Sam’s Club launches a new online catalog for office supplies
Sam’s Club, the member-supported warehouse shopping arm of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., No. 12 in the Internet Retailer Top 400 Guide to Retail Web Sites, is launching a new online catalog aimed at generating more small business sales.
The new catalog, available both online and in print, will feature thousands of new SKUs, ranging from paper clips and power supplies to stack chairs and office furniture, the retailer says. The catalog debuted at SamsClub.com on Aug. 25.
Increasingly major office supplies retailers, including Office Depot Inc., Staples Inc. and Office Max Inc., are targeting the growing buying power of small businesses, which in 2005 will spend more than $4.7 trillion on a wide variety of goods and services, according to Visa USA.
To generate more of its own small business-related sales, Sam’s Club will leverage the Internet and its network of 530 U.S. bricks-and-mortar locations and its customer base of more than 46 million members.
For instance, small businesses can use the interactive version of the new office supplies catalog to place orders using a new commerce-enabled pull down menu. Online orders placed by 5 p.m. will also be available for pick up at a Sam’s Club store beginning at 7 a.m. the next morning.
To attract more business, Sam’s Club will update its web site with more small business content. The new content will feature “how to” articles and other material about improving productivity, reducing costs and boosting profits.
"By shopping at one online location small businesses can save time and effort often lost to placing orders at and picking up supplies from multiple locations,” says Sam’s Club CEO Doug McMillon.
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