Research Synopsis
Office Products Category
June 21, 2005

In an effort to better understand customer attitudes and purchase behavior in the office products market, Ovation Marketing has undertaken an in-depth survey of office product purchasers both Consumer and B-to-B. The survey provides information as well as similarities and differences between consumer and B-to-B markets on purchase patterns, competitive landscape, motivators to purchase, and the ideal venues in which to reach consumers in this market.

Our consumer study reveals:

  • A female skew (66%) for consumer office product purchasers
  • An educated purchaser, with 60% attending or graduating college
  • A well-rounded mix of age, concentrating highest in the “working-age” set of 25-54 year olds

Of this group, the majority (85%) spent under $2,500 annually on office products. They prefer to shop at an office product chain store, with Staples, Office Depot and Office Max leading the pack respectively. Second to office product-specific retailers, electronic stores like Best Buy and Circuit City and mass merchants like Wal-Mart and Target each received 15% of the tally. With Wal-Mart’s huge selection they land in 2nd place overall for consistently meeting consumers needs.

On the other end of the spectrum are the B-to-B buyers, who are making office product purchases for their businesses. Our study shows that mass merchants fall significantly down the list with only 6% of business buyers shopping there for their B-to-B needs. Rather, they allocate the lion’s share of their dollars to the big 3 – Staples, Office Depot, and Office Max. And theirs are big dollars. Thirty-three percent of our respondents spent between $2,500 and $10,000 last year on office products. And another 10% spent over $10,000. This is a significant contrast to the consumer set, in which 85% reported spending less than $2,500.

Who are these business purchasers? Our survey results show an overwhelming presence of purchasers from very small businesses (VSB). Over 65% of our respondents fall into the VSB category of 1-19 people in their company. This precedes the 18% employed in small businesses with 20-499 people. Rounding out the pack are large businesses with over 500 employees at 16%. Purchase authority goes first to presidents, CEOs, or owners and second to office managers. This makes sense given the majority of respondents are in small businesses and are likely performing all facets of their operation with minimal assistance from purchasing departments.

Our findings also exposed what draws the big spenders to purchase – catalogs. Cited as the primary medium to incite purchase, catalogs play a critical role in both brand selection as well as loyalty. Buyers also rely on the Internet for product and company information. One respondent summed it up nicely,

“The Internet provides me with more information, more items, varieties, more options, alternative items, and other information I might not have available to me otherwise. I can find out if an item I am interested in comes in other sizes, quantity breaks, etc. than just what’s available at the store I normally shop at. It also gives me access to the competition’s prices allowing me the choice of paying a few extra dollars for the service I get or take a risk on another company to save a few dollars. I get more choices.”

Interestingly, this was not the same response we heard from the consumer purchasers. On the contrary, they do not use office product catalogs, nor do they research their purchases on the Internet. Rather, they do their research right in the store, using point-of-purchase displays as their primary means of evaluating their choices and making selections. One respondent put it this way,

“Put more of the products back in the store. They put many
of the products I use online only and I would rather get them at the store.”

This survey brings to light the vast differences between consumer and B-to-B office product purchasers and their varying needs, preferences, and purchase behaviors. The different ways that consumers and B-to-B buyers obtain product information and research their purchases provides valuable insight into the ideal ways in which to reach these two distinct purchasing groups.