InformationWeek
Defining The Business Value Of Technology
September 20, 1999
Online Buying Help
Office supplies vendor enhances Web site to make purchasing easier for customers
Among the enhancements is the Electronic Stockroom, which builds a list of customers' purchases as they're made; users then can visit their custom lists to quickly restock the supplies they need. Purchase History Reports let users check the dates they last purchased items so that they don't fall behind in placing reorders and review the shipping status of newly placed orders.
Some customers say the service has already helped them save time and money. "We've been able to keep a tighter control on inventory through the service," says Stephen Glasser, an optometrist who practices in Washington. He expects the enhancements to let him take care of ordering supplies more quickly and efficiently than he does now.
"Our customers keep telling us to make it easier," says Tom Graham, founder and president of AtYourOffice.com. "They wanted us to take the hassle out of ordering office products." The vendor also provides customers with free next-day delivery for any orders over $25, and offers a purchase incentive program. In the purchase incentive program, 2% of the cost of every purchase goes into a dividends fund that can be applied to future buys.
Graham says Atyouroffice.com is well-positioned to service the growing small and midsized business market. "Small and midsized businesses make up $91.25 billion of the office products market, but the three largest retail superstores-Office Depot, Staples, and Office Max-only account for 17% of that market," Graham says. "We want to focus on providing the best services possible to these users."
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tYourOffice.com, an online vendor of discounted office supplies for small and midsize businesses, last week added services to make it easier for customers to purchase products from among the 30,000 offerings at its site. 
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