Office Depot opens its eighth and ninth web stores

Office Depot Inc. has launched new electronic commerce sites for its office supplies in Japan under its Office Depot brand name, www.officedepot.co.jp and in Australia under the Viking brand name . This is the second Japanese Web site for the company; it launched a site under the Viking brand name in August. These are the eighth and ninth sites worldwide for Office Depot. Most outside of the U.S. are branded with the Viking name. The new sites incorporate many innovative features including Quick Order by Stock Number, which enables Office Depot customers to enter catalog orders online and Supplies QuickFind, which helps customers identify the correct supplies for their business machines. They also function on real-time inventory, keeping track of what is actually available and in stock. The new Internet sites will take advantage of the company's infrastructure including merchandising, warehousing and distribution. Both the Viking and Office Depot brands use the same database and order fulfillment software to support their operations. "This is the first Web site under the Office Depot brand name outside of the United States, and we have high expectations for its success. Customer response to our Viking Web site in Japan has been very positive and we now look forward to a similar response to this new site," Bruce Nelson, Chief Executive Officer of Office Depot, said.