OfficeDepot.com pilots virtual catalog and shopping list management tools
Office Depot Inc.’s OfficeDepot.com is testing a number of web site features including a new virtual catalog and “My Shopping List” list-saving functionality. “We are constantly testing new features and functionality. Our goal is to provide our customers with the tools they find useful and to create a customer experience which is helpful, professional and unique,” says Noah Maffitt, director of online product development at Office Depot, No. 2 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide to Retail Web Sites.
One pilot program, the recently-launched online version of Office Depot’s print catalog, targets online the shoppers who prefer the organization and layout of the printed page as a way to navigate through services and offerings. Maffitt notes that putting the print catalog online also helps the site to reach customers it might not otherwise reach. The virtual catalog allows online shoppers access to catalog-only offers, free gift with purchase, information on new product launches and exclusive sales, according to Office Depot.
“As we continue to test this new capability, we will also be testing how to get it in front of the right customers and hope it will allow us to be more efficient with our catalog spend,” says Maffitt.
A second new feature being piloted online, “My Shopping Lists," responds to what Office Depot has identified as its customers’ need to manage more than one list online: for example, “new hire buy list” and “monthly supplies order.” The feature allows shoppers to add products from a past purchase or a current search to their lists, as well as create and edit or delete lists easily.
“We find that customers that use this feature heavily are some of our best customers; they visit the site more often and have generally higher average order value and conversion rates,” Maffitt says.
Office Depot plans initially to test a limited number of catalogs in the virtual format. To make customers aware of the new feature, it will use both personalized and informative messages in its e-mail marketing, and also will highlight the virtual catalogs` availability in different locations on the site.
The pilot is expected to run until the end of the year, with the insights gathered during the test period rolled into standing features Office Depot expects to roll out on the site in 2007, according to the company.
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