Newegg moves into office supplies

Online retailer Newegg Inc., which has focused on computers, software, TVs, mobile phones and other electronics, has begun selling office supplies.

The retailer has added such products as printer ink and toner, paper, staplers, punchers, labels, office furniture and file folders to its offerings. The company sells the products to consumers under the “home and office” button at Newegg.com.

The retailer also sells the products to businesses under the “office supply” button at Neweggbusiness.com. “Many of our existing customers were already purchasing for small or home-run businesses, so this was a natural extension,” a Newegg spokesman says.

Newegg, No. 9 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, (a PDF version of the company’s financial and operating profile can be ordered by clicking on its name), late last year reported a third quarter sales increase of 4.8%, $529.7 million from $505.5 million in the third quarter of 2008. Net income, however, declined 50.5%, to $4.5 million from $9.1 million. The number of unique visitors increased 25% to 93.4 million from 74.7 million in the third quarter of 2008.

Newegg says it sells approximately 33,000 products.