Office Depot, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODP), a leading B2B integrated
distribution company providing business services and supplies,
products and technology solutions, and Alibaba.com, one of the
world’s largest B2B trading platforms and an Alibaba Group (NYSE:
BABA) business unit, today announced a strategic collaboration. The
goal of this collaboration is to empower U.S. small- and
medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to grow by tapping into the global
B2B e-commerce marketplace, which was most recently valued at $23.9
trillion by the U.S. International Trade Commission.
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This collaboration will leverage the companies’ respective
strengths to serve U.S. SMBs, including Office Depot’s deep
relationships with more than 10 million U.S. business customers, a
dedicated sales force of approximately 1,800 sales professionals, a
marketing demand engine that drives more than 450 million combined
store, mobile and website visits annually, one of the largest
e-commerce platforms in the U.S., a robust supply chain network
that can reach nearly 99% of U.S. businesses with next day
delivery, and approximately 1,350 Office Depot and OfficeMax retail
locations. Alibaba.com will bring its global network of over
150,000 suppliers, a vast catalog of product listings and
manufacturing capabilities, and an end-to-end technology platform
that provides SMBs with a range of tools and services to grow their
businesses.
The collaboration will focus on several key areas expected to
provide U.S. entrepreneurs and business owners access to a single
online destination to access one of the world’s largest catalogues
of goods and services across all product categories. During the
initial launch period, the focus is on the following areas:
- A new co-branded online destination,
“Office Depot on Alibaba.com”: Office Depot and Alibaba.com
have launched a new online destination,
www.alibaba.com/officedepot, that provides U.S. SMBs access to
Alibaba.com’s global supplier network, offering a wide product
selection, as well as exclusive online and in-store offers for some
of Office Depot’s best-in-class products and services.
- Enhanced sales and U.S.-based
customer support: Members of Office Depot’s sales force are
reaching out to a number of relevant SMBs – leveraging their
relationships with over 10 million U.S. business customers – to
introduce them to the benefits of the products and services the
companies are providing. Alibaba.com’s U.S.-based team is also
working with Office Depot’s trusted customer support staff to
provide U.S. business customers with local support and a direct
line to sourcing experts who will help them engage with
Alibaba.com’s global supplier base.
- Driving SMB adoption: Both
companies are investing in marketing initiatives to build
understanding of the value and opportunity created for SMB
customers through this collaboration, and to drive adoption of the
platform and services. Office Depot is leveraging its 33 years of
experience in serving SMBs and using both online and offline
marketing to reach its more than 10 million U.S. business customers
and prospective customers. Alibaba.com is focusing the promotional
firepower of its March Expo – a month-long online promotional event
that helps SMBs discover new products, services, and business
opportunities on Alibaba.com – as well as future marketing
initiatives, to similarly drive engagement with U.S. SMBs online
and in Office Depot and OfficeMax stores.
After a successful initial launch period, Office Depot and
Alibaba.com intend to expand their collaboration to develop the
following additional business customer offerings:
- Faster, more transparent and
cost-effective distribution and fulfillment. The companies
intend to significantly improve the cross-border distribution and
fulfillment they can offer U.S. SMBs. This is expected to shorten
delivery times by connecting Alibaba’s global logistics
capabilities with Office Depot’s integrated B2B supply chain and
distribution network of more than 1,000 private fleet trucks, 9
million square feet of distribution and fulfillment capacity,
approximately 1,350 retail locations, and dozens of third-party
logistics partners.
- A new sales channel for U.S.
SMBs. Over time, the companies intend to help U.S. SMBs sell
their products to buyers in the U.S. and around the world through
Alibaba.com.
“As a trusted partner to millions of businesses, our customers
tell us they want more choice in the market and need an expanded
set of products and services to help their businesses grow. We
believe our collaboration with Alibaba.com is exactly what they are
asking for,” said Gerry Smith, CEO of Office Depot, Inc.
“Leveraging Office Depot’s trusted brand, local presence, and
national supply chain distribution network with Alibaba’s global
supplier network and well-known capabilities in serving SMBs, U.S.
businesses can now access a wide array of products and services
through Office Depot and Alibaba.com’s collaboration, which will
empower them to compete and thrive. Through this initial phase of
work together with Alibaba.com, we intend to grow our collaboration
in ways that will drive even greater value and choice for our
current and future customers.”
John Caplan, head of North America B2B at Alibaba Group, said,
“American SMBs – who account for 99.7% of all companies in the
United States – need more ways to grow and compete in today’s
economy and take advantage of the enormous opportunity in B2B
e-commerce. Since our founding, Alibaba’s mission has been to make
it easy to do business anywhere. With Office Depot, we will be able
to offer SMBs more choice, greater access, and further
opportunities to grow. We’ll accomplish this by leveraging Office
Depot’s local relationships, capabilities, and expertise alongside
Alibaba’s global platform, technologies, and proven marketplace
model. Together, we see great opportunities to empower our
customers and help them tap into the $23.9 trillion global B2B
e-commerce market.”
About Office Depot, Inc.
Office Depot, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODP) is a leading B2B integrated
distribution company providing business services and supplies,
products and technology solutions through its fully integrated
omni-channel platform of approximately 1,350 stores, online
presence, and dedicated sales professionals and technicians to
small, medium and enterprise businesses. Through its banner brands
Office Depot®, OfficeMax®, CompuCom® and Grand&Toy®, the
company offers its customers the tools and resources they need to
focus on their passion of starting, growing and running their
business. For more information, visit officedepot.com, download the
Office Depot app on your iPhone or Android and follow @officedepot
on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Office Depot is a trademark of The Office Club, Inc. OfficeMax
is a trademark of OMX, Inc. CompuCom is a trademark of CompuCom
Systems, Inc. Grand&Toy is a trademark of Grand & Toy, LLC
in Canada. ©2019 Office Depot, Inc. All rights reserved. Any other
product or company names mentioned herein are the trademarks of
their respective owners.
About Alibaba.com
The first business unit of Alibaba Group, Alibaba.com is the
leading platform for global B2B e-commerce that aims to make it
easy to do business anywhere. Launched in 1999, Alibaba.com is
engaged in services covering all aspects of commerce, including
providing businesses with tools that help reach a global audience
for their products and helping buyers discover products, find
suppliers, and place orders online fast and efficiently. It serves
millions of buyers and suppliers from over 200 countries and
regions around the world.
About Alibaba Group
Alibaba Group’s (NYSE: BABA) mission is to make it easy to do
business anywhere and the company aims to achieve sustainable
growth for 102 years. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018, the
company reported revenue of US$39.9 billion.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this communication regarding the strategic
collaboration between Office Depot and Alibaba.com and its business
prospects, the expected benefits and synergies of the
collaboration, future opportunities for additional combined
offerings, the successful negotiation and execution of arrangements
and transactions contemplated by the collaboration agreement, and
any other statements about Office Depot’s or Alibaba.com’s
managements’ future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans or
prospects constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any
statements that are not statements of historical fact (including
statements containing words such as “anticipate,” “believe,”
“plan,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “guidance,”
“outlook,” “intend,” “may,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,”
“project,” “propose” or other similar words, phrases or
expressions, or other variations of such words) should also be
considered to be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking
statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of
which are outside of Office Depot’s and Alibaba.com’s control.
There can be no assurances that the companies will realize these
expectations or that these beliefs will prove correct, and
therefore investors and stockholders should not place undue
reliance on such statements. There are a number of important
factors that could cause actual results or events to differ
materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements,
including the companies’ ability to successfully integrate their
products, services and customer support teams, achieve synergies
and other benefits, their ability to develop additional combined
offerings that appeal to customers and other factors as may be
detailed from time to time in their public announcements and
Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The companies undertake
no obligation to make any revisions to the forward-looking
statements contained in this communication which speak only as the
date hereof. Except to the extent required by law, the companies do
not undertake, and expressly disclaim, any duty or obligation to
update any forward-looking statement after the date of this
communication to reflect events or circumstances occurring after
the date of this communication.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190304005466/en/
Office DepotMedia RelationsDanny
JovicDanny.jovic@officedepot.comInvestor RelationsTim
PerrottTim.Perrott@officedepot.comAlibaba.comMedia
RelationsBrion Tinglerbrion.tingler@alibaba-inc.com
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