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Staples sets up Australian online shop

The US office supplies giant had spent 12 months working on its online portal and is specifically going after small businesses

Since its buyout of Corporate Express earlier this year, US-based office supplies retailer, Staples, has launched its own Australian online retail site.

The site was launched this month and contains similar features to its US counterpart.

Shoppers can purchase a range of goods online from printers, various brands of ink and toner cartridges to computer accessories. It also displays the latest deals and best selling items.

Head of staples.com.au, Richard Haigh, indicated it set out to understand what customers wanted in the Australian market.

“We’ve been working on the website for the last 12 months,” Haigh said. “We found that there were some gaps in the market that we can maximise.”

Haigh said it was specifically targeting small business customers and plans to differentiate itself from the rest of the competition by concentrating on getting the ‘little things’ right.

“We’ve been working towards what customers want and there are lots of little things that we need to be working towards such as an easy to use website, fast delivery, no hidden charges, and so on,” he said.

“Our customers have a business to run and we realise that buying office products isn’t the highlight of their day, so we want to make as simple as possible, and make sure stock is available and that it can be delivered the next day.”

Haigh indicated it intends to expand its team as the business grows in the Australian market.

“We’re a new start-up and we’re very separate to the core Corporate Express business and we really need to stand on our own two feet. We’ve got a bit of work to do and need to prove ourselves,” he said.

Haigh hails from Staples in the UK, where he spent five years covering various roles. His resume also includes roles at Tesco and retailer, B&Q.

An online retail report estimated the market would reach $33.8 billion by 2012.

Nominations for the 2012 ARN IT Industry Awards open on Tuesday, June 12.

More about: Corporate Express, Staples, Tesco
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