"Staples looks to fend off its online rivals; A big box king learns to think small" by Taryn Luna | Globe Correspondent, June 22, 2013
The new retail plan: Customers walk in and are greeted by “The Business Lounge,” with a conference table charging station surrounded by copy and fax machines, printers, computer workstations, and a machine that serves hot Starbucks coffee.
I already got a cup.
A tablet wirelessly connects to a 55-inch screen where customers can browse and buy products online. Six additional Staples.com kiosks are placed throughout the store.
What do I need a store for then?
Sales associates carry tablets to check inventory and help customers buy online. And new technology automatically triggers a call for a sales associate over the store’s intercom system if a customer stands in the ink section for more than a minute and a half.
Furniture, a top online seller, is eliminated from the store with the exception of chairs, which Staples’ research found that most people prefer to test in-store before they buy.
“What sets us apart from the Internet retailers is you can come in and hold and touch the product, there’s an interplay of the retail network and online,” said Demos Parneros, the president of Staples North American stores and online....
Oh, that is so 20th-century! Next thing you know they will be touting the virtues of a newspaper and the big-screen of Hollywood cinemas!
Overall, Staples plans to reduce retail space by about 15 percent by 2015 and triple the size of its e-commerce and information technology staff this year.
Despite the advantage of.... ah, never mind.
About 30 underperforming stores will close this year....
Despite the new retail plan?
The big idea: Shrink the stores, but hold onto nearly all the business.
Meaning MORE PROFIT!
Staples is counting on convenient technology developed at its Velocity Lab, plus overnight delivery — free for most purchases — to make that possible.
Staples is under pressure to make changes. It is one of many big-box retailers feeling the heat from Internet competitors that can deliver the same products at rock-bottom prices. The company’s sales dropped 1.2 percent last year....
The stapler of the agenda-pushing s***-shovel of economic recovery narrative just jammed.
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