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 We
recognize that customers make a choice each time they shop for office supplies.
That’s why we work to deliver a shopping experience that makes Office
Depot the best destination for customers — whether they choose to shop
through our retail stores, e-commerce sites, catalogs, customer service
centers or sales representatives. •
This effort begins with our people, who earn customer loyalty by
offering them what we define as “fanatical” customer service.
One way we deliver this service is by creating an outstanding shopping environment.
In 2001, we advanced this effort by remerchandising all of our North American
Retail stores. Our store employees also spent more time greeting customers
and participating in purchasing decisions. These enhancements led to a 21
percent improvement in our Customer Service Index, as well as better “in-stock”
positions during the year. •
In our North American delivery business, we focused on improving
quality in each of our 24 U.S. warehouses. Our service levels reached record
highs in 2001, and we continued to devote time and energy to improve our
performance while increasing productivity and efficiency. •
We also continued to expand our business to meet our customers’ needs
around the globe. We leveraged our existing profitable European infrastructure
to launch our Business Services Division in Ireland, The Netherlands and
France. In our direct mail business, we pioneered new strategies to address
our customers in more meaningful ways while customizing Viking brand offerings
for European customers. • In 2001, we
also furthered our global e-commerce industry leadership. In the U.S., more
than 75,000 customers visited our award-winning Web site, www.officedepot.com,
each month to pinpoint a store, and many placed orders for pick up at their
local stores. We also grew our international e-commerce business through
introducing new sites, search technologies and faster site navigation. These
efforts helped to generate $1.6 billion in worldwide e-commerce sales in
2001.• Customers come to Office Depot
seeking friendly knowledgeable people who can help them select products
that will contribute to their success. In 2001, our Company-wide customer
service indices rose to all-time highs, while complaints declined 52 percent
— proving that Office Depot is meeting our customers’ expectations,
and creating the most compelling place to shop for office supplies. |
