Will Office Depot’s BizBox become the go-to place for SMBs?
Photo: Office Depot

Will Office Depot’s BizBox become the go-to place for SMBs?

As Office Depot continues its pivot into home business solutions, it has rolled out a new flagship store for just that purpose with a new name and branding.

The chain opened the flagship store, branded as BizBox: Powered by Office Depot, in Austin Texas last week. The new store concept, which is being rolled out to 14 Austin locations, is a physical extension of Office Depot’s recently launched platform of home businesses services also called BizBox.

The BizBox platform offers comprehensive services to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) get off the ground and run, including website design, marketing, printing, payroll, HR and tech support. The store concept extends some of these elements into the physical world. It features areas where visitors can go for on-site consulting by experts, in-store tech support and a space dedicated to enabling customers to network professionally with each other.

The introduction of the BizBox store concept continues an overhaul Office Depot has been undergoing for the past two years. In 2016, the chain began rolling out a new store format offering a sleeker look and in-store services targeted at home business owners.

Last year, the chain acquired CompuCom, an IT solution provider with the largest stable of licensed techs in the country. At that point, the chain announced placing CompuCom “Tech-Zones” inside Office Depot locations.

While it is not clear how many Office Depot stores will eventually be named BizBox, the press release indicates that the store makeovers on display in Austin are the next step for Office Depot. The chain will pursue a phased approach to implementing service-oriented features to its 1,400 stores nationwide.

The major players in the big box brick-and-mortar office supply world have been forced to shift gears in recent years as sales for such products have moved online and to Amazon Business. Staples launched a campaign last May focused on promoting its B2B unit rather than its retail operations, the first such campaign in the chain’s history. 

BrainTrust

"Retail is moving in the direction of services and experience, and BizBox hits that target."

Cathy Hotka

Principal, Cathy Hotka & Associates


"The “Powered By Office Depot” assumes there is a huge trust proposition customers feel towards Office Depot. I’m not sure that is there..."

Bob Phibbs

President/CEO, The Retail Doctor


"...it stands a much better chance than trying to make a living selling paper and pens from a big-box store!"

Neil Saunders

Managing Director, GlobalData


Discussion Questions

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Will the new BizBox: Powered by Office Depot branding and store concept attract the entrepreneur/SMB customers the retailer is looking for? What in-store services offerings at BizBox do you think will catch on with SMBs, and what else could the retailer do to attract even more?

Poll

19 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Max Goldberg
6 years ago

Office supply chains needed to head in new directions in order to survive. BizBox from Office Depot is a positive step in that direction. By offering a number of services and products specifically directed to small businesses, the chain hopes to become the go-to location for all SMB needs. If BizBox can provide consistently good services, as well as reasonably-priced products, it could be the direction Office Depot needs to survive.

Phil Chang
Member
6 years ago

Tough industry — selling the product lines that constitute “office products” is a difficult path because many of them are so commodity-based.

Having said that, I like the approach. I see a concerted effort to cater to a specific audience, creating value and experience in a physical space and providing the basis for a community to gather and work together.

I think they’ve thought of this already but hosting meetup spaces for entrepreneurs in-store would further their approach here to make what they have a special space that will ultimately generate revenue. I can’t wait to see how this plays out!

Bob Phibbs
Trusted Member
6 years ago

The “Powered By Office Depot” assumes there is a huge trust proposition customers feel towards Office Depot. I’m not sure that is there; especially since “depot” means warehouse, not service. The choice of BizBox seems at odds with having an easy-to-understand business name.

It seems locals would be more likely to seek out smaller, similar businesses for such business services. And getting the word out as to what a BizBox is and does is a challenge much greater than a simple rebranding. It seems to be another example of a retailer saying, “I know you think we’re this but we’re really that.”

Art Suriano
Member
6 years ago

BizBox should see success, but when I look at Office Depot as a chain I see many more opportunities beyond the B2B/small-to-medium-size business market. The company isn’t clear on their brand identity. They are spending millions of dollars on a robust ad campaign, “Taking Care of Business” and yet walk into any of their stores and there is absolutely no representation of the message, no signage and no engagement from store associates who should be embracing the campaign. Now we have another Office Depot store concept, and we had one last year.

Yes, they’ll see some success, but I think the chain would be better served hitting the pause button, reinvesting in their existing stores making them state of the art office supply locations and focusing heavily on who they want to be and why customers should shop them. Invest in that message and training to support it, and they’ll have more than enough business.

Cathy Hotka
Trusted Member
6 years ago

Retail is moving in the direction of services and experience, and BizBox hits that target. FedEx made a huge mistake in rebranding Kinkos (which everyone knew) as FedEx Office … BizBox may be able to capitalize on that.

Joan Treistman
Joan Treistman
Member
6 years ago

BizBox on its face seems a brilliant service for small business owners. These are the organizations that need to divest themselves of the activities that take time and money but don’t help generate the revenue necessary to sustain the company. It seems that Home Depot is offering a means to accomplish what is necessary for management while the entrepreneur can focus on the core business.

Small business owners, especially at the beginning, need to manage IT, website development and maintenance with very little capital. Some are forced to learn DIY techniques or bring on a brilliant high school student who knows about such things but doesn’t necessarily have the skill set to provide a competitive advantage for the business.

The idea of networking space offers some brainstorming opportunities and general venting. It may also serve to have entrepreneurs discover who needs their services and in turn whose services they may engage, after building up a relationship and trust. I’d love for BizBox to succeed. I wish there had been something like this for me way back when.

Kim Garretson
Kim Garretson
6 years ago

My question is: What are the next-level out-of-store services wrapped around this concept? Delivery, on-site install and repair, etc.

Gene Detroyer
Noble Member
6 years ago

I don’t know what the future holds for BizBox, but I like the approach. They have thought this through. They are focusing on what companies can’t get online. Both my wife and I have businesses. While we deal with Staples rather than Office Depot, the same holds true. We buy all our office PRODUCTS online. There is no need to go to the store. So if you want me to go to the store, give me products or services that I need to go to the store.

Lyle Bunn (Ph.D. Hon)
Lyle Bunn (Ph.D. Hon)
6 years ago

I could easily see this pulling the crowds from Starbucks as it becomes a hub for entrepreneurs hungry for support services.

Tony Orlando
Member
6 years ago

If and only if Office Depot can get new clients just starting a new business, then they have a chance of doing well with this concept. I have a pretty good social media platform, a computer person and an outstanding accountant that exclusively takes care of retail food stores. Why would I switch when I have these people who I trust? We’ll see where this goes, but Office Depot knows it must offer all these other services in order to survive, just like I have to create more perishable sales, because buying copy paper and printer inks is now like buying Kraft mac and cheese, and the profit margins are slim-to-none.

Good luck, but it will be tough going trying to change established businesses who are loyal to the local folks who take care of the services Office Depot is trying to go after.

Peter Luff
6 years ago

Looking at SaaS-related services will be a good way for Office Depot to head with BizBox. They can create more regular ongoing revenue streams by scaling and manage services for entrepreneur/SMBs that perhaps those businesses would struggle with like cloud services and CRM systems.

Lee Peterson
Member
6 years ago

The gig economy is real. Take a stroll in NYC and you will see every restaurant, coffee shop, hotel lobby and open space filled with people working remote. To say nothing of all the WeWork-esque spaces there now. This Office Depot idea makes sense under that premise.

But given their locations — suburban strip centers or free-standing pads — it’s hard to imagine this being anything more than a new suit on an old pig. At the end of the day, it’s still just a store selling goods you can buy online. Another factor is the remodel/true conversion cost for hundreds of stores, but that’s for another RetailWire discussion.

Neil Saunders
Famed Member
6 years ago

Pivoting from office supplies to solutions for small businesses is sensible. What I like about this concept is that it addresses the need for people who work from home or run small businesses to have access to certain services. It also fits in with current trends as more of us are working flexibly and there are more people working independently.

Whether the concept works or not will come down to execution and marketing. But it stands a much better chance than trying to make a living selling paper and pens from a big-box store!

Harley Feldman
Harley Feldman
6 years ago

BizBox will attract SMB customers as the services they are providing are areas where SMBs need help, but now they cannot find them in one place. Also the idea of having space for doing business tasks with the supplies in the same building should be a success. It will move Office Depot more toward the services business than product sales with the higher margins that will result. The most useful services should be the expert advice and networking. SMBs will not have to search for the experts in a field by themselves, and the networking may result in new business but certainly a sounding board for ideas. Once the BizBox brand is established and customers begin coming for the additional services, BizBoz should be able to grow the concept with new services requested by their customers.

Cynthia Holcomb
Member
6 years ago

The concept of BizBox is counter-intuitive, “contrary to common sense.”

  1. Why would SMB and entrepreneurs invest the time to visit a store to seek assistance from so-called “experts” when most business purchases are commodities easily purchased online?
  2. But most important, will BizBox be paying “expert” wages to their experts? Or will this be PR puffery? Some poor salesperson, dressed up as an expert and given enough information to be dangerous, having to face the backlash of angry customers….

Powered by Office Depot? You mean the same Office Depot stores where salespeople ignore you?

William Hogben
6 years ago

As the so called “entrepreneur/SMB customer” I can say that I want anything EXCEPT a consultative experience when I buy office supplies — and the same for my team. Shoppers who are on the clock don’t need hand holding, we need clarity, convenience and speed. BizBox sounds like it will do well as an alternative to Fedex/Kinkos and the UPS store in providing a last minute printing/shipping solution. It seems like the cat’s out of the bag with Squarespace, Google Apps for Work, etc, and it’ll be hard to make a premium on web design and computer help.

Steve Montgomery
Steve Montgomery
Member
6 years ago

Customers understand the value of physical products much better than the understand the value of “services.” When they buy a PC or a pen, they know what they are getting and its value to them. When they are considering a service they do not always understand the value. This often lengthens the sales cycle.

This seems to be less true when the service is to fix something such as a PC, phone, etc. Office Depot’s approach allows them to engage with customers in person, which should help them complete the sale. Will it morph in to a service-only business? Perhaps, but not for some time.

Ricardo Belmar
Active Member
6 years ago

I like the concept — and it seems to set a more distinct direction for Office Depot than they’ve had in recent years. One challenge I see, however, is location. I’m not convinced existing Office Depot locations are conveniently located to where most of their target customers are. It may make more sense to open new locations for this concept and close other Office Depot stores instead of remodeling existing locations. Focusing on services and things SMBs need that they can’t get online (at least not easily) makes sense so long as Office Depot staffs these locations with appropriate expertise. Their current stores don’t exactly inspire confidence in this area, however.

Allison McGuire
Member
6 years ago

If you’ve been in Office Depot recently, you’ve seen the void of people. And the customers you do find inside are using the copy and shipping services. Something has to change and I think providing more business services is a great start. Depending on how they charge for consultations and the quality of the staff will be key in the success.