Office Depot Makes Shopping for Office Supplies a Breeze
Written: Jul 09 '05
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Where do many people turn when shopping for office products? When I travel to a physical location store, my usual stopping place is Staples, but when shopping on- line, there are several places to shop that all offer good deals and great service on paper, envelopes, staplers, pens, post- it notes, and other assorted office merchandise. One of these is Officedepot.com, the web site for the popular retail store.
What Does This Service Offer?:
Officedepot.com offers products for sale in the following categories:
Office Supplies- This is the main reason people visit this on- line store. Here, you can find assorted goods to satisfy your office needs, like paper clips, copy paper, writing utensils, etc.
Furniture- No, you won’t find any beds or dining room tables, but you will find desks, bookcases, lamps, workstations, and other items for office use.
Technology- Printers, copying machines, phones, scanners, and other electronic devices for the home or business office can be purchased through this area of the site.
Business Center- Professional services such as tax filing, marketing, and legal advice can be purchased through the business center.
Payment Methods/Shipping Charges:
Office Depot accepts the major credit cards, like Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. It also accepts Diners Club and, of course, the Office Depot credit card.
Shipping is free with Officedepot.com provided you purchase at least $50 worth of merchandise. If you purchase less, you will have to pay some shipping fees, and they will be based on weight. You will also have to cough up some extra change if you need your order delivered overnight.
Customer Service:
Questions about your order can be directed to the customer service hotline, 800-GODEPOT (800-463-3768). This customer support line is open twenty- four hours per day, seven days per week. If you would rather use the web site itself, you can send an e-mail message to Office Depot by logging into the customer service part of the site.
Final Thoughts:
Officedepot.com is yet another in a long line of on- line retailers that sell office products. I have been using sites like this one for several years, both as an individual purchaser and as a representative of a business. The various office supply sites on the internet are all very good and I have had little reason to complain about any of them.
With Officedepot.com, you can often find some very good prices on merchandise- sometimes, even less expensive than what you would pay in an Office Depot physical location store. When I have shopped here for copy paper, for example, I have often been fortunate to find large boxes for sale (10 reams worth) at a cost of only about $26. This is less than the price charged in the actual stores and competitive with the prices charged at other on- line office supply stores. Other items are inexpensive, too, but don’t get so lax that you assume everything is cheaper. Officedepot.com needs to make a profit, and sometimes the management will place something in front of you, on the screen, that is overpriced hoping you won’t notice and will add it to your cart. You have to keep your eyes open.
One nice thing about Officedepot.com is that you don’t have to establish an on- line account before you can make a purchase. If you’re a frequent shopper, it is probably a good idea to establish an account anyway, because it makes the check- out process faster. Without an account, you have to manually enter your personal information (name, address, shipping, billing, etc.) every time you shop. Of course, there are some people out there who will prefer this method because it seems like better protection from credit card theft. But Officedepot.com takes away some of that fear in the setup screen because it requires that you enter the three- digit card id from your physical credit card. This helps to deter thieves who might have discovered your credit card number and expiration date. Without this special code, taken from the card itself, a thief will still not be able to commit his/her attempted theft.
Officedepot.com has a good selection that is almost as good as visiting an actual store. The navigation is pretty simple, and it offers a more visually appealing site than some of its closest competitors. The customer service is also a notch higher than the competition, thanks to the 24/7 support line. However, searching for customer service Q&A within the site is not all that good. You can find answers to the basic things, like how to return an item, how to check your order history, etc. But you won’t find much else. You will likely have to pick up the phone and dial customer service for most questions.
One of Officedepot.com’s marketing techniques which I find rather amusing is its recommendations for further purchasing. What I’m referring to here is the old “People who bought this item have also bought:” message that pops up when you add something to your cart. This is a common feature in book sites, DVD sites, and CD sites. The web site tries to match up things to buy based on others who have made the same purchase. It makes sense in media sites, but in an office supplies site??? It’s a silly marketing technique in this instance because people who buy office supplies typically stop by a web site already knowing exactly what they want. Purchasing circles are meaningless in a site like this. But hey, if it helps make some more sales for Office Depot, then who am I to criticize?
Shipping is free in this site as long as you purchase at least $50 worth of merchandise. If you don’t, then you will have to pay a minimum charge of $5.95, regardless of the weight of your items. If your purchase weighs over 10 pounds, you will have to pay a little more than $5.95 with a purchase less than $50. This is an important consideration for those who make smaller purchases because this can add a significant amount of money to your total bill. Oh, and you will likely have to pay sales tax on your order as well. In the past, I was able to make purchases through this site without paying sales tax. Now, this tax is computed and added to (I believe) every order. Apparently, Officedepot.com has made a deal with the different states to collect sales tax because it wasn’t always like this.
Overall, Officedepot.com is a very good on- line resource for purchasing office supplies. I have used several web services for office supply purchases over the years and this is one area where the different on- line stores seem to have it right. I have had frustrations with electronic on- line stores, music on- line stores, and other specific retailers. But office supply web stores seem to be very good as a whole.
Reasonable prices, free shipping, fast checkout, and quick delivery are a hallmark of Officedepot.com. It makes this web service one that earns an easy recommendation.
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Folders, staples
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