has also been proactive in expanding its product lines and enhancing its logistical capabilities. 

Competitive Dynamics:

• • • Staples has a more efficient supply chain and higher profit margins compared to Office Depot. It focuses on providing a wide range of products and has been successful in acquiring regional dealers to expand its market presence.
    • Office Depot offers more frequent discounts and promotional events, which make it attractive to price-sensitive customers. It also provides free next-day delivery for VIP members and maintains a flexible return policy.
    • WB Mason differentiates itself by focusing on customer service and local presence. The company has a fleet of over 900 trucks and has recently integrated sustainable practices by introducing electric delivery vehicles.

Industry Challenges:

• • • The office supply industry faces significant challenges from online retailers like Amazon, which has been capturing market share by targeting profitable segments with its extensive distribution network.
    • Both Staples and Office Depot have seen fluctuating demand due to the rise of remote work, which has impacted their traditional business models. The return to office work remains a key factor for future growth in the industry.

  For more detailed insights and current trends, you can refer to industry reports from sources like Third Bridge and OPI.

• Maintaining a Robust Core List Saving money while keeping the supplies your office uses most frequently in stock and in sufficient amounts is challenging. Compiling a core list of SKUs and pre-negotiating the best deal on those items with a vendor helps. But the process is time-consuming and labor-intensive, as is updating the list when patterns of supply use shift—or when vendors change their prices, as they periodically do.
• Relying on Accurate Information Outdated, inefficient office supply management systems undercut attempts to gather data about your inventory in real time. Without efforts to limit access to the supply closet, for instance, or to use a tracking system to tell you who’s taking what and how often from the supply room, you’re only guessing when you reorder supplies.
• Supporting the Company’s Growth Ensuring steady, sufficient office supply inventory is a key but often overlooked part of building the infrastructure your organization needs to succeed in new locations and new markets. But without accurate information or optimized spending in established locations, planning procurement of office supplies as the business expands will prove difficult and time-consuming.
• Finding a National Supplier National suppliers can reduce lead times and save money while providing the supplies you need on time. But if you’re not a Fortune 100 enterprise, getting attention from top suppliers, let alone negotiating good terms with them, can be difficult. Smaller businesses in particular can’t always order in bulk or in advance as larger ones can.
• Managing Office Supplies in Less Time Making inventory lists. Tracking supply usage. Communicating with multiple vendors. Checking shipments in. Reviewing and paying invoices. Procurement of office supplies demands a significant investment of time. Finding and maximizing opportunities to save time is essential to successful procurement processes.

• Managing Office Supplies in Less Time Making inventory lists. Tracking supply usage. Communicating with multiple vendors. Checking shipments in. Reviewing and paying invoices. Procurement of office supplies demands a significant investment of time. Finding and maximizing opportunities to save time is essential to successful procurement processes.

• Buy From Our Ready-Made, Best-In-Class Core List Hubzone Depot members can choose from more than 1,500 core items at the lowest possible prices, negotiated using our significant group purchasing power. We update the core list quarterly, ensuring members continue to receive substantial discounts on the most essential supplies.
• Get and Use Accurate, Real-Time Information Hubzone Depot helps manage our members’ office supplies. Our proprietary and innovative analytics let us monitor trends, track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and provide quarterly reviews so you can make office supply management adjustments in a timely and effective way.
• Contribute Directly to Your Company’s Growth Hubzone Depot offers account management, ongoing reporting, and data analysis to let you achieve more with your procurement processes in less time. As a result, you are free to redistribute internal resources in ways that support the business’s other important areas and strategic goals.
• Source from National Suppliers Hubzone Depot members, regardless of size, can procure what they need from some of the nation’s top office supplies vendors. We perform in-depth requests for proposal (RFPs) for our members, which saves them time and gives them access to leading providers so they can take advantage of these suppliers’ lower prices.
• Manage Your Office Supply Inventory in Less Time Hubzone Depot’s comprehensive approach to your procurement of office supplies includes account management, ongoing reporting, an automated reorder process, and data analysis to ensure you’re not paying more than you should. All of these features help you achieve your office supply inventory management goals in less time and with less effort.

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• Cost Certainty Our program’s pricing rarely changes. You can expect to pay equal or lower costs for your office supplies, making it easier to establish a reliable budget.
• Elite Customer Service You can always bring your questions to our dedicated account teams and representatives from the office supplies vendors with whom we work. We don’t leave you to sort out procurement problems on your own.
• Streamlined Implementation Implementing the new procurement and management process we develop with you ordinarily takes less than 30 days. We’ll also provide training in best practices so you’re sure to get the most value out of our contracts.
• Increased Diversity Spend When you bring your office supply spending to Hubzone Depot, you’re choosing a Tier 1 HubZONE certified enterprise. We are certified by the SBA and WBENC. Your spend will help you quickly meet internal diversity spend goals or external, contractual requirements.