Information Technology Reference
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Information Systems in the Global Economy
Staples Upgrades E-Commerce System to Increase Conversion Rate
Staples Inc. created the first office supply superstore in 1986 and has grown to over 2,000
stores in 22 countries. Staples has a reputation for using technology and information sys-
tems, both in the store and on the Internet, to provide customers with easy access to the
office supplies that they need. After investing heavily in online sales, Staples has become
the second largest Internet retailer after Amazon.com. Staples e-commerce sales total over
$5 billion annually, nearly one-third of its total sales.
Staples e-commerce sales include selling online to independent consumers, called
business-to-consumer e-commerce, or B2C, and selling to businesses at special bulk rates,
called business-to-business e-commerce or B2B. Staples provides two Web sites to cater to
its two types of customers: Staples.com for B2C home office and small businesses and
StaplesLink.com for B2B larger businesses. According to IBM, who works with Staples in
developing their e-commerce technologies, both e-commerce channels figure prominently
in the company's long-term growth strategy.
Recently Staples decided to invest in its B2C site so it could better support the rapidly
changing business strategies that make Staples a market leader. Staples also needed its
Web site to accommodate surges in customer volume without any loss in performance.
Staples knows that reliability and performance are foundational requirements for an e-
commerce Web site to succeed. The ability to execute online business initiatives quickly
gives a company an advantage over competitors. Due to complexity and functional limi-
tations in the information systems, Staples.com was falling short of these requirements.
Staples worked with consultants from IBM to upgrade its Staples.com hardware, soft-
ware, and overall information systems. Powerful new Web servers were installed that were
more efficient and scalable so that additional power could be added as needed. IBM Web-
Sphere Commerce software was a key component in creating a new e-commerce system
that is stable and can manage customer transaction data more efficiently. The new system
works seamlessly with Staples back-end systems for unified database management.
Staples views its new e-commerce system as a “foundation of a new way of interacting
with its customers,” according to an IBM case study. The company is using the system to
create a unique online shopping experience for its customers, which is a central reason it
now leads in the market. The new Staples.com provides a personalized and custom-
designed online environment for its customers. Staples believes that allowing customers
to quickly find items that suit their unique needs is crucial for customer retention. This
is the philosophy behind Staples “easy” marketing strategy.
Staples conducted thorough marketing research to find out what its online customers
liked and disliked about its Web site services. The results yielded ideas for new systems
that could make customer's lives easier. Staples developed a new service called “Easy Re-
order” that analyzes a customer's order history, looking for patterns, and creates an
inventory list that is updated with each order. Another system named “Easy Rebate” sim-
plifies the process for claiming product rebates.
The investment in new e-commerce systems has provided Staples with significant re-
turns. An important statistic in e-commerce is the conversion rate—the share of online
shoppers that start by browsing and end by buying. Since the system upgrade, the
Staples.com conversion rate has improved by 60 percent. Staples.com is also much more
stable than it was earlier. When it experienced a surge of 9,000 orders in one hour on
