Opi july august 271 (a)

BIG INTERVIEW

Connecting the

business products world

The senior executive team at FriendsOffice July/August 2017

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Special Issue

ADVEO’s multichannel move l Bob Aiken quits Essendant l Tech solutions providers speak out l The new commercial furniture realities l The healthy workplace l Maximising the digital experience

SOLUTIONS

TECHNOLOGY

Special Issue

CONTENTS 16 Big Interview... ...with FriendsOffice 22 Hot Topic The healthy workplace 43 Category Update Office furniture realities 49 How To... ...successfully sell your business 53 Research Amazon Business report results are out 57 Review: OPI European Forum 2017 59 Review: NeoCon 60 Preview: EPIC & ISSA/ INTERCLEAN

Special Issue

TECHNOLOGY

SOLUTIONS

26 Solutions Providers Software providers on the issues facing dealers

Special Issue

SOLUTIONS Big Interview: Ken Schroeder (Dale Alt and Betsy Hughes), FriendsOffice TECHNOLOGY

The FriendsOffice senior executive team talks about the challenges in today’s business supplies sector, which include keeping up with technology – and the perennial threat of Amazon – and expanding its offering to customers

TECHNOLOGY 30 Technology Profiles

What’s on offer from the SOLUTIONS

tech solutions providers?

32 Spotlight Dealer tech case studies

Special Issue

35 Interview VENDOR A wholesaler view from SP Richards’ Paul Gatens SPECIAL

39 Advertorial Special Issue Evolution Software

HOT TOPIC: THE HEALTHY WORKPLACE Special Issue

VENDOR SPECIAL

VENDOR REGULARS SPECIAL 5 Comment 6 News

62 Generation Game...

Aaron Hopkinson 64 5 minutes with...

Mélanie Martins 66 Final Word David Langdown

July/August 2017

Improving workforce wellness will become a movement at all levels of society – among workers and their families, employers and businesses, and governments. To survive, compete and innovate in the future economy, individuals need to be at the top of their game; in other words, at their optimal state of wellness in all its dimensions. Managers, businesses and governments who care about their own success and survival in the future economy will need to care for the well-being of their workforce in order to unleash people’s potential.

Special Issue

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COMMENT The OPI team EDITORIAL Editor Heike Dieckmann +44 (0)20 7841 2950 heike.dieckmann@opi.net Deputy Editor Michelle Sturman +44 (0)20 7841 2942 michelle.sturman@opi.net Reporter Joshua Allsopp +44 (0)20 7841 2952 joshua.allsopp@opi.net OPI Special Correspondent Andy Braithwaite +33 4 32 62 71 07 andy.braithwaite@opi.net Freelance Contributor David Holes david.holes@opi.net

T

The good and the bad

his issue of OPI aptly illustrates the two main scenarios we are seeing in the business supplies sector today – trends with the opportunities they bring on one end of the spectrum, and Amazon and the challenges it throws up on the other.

Let’s start with the positives – trends. There are many, but wellness is right up there at the moment. It permeates the whole industry, but from a specific product perspective perhaps most notably the furniture, facilities and breakroom categories.

From our Hot Topic on the healthy workplace (page 22) and a furniture Category Update (page 43) to our reviews of the recent OPI European Forum in Berlin as well as NeoCon in Chicago (pages 57 and 59 respectively), one thing is clear: the workplace is changing and the opportunities for manufacturers and resellers in our sector are endless.

[Amazon] has made its intentions clear with the [...] acquisition of food chain Whole Foods

SALES & MARKETING VP – Continental Europe, Middle East and Africa Ewan Dickson +44 (0)20 7841 2954 ewan.dickson@opi.net VP – North America and UK Chris Turness +44 (0)20 7841 2953 chris.turness@opi.net Director of Growth Services Jeremy Hughes +44 (0)7807 810617 jeremy.hughes@opi.net Digital Marketing Manager Aurora Enghis +44 (0)20 7841 2959 aurora.enghis@opi.net

EVENTS Events Manager Lisa Haywood +44 (0)20 7841 2941 events@opi.net

PRODUCTION & FINANCE Studio Joel Mitchell +44 (0)20 7841 2943 joel.mitchell@opi.net Operations & Production Eda Sismanoglu +44 (0)20 7841 2950 eda@opi.net Finance Kelly Hilleard +44 (0)20 7841 2956 kelly.hilleard@opi.net

PUBLISHERS CEO Steve Hilleard +44 (0)20 7841 2940 steve.hilleard@opi.net Director Janet Bell +44 (0)20 7841 2941 janet.bell@opi.net Executive Assistant Debbie Garrand +44 (7718) 660249 debbie.garrand@opi.net

Now for the challenges or, dare I say, threats. You will see the word Amazon coming up in many of the following pages. This is partly because this OPI is our Technology Solutions Special, the issue where we ask players from across the industry – the software vendors, resellers and wholesalers – about their views on technology and how in particular independent dealers are faring in their battle to match Amazon’s digital prowess (see Contents for specific articles).

The answers are worrying and encouraging in equal measure. Many channel participants are on board with the notion that they simply have to up their game in terms of all things digital. But it’s not easy, as one of our Big Interviewees this month says: “If something keeps me up at night, it’s our ability to stay ahead of technology on the e-commerce side…

It’s often playing catch-up and reacting rather than being a leader in technology… Amazon has a model that really works.” See page 16.

But the Amazon threat is no longer confined to digital commerce. The online giant has made its intentions clear with the near-$14 billion acquisition of food chain Whole Foods (see page 13). What possible repercussions this could have on the retail sector and OP in particular is pure guesswork. Suffice to say, doing nothing and hoping it will all just go away would be a death sentence.

On that somewhat depressing note, have a fabulous summer.

HEIKE DIECKMANN, EDITOR

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business products world

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NEWS

Analysis: ADVEO’s multichannel move

Wholesaling will now be part of a broader range of services Less than ten years after initiating a strategy to become the leading pan-European office products wholesaler, ADVEO is steering on a new course to evolve into a multichannel workplace solutions “platform”.

In 2008, the company (which was then called Unipapel) was a Spanish manufacturer, distributor and reseller – via its Ofiservice joint venture with Lyreco – of traditional stationery, with annual sales of just over €200 million ($222 million). Over the next few years, it acquired Spain-based European print supplies distributor Adimpo, sold its Ofiservice stake to Lyreco, acquired the European operations of wholesaler Spicers from DS Smith and sold its manufacturing arm to a Swiss private investment firm.

In the process, annual sales grew to over €1 billion.

www.opi.net

“One of the big messages we are sending is that we have to learn how to co-exist with different models”

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However, combining the Adimpo EOS business with traditional office products wholesaling proved to be more challenging than expected. Then there was a disastrous ERP implementation that brought the Spanish business to its knees. Customer confidence – and sales and profits – plummeted, leading to a CEO change in 2015.

Turnaround expert Jaime Carbó came in and wasted little time in offloading the Adimpo millstone to UK-based specialist distributor Westcoast, shoring up the group’s balance sheet and stabilising the situation in Spain – all part of a business plan that the company revealed in June 2016.

The Adimpo sell-off has basically left ADVEO as a wholesaler of traditional office supplies with annual sales of €535 million, but better profitability than in the previous few years. Now, a new three-year strategic plan aims to reposition the company as a multichannel player that will comprise manufacturing (via own brand products), wholesaling, distribution and reselling units operating on a new technology platform that will support all its business processes.

“One of the big messages we are sending is that we have to learn how to co-exist with different models,” Carbó told OPI. “All of us need to learn how to compete and cooperate at the same time.”

Carbó argues that there is a disproportionate focus on channel conflict when there is the slightest hint of wholesalers selling direct to end users. “When a vendor sells direct via its website, nobody speaks about conflict of channel. When a reseller has direct contact with a vendor [circumnavigating the wholesale channel], nobody speaks about conflict of interest. Does no one have a little sentiment of guilt [about this]?”

The two most important blocks of the ADVEO strategic plan – direct sales and more private label products – fall into that potential channel conflict scenario, but Carbó said that the market was large enough for ADVEO to have its place in the reselling and vendor channels without going after its customers’ customers.

Another focus area will be to grow the top and bottom lines at the company’s retail network of around 530 stores that operate under the Calipage, Plein Ciel and Buro+ brands. This will include trying to increase the share of wallet with these partners: ADVEO operates a semi-franchised model that only generates a share of wallet with its resellers of around 30%, so there is clearly potential for it to be a more attractive option for the other 70% of purchases these dealers are making.

Underpinning ADVEO’s strategic plan is both a commitment to be an end-user focused business (as opposed to a product-focused business), and a paradigm shift from a competitive to a more collaborative mindset.

Some of the areas of the plan appear similar to those attempted by Spicers in the UK a few years ago. While many of those initiatives made sense at the time, trying too many things at once proved to be a stumbling block, so ‘focus’ will be a vital watchword for ADVEO over the next three years.

See more details of ADVEO’s new strategic plan on opi.net.

ADVEO’S TARGETS FOR 2020 • • • • • •

An average annual sales growth of 7.5% (to €715 million) EBITDA of €62 million (from €22 million in 2016) Direct and semi-direct sales of €67 million Own brand sales growth of €75 million Own brand to represent about 25% of total sales (from 12% in 2016) The reduction of net debt from €188 million to €110 million

Alibaba forecast excites the market Attendees at Alibaba’s Investor Day on 8 June audibly “gasped” when the Chinese e-commerce giant forecast sales growth of between 45-49% for the current financial year, at least 10% higher than expected.

Update from Staples...

Ironically, with the ever-increasing prospect of Staples being taken private, the reseller’s Chief Administrative Officer Jeff Hall was at the Baird Global Consumer, Technology and Services Conference in New York in June trying to change Staples’ image among investors. Introducing Hall and heading the Q&A session was Baird’s Dave Manthey, a Senior Research Analyst covering Industrial Distribution – he was asked by Staples to lead the session as the company tries to shake off its ‘retailer’ image. In fact, Manthey himself admitted that it was “news to me” when he learned that almost two thirds of Staples’ revenues and around three quarters of its EBIT came from its B2B delivery division (NAD).

Hall took the audience through the main components of Staples’ 20/20 strategic plan, focusing on the delivery opportunity to the mid-market customer segment which is estimated to be worth $80 billion a year in office supply and adjacent categories such as facilities, breakroom, technology, print, promotional products, shipping, packaging and furniture. While Staples has double-digit market share in the core categories of paper, ink and toner, and traditional office supplies, its overall market share in the mid market is less than 2%.

One analyst queried why NAD growth was so sluggish at less than 1% if this was the key growth area for Staples. Hall confirmed that the overall figure had been dragged down by online sales at the Staples.com and Quill platforms. Previous online growth had been heavily fuelled by unprofitable, promotional-driven offers, he explained, and had been run more like a B2C operation. While a move away from this strategy has hit the top line, Hall said it was “a good long-term decision” and that profitability had improved.

At Quill, there had been a conscious decision to take out costs by reducing marketing efforts on attracting new customers. Hall admitted that this had not been the right approach, saying it had caused “a bit of pain”. That strategy has now been reversed, so Quill – which has annual sales of around $1 billion – is now expected to return to growth this year.

...and Officeworks

Coolblue launches French website Netherlands-based online reseller Coolblue has launched its first French language web shop, opening up a whole new market for the group.

The reseller said the expansion into Brussels and Wallonia will serve as a stepping stone towards its eventual launch in France.

SYNNEX buys cybersecurity group IT distributor SYNNEX is to acquire Datatec’s cybersecurity firm Westcon-Comstor North America and Latin America.

The deal also includes a minority shareholding in Datatec’s Westcon EMEA and Asia-Pacific businesses.

Vistaprint opens its first ever store At a time when many brands are veering away from the physical store in favour of e-commerce, Vistaprint is bucking the trend and opening a bricks-and-mortar print studio in Toronto, Canada.

The store also allows business owners to get a one-on-one consultation with Vistaprint’s coaches.

Lexmark CEO resigns Lexmark President and CEO David Reeder has resigned citing “personal reasons” for his decision.

Chief Revenue Officer Brock Saladin and Chief Technology Officer Allen Waugerman will lead the management team in the interim.

Xeretec acquisition boosts MPS Xerox’s largest managed print services reseller Xeretec has acquired its UK-based HP counterpart. The takeover of HP MPS and solutions specialist Landscape Group brings together two of the top resellers of some of the largest global print brands.

IS partners with AFFLINK US dealer group Independent Stationers (IS) has partnered with facilities and supply chain management association AFFLINK. The strategic alliance will see the launch of Affiliate Membership programmes to support dealers and distributors.

July/August 2017

Over in Australia, Officeworks’ owner Wesfarmers held its annual strategy day, with Officeworks’ Managing Director Mark Ward and CFO Michael Howard in attendance.

Officeworks has also faced recent speculation about its future after Wesfarmers tried to sell it or float the stationery and office supplies business earlier this year, although it now looks as though it will stay in the Wesfarmers’ stable for the time being.

The prospect of Amazon entering the Australian market in 2018 has sent jitters through the local retail sector, but Ward said that Officeworks is well placed to compete with the e-tailer when it arrives. While Staples in the US has taken the B2B delivery route, Officeworks is counting on an omnichannel strategy, with its stores continuing to play a vital role. Store count is now at 164 and the number of openings over the next few years is expected to average between five and seven annually.

That said, major investments have been made in digital purchasing options. Online sales in the most recent financial year were A$300 million (US$226 million), about 17% of Officeworks’ total sales. While online has been growing, however, it has not come at the expense of in-store sales, which have also been increasing.

Supply chain investments have included a new distribution centre in Brisbane which includes voice picking and a new warehouse management system. Other systems have also been enhanced to allow for same-day delivery in several Australian cities, while the store network will play a key role in regional distribution improvements.

NEWS

IN BRIEF

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NEWS

Analysis: Stability needed at Essendant

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US wholesaler Essendant is on the hunt for a new CEO after Bob Aiken’s sudden resignation on 13 June.

Aiken took over at Essendant from Cody Phipps in May 2015, initially on an interim basis before being named permanent CEO a few months later. The former CEO of US Foodservice was no stranger to Essendant, having been on its board in two spells beginning in 2010. But the 54-year-old has decided to return to the food industry as CEO of $6 billion private label food and beverage supplier TreeHouse Foods which, like Essendant, is located in the Chicago area.

TreeHouse is going through its own challenges following the acquisition of the private brands business of ConAgra Foods last year, a company-wide restructuring and a salmonella-related product recall last November. In spite of – or perhaps because of – these, Aiken has been lured back to the food business despite taking what is, initially at least, a cut in base salary and stock awards, although he will receive a $500,000 one-off payment from TreeHouse after foregoing severance benefits at Essendant.

Wall Street reacted negatively to Aiken’s departure from Essendant, sending the wholesaler’s share price down by more than 11% on the day of the announcement. That suggests a lack of confidence more than anything: departures of underperforming CEOs are usually welcomed by investors and are followed by an uptick in a company’s share price.

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WHAT NOW? Ironically, on Aiken’s watch, Essendant’s market value fell by about 50% after it repeatedly lowered its earnings forecasts amid declining sales and lower profit margins, brought on by the secular challenges in the office products industry and the growing online threat from the likes of Amazon. But there was a plan in place, the pain of the move to a common operating platform for the office products and jan/san businesses had been endured, and there has been more optimism recently about the US economy.

However, Aiken’s resignation means that Essendant’s two most senior executives have left the company in the past few months: former CFO Earl Shanks announced his retirement in April after only about 18 months in the job. Unexpected senior leadership departures like that don’t go down well in the investment community, especially when a company is in the middle of a strategic transformation. Why have they jumped ship when their work is seemingly unfinished?

Whatever the answer(s), the timing of Aiken’s decision is certainly not ideal for Essendant. There have been a lot of organisational and operational changes over the past 18 months; what customers want now is stability and clarity about the company’s strategic direction. Whether they will get that remains to be seen, but senior leadership changes rarely happen without at least some ripples.

Ric Phillips – head of the wholesaler’s Industrial Business Unit – has been drafted into the CEO position on an interim basis. He was seemingly chosen by the board ahead of industry veteran Harry Dochelli, who’s in charge of the larger office and facilities division, perhaps on the basis of his [Phillips]’ previous e-commerce leadership experience.

Both men will have an important role to play in ‘steadying the ship’ until a permanent CEO is named following an executive search that will consider internal as Bob Aiken well as external candidates.

Office Depot sells China business

Office Depot has reached an agreement to sell its business in mainland China to Shanghai M&G COLIPU Office Supplies.

In a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the China-based office supplies company said it was looking to expand its share of the B2B market in the region. Shanghai M&G is currently mainly engaged in the manufacture and sale of writing instruments as well as student and office stationery.

Office Depot had previously disclosed its intention to sell substantially all of its international businesses in order to focus on growing in North America.

The transaction is subject to an antitrust review by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

25 5% Percentage of US workforce aged over 55 by 2020

BEST IN APP Missive enables users to collaborate on email threads. Within the work inbox, co-workers can create an instant chat group to eliminate those seemingly endless internal email chains.

The app also lets the user share attachments and assign tasks directly from an inbox, meaning teams can more effectively manage a shared inbox.

Say goodbye to those accidental ‘Reply All’ gaffes. https://missiveapp.com/help

Godfrey Group and WG Atherton join forces US-based manufacturer rep groups Godfrey Group and WG Atherton have agreed to merge.

The two will combine operations in the coming month or so, including a name change to Vanguard Sales Group.

COS installs A$1 million solar power farm Australia’s largest independent office supplies dealer Complete Office Supplies has installed more than 1,500 solar panels at its three warehouses.

The panels at its Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane locations will now produce 80% of each location’s power and will reduce the group’s carbon emissions by 532 tonnes.

Antalis starts trading on Paris exchange European paper merchant Antalis completed its listing on the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange on 5 June.

The listing of Antalis is part of the group’s plan to safeguard against the French Restructuring and Insolvency Law and meet the necessary financial obligations in its ongoing litigation with British American Tobacco.

Brother clamps down on IP breach Brother is pursuing Cartridge World stores in New Zealand for an alleged IP breach.

The company has initiated High Court legal action over re-manufactured ink cartridges that feature its branding.

It is believed all 39 Cartridge World stores have been reported to authorities, with 12 having been served writs so far.

UK business supplies association BOSS Federation’s AGM and Members’ Day at Stationers’ Hall in London on 6 June flagged up some of the biggest challenges plaguing the industry.

To cap off his first year at the helm, BOSS CEO Philip Lawson addressed the 80-strong audience with a frank admission of the group’s shortcomings. He highlighted its sales strategy as one of the main weaknesses, pointing to execution issues.

Nonetheless, BOSS ended its last financial year with a small surplus and membership is still growing, with a number of dealers also coming on board.

With plans to restart the Resellers Forum, increasing connection within the industry, and an estimated market size of around £15 billion ($19.5 billion), Lawson looked ahead to the rest of 2017 with promise. He also lauded the group’s annual industry awards, which he said was still the biggest industry event in the UK. Perhaps the most interesting development of the day was the revelation that BOSS has been actively engaging with Amazon; it certainly sparked interest from the attendees.

In his State of the Industry presentation, well-known M&A

adviser Thomas Schinkel revealed that traditional sectors declined on average by around 7% in the UK B2B sector last year; he also expected a significant impact on the industry from the launch of Amazon Business in the country.

Indeed, CEO of EVO Group Steve Haworth – speaking as part of the Member’s Day line-up – highlighted Amazon as one of the top uncertainties dogging the sector, alongside so-called ‘asset strippers’ and the industry’s reputation for being old-fashioned and slow to react. But it would be the industry’s ingrained resilience, said Haworth, that would see it through current market uncertainty.

Managing Director of IT distributor Westcoast Alex Tatham was next to take the stage. He said the “dreaded” emergence of Amazon in the B2B market was unstoppable and would have unknown consequences, but he was adamant that all was not lost,

as long as the industry played to its strengths.

He praised the quality of the data within the sector, but warned: “You are not using data well enough. Data is the new oil.”

The OP industry’s closeness to its customers worked in its favour, but to retain them and compete with the likes of Amazon, companies need to become more important, not just close. “Get big, get massive,” Tatham said.

How? Diversification. Tatham pointed to the developments in the printer services market and cyber security, which are now key areas of growth for Westcoast.

Amazon isn’t the only challenge in the industry, however. Tatham wasn’t alone in stressing the impact of robotics and automation on the business supplies space.

He cited professional services firm PwC’s latest estimate that 50% of all existing jobs will be replaced by robots within the next decade.

Supreme Court overturns Lexmark appeal In a landmark ruling, the US Supreme Court unanimously overturned an appeal in the long-running Lexmark patent lawsuit with remanufacturer Impression Products.

The printer maker can no longer use patent law to prevent refilled or refurbished cartridges acquired in the US or abroad from being resold in the US. Therefore, patents held by Lexmark on its consumables no longer apply once the product has been sold, overturning an earlier decision by a Federal court.

The Supreme Court concluded that “a patentee’s decision to sell a product exhausts all of its patent rights in that item, regardless of any restrictions the patentee purports to impose.”

This means that Lexmark and other OEMs cannot use patent law to try and stop refilled cartridges from being sold in the marketplace.

Chief Justice John Roberts said the restriction would damage consumer freedom and could risk ‘clogging’ commerce channels given new advances in technology and the increasing complexity of supply chains. The ruling could have wide-reaching ramifications beyond the print supplies market.

July/August 2017

BJ’s Wholesale Club launches B2B arm BJ’s said its B2B division will offer its customers bulk pricing, order and shipment advantages which will apply to commercial orders of more than $5,000. It will also provide a streamlined process from ordering to delivery, shipping directly to the chosen BJ’s location.

BOSS Members’ Day flags industry challenges

NEWS

IN BRIEF

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Mercateo partners with SAP Ariba

Online procurement platform Mercateo has joined forces with industrial supplies e-tailer SAP Ariba.

Mercateo’s cloud-based B2B networking platform Mercateo Unite will support Ariba’s Spot Buy solution as it is launched in the European market.

The partnership was announced at the SAP Ariba Live conference in Prague recently. It will enable SAP Ariba customers to easily connect with suppliers, cut costs, and access more than 50 million items through the integrated Mercateo platform, while tackling the challenges of spot buying.

NEWS

Analysis: Büroring set for growth ‘Growth’ was the main talking point at Büroring’s AGM which was held in Berlin, Germany, at the end of May. For the first time ever, all cooperatives under the Büroring group umbrella – Büroring, Büro Forum and Prisma – came together for the so-called PBS Forum which comprised the group’s AGM, a specific Prisma assembly meeting and a joint supplier exhibition.

The event kicked off with a keynote address by motivational trainer Jörg Löhr and was followed the next day with a well-attended exhibition that saw about 80 of the combined groups’ vendor partners come together.

In addition to the tradeshow and a well-organised fringe networking and entertainment programme over the course of the event, it was the AGM on the third day that provided an in-depth look back at the past year of the dealer group as well as a comprehensive glimpse of what’s to come.

Büroring’s 40th year – it celebrated its anniversary last year – was a tale of two halves. As reported by OPI in January, the group posted record revenues for the whole of 2016 and the good performance continued for the first quarter of 2017 when the warehouse operation grew by 3.9% and the central billing business with the group’s suppliers by an impressive 19.5%. And while the month of April came in well below expectations due to the number of public holidays in Germany which, as admitted Büroring Managing Director Ingo Dewitz, completely negated the successes of the previous three months, overall the forecast for the warehouse business alone for the whole of 2017 is set at “at least” €36 million ($40 million) – up from €33 million in 2016.

Much of the future growth of Büroring is expected to come from two corners: the warehouse operation and its expansion into new product categories, and a better e-commerce experience for members’ customers.

While the group’s warehouse business did well in 2016, it reached an impasse towards the end of the year when demand and order volume far outstripped capacity. Büroring is in the middle of a major €4 million logistics overhaul which began last summer and will not only add the much-needed extra capacity, but also pave the way for considerable category expansion.

As Dewitz explained, currently about 12,000 SKUs are available through its facilities, plus an extra 13,000 through its virtual warehouse. He pointed to a sizeable increase of its own brand portfolio, plus extended – and in some instances completely new – forays into the areas of school supplies, jan/san, packaging, PPE and breakroom products.

Büroring’s logistics project is expected to be finalised this autumn. At the same time, the group’s new e-procurement system for its dealer members will also be ready, hopefully giving dealers a more competitive, user-friendly offering while also opening the door for further future enhancements in the area of in-shop solutions and add-on marketplaces.

There’s no doubt that many challenges remain for Büroring and its members. Succession has long been an issue in the German OP market which is also reflected in the slowly decreasing number of members (although the group managed to win nine new members in lieu of 11 lost ones). But with the global OP players – with one notable exception according to Dewitz (Lyreco) – not doing very well in Germany and its members making strong inroads into the local project and tender business, there’s plenty to be positive about.

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Challenging agenda and room full of movers and shakers #opportunities

@SteffGeorgiou When the servers are down due to ‘extreme heat’ and you find garden skittles #officelife

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July/August 2017

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Average salary of a full-time remote worker in the US

1,825 $ $62,604

NEWS

Ueli Wolfensberger passes away

Days an office worker spends sat at a desk in a lifetime

OPI was saddened to learn of the sudden passing of industry legend Ueli Wolfensberger on 5 June at the age of 83.

As founder and CEO of Peach and patriarch of a Swiss entrepreneurial dynasty, Ueli will be remembered as one of the most recognisable and well-respected figures in the office products industry.

His first attempt to retire came in 1998 when he and wife Ingrid sold well-known global vendor Ibico to GBC, its biggest competitor at the time, after 29 years at the helm. But the call of the industry was too strong and in 2003 he launched low-cost office supplies group Peach.

In 2005, he was presented with the Industry Achievement award at the European Office Products Awards. Shortly afterwards, he relinquished his role as Peach CEO, switching to Chairman with plans to retire once again.

But in 2014, he was credited with breathing new life into century-old office supplies group Pfeiffer. Alongside their son Urs, he and Ingrid launched Pfeiffer Asia Pacific, allowing the company to break into the Australian market.

Throughout his long and colourful life, Ueli was a permanent fixture of the industry, seeing it through immense change. OPI extends its deepest sympathies to Ueli’s family.

Americans who work remotely full time

Amazon has bought organic grocery chain Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, marking its biggest push yet into traditional retail.

The deal is also the heftiest in Amazon’s history, driving Whole Foods’ share price 29% higher on the day, and sending shockwaves through the market.

Founded in Texas in 1978, the high-end supermarket pioneered the trend for natural, healthy foods. It now has 460 stores across the US, Canada and the UK. Recently, it has been under increased pressure from rival stores and falling sales.

The takeover by Amazon gives the retailer some much-needed financial leg room and also allows it to expand its online and logistics operations. Amazon, meanwhile, has nabbed a lion’s share in an already highly consolidated market and continues its investment in physical distribution and infrastructure.

ISSA partners with fellow industry associations Cleaning industry association ISSA has been busy recently, as it struck deals with several of its sector peers.

The association merged with both the International Executive Housekeepers Association (IEHA) and Australia-based Specialized Cleaning and Restoration Industry Association (SCRIA). It has also entered into a joint ownership agreement with e-squared publications for the acquisition of Africa-focused cleaning and hygiene exhibition CleantexPulire as part of its expansion in the region.

Hamelin buys plastic products manufacturer Hamelin has acquired pro|office, Europe’s largest private label manufacturer of soft plastic products for the office and school segments, from Ring International Holding (RIH).

Czech Republic-based pro|office had annual sales in 2016 of around €40 million ($45 million) and employs about 250 staff. It was founded in 1995, before being acquired by Herlitz two years later. RIH bought the company in 2009.

The deal is in line with Hamelin’s strategic plan revealed last year to focus on its core business of school and office supplies, and the development of its global brands Oxford and Elba. As part of this strategy, the group sold its Canson brand to Italy-based group FILA last year.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

July/August 2017

3I% 3

Amazon snaps up Whole Foods

13

BIG INTERVIEW

Scaling UP

Keeping up with technology and continually expanding its offering to customers – the challenges of Ohio-based FriendsOffice are a fairly accurate reflection of what’s happening in the business supplies sector as a whole

I

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t’s often said that to survive in today’s business supplies sector and to have any chance of standing up to the might of Amazon and Amazon Business in particular, scale is becoming increasingly important. This scale doesn’t merely apply to product range, but also to technology and logistics expertise and the all-important tie-in of product and service.

Ohio-based FriendsOffice is under no illusion as to the task at hand. OPI’s Heike Dieckmann spoke to three of the company’s longest-serving senior executives about its strategy and how they have jointly grown the dealership from a small, local retail store into a far-reaching B2B supplier with multiple locations serving facilities across the US.

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OPI: You’ve spent most of your career in the OP sector. What brought you to this industry Ken? Ken Schroeder: Good luck I would say! My background is actually in finance and I spent the first few years of my working life in a Ford automobile dealership as a controller. I was then hired by Evans Office Equipment in 1986 to become its CFO. I had never really enjoyed the specifics of accounting and I kind of fell in love with the office products industry at Evans. I’ve also always wanted to have my own company, so when Dave Evans wanted to get out of the copier business in 1991, I offered to buy this part of the company from him. I got hold of my long-time high school and college friend Dale Alt and we decided to run the business together.

We did that for about three years and then sold it to Danka, a company that was incredibly acquisitive at the time. Dale had to stay with them for another year, but I went out and bought a small retail store called Friends Office Products and decided to develop the commercial side of the business. Dale re-joined me a year later and Betsy Hughes the year after that. The rest, as they say, is history.

OPI: How have you evolved from that little retail store – what does FriendsOffice look like today?

Betsy Hughes & Ken Schroeder

Dale Alt: Today, we’re completely B2B-focused. We got out of the retail business within three years and since then it’s been all B2B. In terms of our product portfolio, we cover furniture, OP, jan/san and facility supplies, breakroom products, custom print services and promotional products. We’ve also relaunched our copier business through a partnership with Kyocera, which began earlier this year. We used to be in that business with Toshiba, but sold it about six years ago.

We have 105 staff right now and are mostly Ohio-based, with some coverage in Pennsylvania, Indiana and Michigan.

OPI: You’ve been a very acquisitive company in the past. Has that been your strategy for growth?

KS: Yes, we made several acquisitions between 1998 and 2003, and then again between 2010 and 2015.

The strategy behind those was twofold. Initially, we wanted to grow our footprint in the state of Ohio, while the later acquisitions had more to do with product and category expansion in the areas of furniture, jan/san and office supplies.

BIG INTERVIEW Ken Schroeder, Dale Alt & Betsy Hughes

We’ve also increasingly been looking at non-transactional deals where the service aspect comes more into play. Most recently – in April – we bought Global Paperless Solutions (GPS), which is very much in line with that strategy. GPS is an authorised value-added reseller of Laserfiche software. The uptake of this service has been very positive so far and we see a really big opportunity here.

We feel we have a pretty good footprint in Ohio now and are not looking for more acquisitions, but would rather consolidate what we have already. However, if a good company comes along, we might consider it.

OPI: Are you a stocking dealer?

KS: We stock about 20% of the office supplies we sell in our own warehouses, so the majority is wholesale.

For jan/san, we stock 60-70% while furniture is predominantly purchased direct from manufacturers.

OPI: And SP Richards (SPR) is your first-call wholesaler I believe?

DA: Yes, we’ve been with SPR now for five years.

What we were after was a real partnership with a wholesaler. Overall, SPR has delivered and it’s a good relationship. We recently won a large contract in the education sector. SPR brought their operations team into our facility and we went over all the details of that contract. Among other things, they agreed to order a range of unique supplies for us and keep them in stock – so that we don’t have to – and the contract gets fulfilled completely by SPR. That’s what I would call a mutually beneficial deal.

July/August 2017

OPI: What’s your current run rate?

DA: We finished last year just under $30 million. That’s up from $18 million in 2010.

Initially, we wanted to grow our footprint in the state of Ohio, while the later acquisitions had more to do with product and category expansion

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OPI: What’s the history of this segment for FriendsOffice?

DA: Well, we bought a small jan/san company called ADU in 2004 and that was our first foray into the category. We gained some expertise, but we were still just dabbling. Since then, we have recruited an expert in the field and she works closely with our sales staff as well as our manufacturer partners.

Having this category expert has really helped our traditional OP folks get up to speed. There is a lot to learn in this segment, but after several customer wins, our sales people now trust her and bring her in whenever they see a jan/san opportunity with their existing account base.

OPI: What kind of specific knowledge do you need?

KS: We often get asked about floor care, for example – that’s a big one. A customer calls in and says: “I’ve got this cork floor, it’s dirty, how do I clean it?” The sales team will get in touch with our expert who will liaise with the vendor and then they’ll go in together and present a solution to the customer.

The high-volume sellers in this category are toilet paper, hand towels and bin liners. It’s the low-volume items where most of the expertise is needed.

Importantly, there’s plenty that the jan/san sector can learn from OP too. Next-day delivery and high service levels are a good example, as are reporting tools and managing inventory for the larger accounts.

We are able to bring something to the table that the ‘traditional’ jan/san incumbents cannot.

OPI: How much of your total sales is jan/san now?

KS: It’s about 15% of our revenues. We include breakroom products in that segment too, but we don’t do a huge amount in this sub-category – no more than 3% and most of that is actually coffee. Jan/san is by far the bigger part for us.

OPI: This issue of OPI is also our Technology Solutions Special. How well-versed are you in terms of digital commerce, analytics, etc?

DA: We use ECinteractive for our e-commerce solution. Overall, I feel that ECi has done a pretty good job for independent dealers and has provided us with the features to compete in the B2B market. One of the challenges we have is that our customers are increasingly expecting their B2B experience to equal their B2C online experience.

It’s difficult and we’re not there yet. Our industry just doesn’t have the monetary or technical resources that an Amazon has, so we’re always playing catch-up. If something keeps me up at night, it’s our ability to stay ahead of technology on the e-commerce side.

Having this category expert has really helped our traditional OP folks get up to speed

FriendsOffice CIO Dale Alt

OPI: There’s often criticism that dealers don’t make enough use of tools like Google Analytics or indeed the wholesalers’ analytics offerings…

DA: We use all of those tools. The question often is: once we have all the data, what do we do with it? Say we see a trend from the data that comes back. Our challenge is that we don’t have enough control of our e-commerce site to specifically target that trend and efficiently maximise the opportunities it may present.

Also, what we do is almost always reactive and that is in complete contrast to Amazon. The company’s website is hugely proactive and that’s what customers have come to expect.

BIG INTERVIEW Ken Schroeder, Dale Alt & Betsy Hughes

same time, with ever-changing pricing, rich and up-to-date content and so on. It’s a challenge to stay ahead all the time.

OPI: Anything that could be improved on?

DA: There’s always room for improvement. Supplying the jan/san sector and stocking the right mix of products is a perennial challenge. But we feel that SPR is taking the appropriate steps to improve this product category.

OPI: How is the rest split up?

KS: About 45% OP, 35% furniture and the remaining 5% comes from printing and promotional sales.

Our copier division is a new category for us and relates to our partnership with Kyocera that I mentioned earlier. We’re excited to see this category grow in the months to come.

OPI: What about the competition?

Betsy Hughes: There’s always going to be competition – Amazon, Staples, Office Depot/OfficeMax...

So much is about technology now – buyers have three different companies up on their screen at the

July/August 2017

OPI: What is your customer sweet spot?

KS: It’s very mixed. We do very good business with schools. Mid-sized businesses are probably where we excel, in a variety of sectors. Small universities, regional hospitals, financial institutions – those are core to what we do.

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Ken Schroeder, Dale Alt & Betsy Hughes BIG INTERVIEW

OPI: Is that trend analysis not something that the wholesalers can help with?

DA: The wholesalers do provide broad analysis like spend per employee per category. But the analysis I need is located at the customer level, which the wholesalers do not have access to.

OPI: What dealer groups or networks are you affiliated with?

KS: We’ve been a Pinnacle dealer for five years and on the jan/san side we’re part of the AFFLINK network.

One of the great things about Pinnacle is that we’re talking to like-minded dealers. We’re all $20 million and above in revenues and when we get together for national meetings, there’s always a huge amount of best practice sharing and strategic discussions. It’s a very productive use of our time because we’re talking about topics that are really relevant to us.

Of course, we’re not all the same – some of the dealers are 100% stockless, for example – but it’s still interesting to hear their views.

OPI: You mentioned technology already. What else keeps you awake at night?

DA: That’s easy but also goes back to technology – it’s Amazon. Back when Ken and I started this company, we used industry-leading software and were ahead of the curve. Now, like I said, it’s often playing catch-up and reacting rather than being a leader in technology.

Amazon has a model that really works. They’re not just attractive with low-price core office products – where, by the way, we’re still doing ok by comparison – but also with the higher-margin C and D items. And it’s the C and D items where it’s getting harder and harder to be competitive, because purchasers have more places to buy them from.

BH: Independents don’t have the luxury of a room full of people manipulating pricing all day. Amazon and our big-box competitors, on the other hand, do have that, so it’s important we play to our strengths.

At the end of the day, it’s all about efficiencies.

Warehousing, distribution, our computer system, our people – FriendsOffice is constantly looking at all of these things to be as cost-efficient as possible. It’s never-ending.

The senior executive team at FriendsOffice (without Dale Alt).

Back row: Dennis Mitchell – VP of Purchasing; Fred Fletcher – VP of Distribution and Installations; Keith Lafountain – VP Director of IT Front row: Peg Schroeder – VP Human Resources, Director of Operations; Ken Schroeder – CEO/CFO; Betsy Hughes – President of Sales OPI: Everybody talks about services and you referred to these a couple of times as well. What do you do in that regard?

KS: Well, on the furniture side, design, planning and project management have become very important to us – it played a big part in our acquisition of Salem Office Products four years ago.

That’s just one product segment. Overall, we have a very thorough evaluation procedure in place whereby we check out what services customers are lacking and where we can help. Providing usage reports, combining purchase orders and optimising deliveries are a few examples. These are all services we have in our toolbox and that we can take to our customers as value-added offerings.

Most of the services we’re providing are not charged for, but they help us sell our products and our company. There are a couple of exceptions to this, such as furniture installation and premium software services like Laserfiche document management, which I mentioned before.

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OPI: You mention your big-box competitors. Depot and Staples are re-focusing all their efforts back on North America. What impact do you think that will have on the market?

BH: They may have announced a re-focused effort, but it’s the execution that matters. There’s plenty of disruption in the market. That being said, we’re always looking for new opportunities and we’ve consistently been able to capture business because of our commitment to customer service and support.

This, paired with the inability of the competition to match our level of dedicated service, allows us to stay competitive in the market.

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OPI: Does it worry you that Depot and Staples want to take a bigger slice of the mid market and the small business sector?

BH: Depot and Staples have always been there. Now it’s Amazon that’s the far bigger challenge.

For more exclusive content, visit the July/August issue in the Magazine section on opi.net.

OPI: Final thoughts as to where you’re headed?

KS: Our goal is to continue to improve what we’re doing; try to put 6-8% EBIT down on the bottom line; find products with a real service aspect that give us higher margins versus just pushing them through.

Jan/san remains a big opportunity for us, partly because it only represents 15% of our annual revenues. So, while we’re continuing to see growth, we don’t own a lot of this category with our current customers, and there’s plenty of business out there.

DA: Staying ahead of technology is critical to the success of any company and is hugely important to us. It’s making sure we use all of the tools at our disposal. Whether it’s e-commerce site customisation through ECi’s digital services or training all our sales reps to be proficient with our mobile shopping app, OfficeShopper, our understanding and use of the technology we have available is key to customer retention and acquisition.

HOT TOPIC

The

NATURAL

touch

The healthy workplace is gathering pace globally as more businesses realise the positive impact it has on the bottom line.

But what exactly is a ‘healthy workplace’? – by Michelle Sturman

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here’s a lot of noise at the moment about the ‘healthy workplace’. For the business supplies industry, this has so far mostly meant replacing chocolate chip cookies with apples, carbonated soft drinks with water, and swapping old furniture and desk accessories with ergonomic variations.

Notwithstanding the importance of the aforementioned aspects of making a workplace healthier, there’s much more to it than that, however.

The healthy workplace now includes everything from the ground up, literally. The definition depends, of course, entirely on who you speak to and is also constantly evolving.

First and foremost, a healthy work environment is not a separate set of products that happen to be slightly better for employees than their predecessors. It is a holistic approach to the entire workplace – from the building itself, ergonomic furniture and accessories, healthy breakroom products, mental health and wellness, employee safety, and physical activity including active working.

According to Ergotron Wellness Market Manager Betsey Banker, today’s workplace should also encompass the following: “There should be clear health and safety guidelines in place, sound people management policies, as well as good natural working

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conditions such as natural light and clean air. In other words, a healthy office is when the building design and employer expectations promote the safety, health and well-being of workers.”

HEALTHY BOTTOM LINE There is now so much research which confirms the fact that a healthier workplace makes a positive impact on the bottom line that it is increasingly being taken more seriously by businesses of all sizes. A recent study undertaken by BMG Research in the UK highlights the benefits of well-being strategies for both employees and businesses. The research revealed that employees who work for a business with a well-being strategy are twice as likely to believe their employer genuinely cares about their wellness, which in turn leads to employee engagement levels increasing by 31%. The survey also states that one third of sick days taken off in the UK are a direct result of work-related pressure or stress.

Fellowes Senior Channel Manager Steve Plaistowe says that progressive organisations and employers are viewing this subject as a core part of their operating principles now. “There are many and varied constituents of a healthy workplace. The greater the combination of provision and support, the more likely it is that staff will be retained,

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EIGHT FEATURES THAT MAKE HEALTHIER AND GREENER OFFICES A report by the World Green Building Council last year reveals a global momentum behind green buildings that are healthy. It provides best practice case studies of healthy offices that demonstrate employers who care about the environmental impact of the buildings they occupy, and that the health and well-being of staff are rewarded by not only productivity, but loyalty as well.

The Building the Business Case: Health, Wellbeing and Productivity in Green Offices report also details eight features that make healthier and greener offices.

1. Indoor air quality and ventilation: healthy offices have low levels of CO2 and other pollutants and a 101% [sic] increase in cognitive performance in workers.

2. Thermal comfort: healthy offices offer a comfortable and controllable temperature.

There can be a 6% decrease in worker performance if an office is too hot and 4% if too cold.

3. Daylighting and lighting: healthy offices provide generous daylight and controllable electrical lighting. Staff working near windows get 46 minutes more sleep a night than those who are not.

5. Noise and acoustics: healthy offices use materials that reduce noise and provide quiet spaces. Staff performance can decrease by 66% because of noise distractions.

6. Interior layout and active design: healthy offices offer diverse workspaces including meeting rooms, quiet zones and sit-stand desks. Flexible workspaces help staff feel more in control of their workload.

7. Biophilia and views: healthy offices provide greenery as well as views of nature. One report revealed processing time at a call centre increased by up to 12% when employees had a view of nature.

can, there are steps any company can take towards contributing to the health and safety of their employees.

In fact, one of the most important aspects of creating a healthier workplace is listening to staff as Keurig Green Mountain Head of Foodservice UK & Ireland Matt Tuffee explains: “Keeping in mind that everyone is an individual, what will make a difference to your employees is providing options. It can be as simple as offering the choice of an ergonomic chair or a sit-stand desk, gym vouchers or dance lessons, for example.”

A HEALTHY CONCEPT Aiming to help businesses achieve their well-being goals, Lyreco sees the healthy workplace as a full concept as opposed to isolated elements. To this end, the reseller has instigated a category management approach under the Workplace Safety and Life@ Work umbrellas. It involves the combination of three components: workplace safety; work environment (air & temperature control, lighting, hygiene, ergonomics etc); and well-being such as proper breaks, working hours, work/life balance, etc.

Lyreco says its strategy is now pivotal to developing the concept. “Although Lyreco’s offering is quite comprehensive, our customers require a new approach for this type of need. We work with some customers on projects based on omnichannel interaction, and this will eventually have an impact on our value proposition,” Lyreco Life@Work Group Category Director Isabelle Huguet told OPI.

GOOGLE LONDON

Renowned for its employee-friendly workspaces, Google is often heralded as the forerunner to creating offices that are ‘fun’ places to work, understanding that happy people are far more creative and productive.

Now the company has applied for planning permission for its first, wholly-owned and designed building outside the US. Plans for the 11-storey main building (see artist impression above) total more than one million sq ft (100,000 sq m), in which Google will occupy 650,000 sq ft. The building will have a natural theme throughout, with all materials sourced through its healthy materials programme.

The new Google site will have the potential to house 7,000 Google employees in a campus that,

according to planning permission documents, will host a total of three buildings. The main one of these will be utilised as the Google office for 4,500 members of staff. The campus will include cafés, a gym, pool, multi-use games areas, events centres and staff training facilities.

The roof level will feature extensively landscaped terraces with a garden to provide a green amenity space along with a walking ‘Trim Track’. In between the roof and retail spaces at ground level are open, airy and flexible workspaces.

As cycling is a major part of Google’s healthy workplace culture, generous cycle storage, changing, shower and locker facilities will be available to encourage staff to cycle to work.

Construction work is expected to start in 2018.

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8. Look and feel: healthy offices have colours, textures and materials that are welcoming, calming and evoke nature. Visual appeal is a major factor in workplace satisfaction.

healthier, more productive, and ultimately better in their work,” he adds.

Trends may come and go, but with legislation, new generations entering the workforce and a shift in mindset and attitude from viewing workplace health benefits as ‘nice-to-have’ to the real business and economic benefits, an evolution – some may say revolution – of the workplace is taking place.

Zukunftsinstitut Associate Director Jeanette Huber, who spoke at the recent OPI European Forum, says: “The office is all about human interaction and in the future, the emphasis is likely to be on well-being and enabling employee health, particularly as those now entering the global workforce have new expectations and orientations.”

Indeed, all those OPI spoke to said businesses were finally waking up to the fact that they could no longer ignore the well-being of their staff.

“Caring for employees is not a passing fad, although it’s an evolving situation as we learn more about what ‘healthy’ means. Developed nations are generally more aware about exercise, healthy diets and the damage that smoking does. More recently, mental health has also been higher on the agenda. It makes sense that these concerns and attitudes will continue into our place of work,” says Humanscale Marketing Manager EMEA Tamsin Grosvenor.

However, while most businesses cannot afford to offer the kind of buildings, amenities and wellness programmes that the likes of Google (see ‘Google London’, Deloitte, Airbnb or Innocent Smoothies

HOT TOPIC Healthy Workplace

4. Location and access to amenities: healthy offices have access to public transport, safe cycle routes, parking, showers and a range of health food choices.

A Dutch cycle-to-work scheme saved €27 million ($30 million) in absenteeism.

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Healthy Workplace HOT TOPIC

Health and wellness also includes workplace safety.

In the ‘Five Keys to Healthy Workplaces’ by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the first two are: health and safety concerns in the physical work environment; and health, safety and well-being concerns in the psychosocial work environment, including the organisation of work and workplace culture.

“Physical health is one half of the equation; emotional health is also important and organisations are increasingly taking this more seriously,” says Stuart Hall, Interior Designer at UK dealer Commercial Group. Mike Stearns, Technical Safety Specialist at Grainger in the US, adds that with both the WHO and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health devoting resources and energy to help build the concepts of a healthy workplace, it’s certainly not an isolated, altruistic concept.

Office Depot, meanwhile, is currently working on its healthy workplace offering as it recognises this evolving trend. “More companies are catering to this need and workers are responding to the related health benefits. Many ‘active’ furniture products have been on the market for years, but recently social awareness of the benefits has been spreading rapidly,” says Office Depot Divisional Merchandise Manager Steve Griego (for more information, see ‘The changing workplace realities’, page 43).

Ergonomic furniture and sit-stand desks are major drivers of the healthy workplace due to the spotlight on active working and the banishment of a sedentary office life. “According to international expert statement guidelines by Active Working and PHE in 2015, we need to reduce sitting time in offices by at least two hours, progressing eventually to four hours,” says Gavin Bradley, Founding Director of Active Working.

But as Knoll’s Research Director Kylie Roth points out, it’s not just about furniture, it’s about access to people and creating connections with each other.

“More of our furnishings are user adaptable now

Improving workforce wellness will become a movement at all levels of society

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DIGITAL CONNECTIONS

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Launched at the recent NeoCon exhibition in Chicago (see ‘NeoConnections’, page 59), Live OS by furniture vendor Herman Miller is a system of cloud-connected furnishings, app and dashboard, which enables the workplace to engage with people.

Live OS connects Herman Miller furniture, including sit-stand and fixed-height desks through sensors connected to the cloud. The desks can sense people, send data on desk utilisation and respond to people in new ways.

These new ways include remembering preferred postures on sit-stand desks and users can opt to receive reminders, for example. If they do, the desk will light up and vibrate, reminding them to switch posture.

Live OS Director of Commercialisation Ryan Anderson says: “With the data insights captured through Live OS, organisations can better measure and manage workplace strategy to optimise real estate usage and improve employee experience.”

According to initial tests, employees using Live OS sit-stand desks have become more active, transitioning between sitting and standing six times more than previously recorded. “We’re excited by these early results as we seek to improve comfort and encourage people to adopt healthier behaviours in the workplace.”

and can be customised to allow people to have choice and the flexibility that they’re seeking. They are happier and more satisfied when they are able to manipulate their own work environment and they feel connected,” she says.

BUILDING THE HEALTHY OFFICE The good news is that offices are increasingly designed from concept to integrate health and wellness into the very fabric of the building. There are numerous global standards such as LEED, the International WELL Building Institute, Fitwel and the International Living Future Institute, which are all helping to create the right environment in the workplace and help it thrive throughout the world. “By pushing the envelope in sustainability in the built environment, the green building industry has opened people’s minds to what a structure is capable of and paved the way for the healthy building movement,” says Stok Sustainable Design Consultant Kristen Magnuson.

Zukunftsinstitut’s Huber concurs: “There is a rising trend towards biophilic design which puts workers closer to nature in terms of greenery and natural light.

Research states that people are much happier in these environments – they evoke greater thinking and 15% higher levels of well-being.”

According to the Global Wellness Institute’s 2016 Future of Wellness at Work report: “Improving workforce wellness will become a movement at all levels of society – among workers and their families, employers and businesses, and governments. To survive, compete and innovate in the future economy, individuals need to be at the top of their game; in other words, at their optimal state of wellness in all its dimensions. Managers, businesses and governments who care about their own success and survival in the future economy will need to care for the well-being of their workforce in order to unleash people’s potential.”

All this not only translates into a never-ending requirement for new office products, but also opens up completely new areas for the OP industry. Fellowes with its award-winning air purifying systems and Herman Miller with its Live OS (see ‘Digital Connections’) are just two innovative examples which offer exciting opportunities in this burgeoning sector.

For more exclusive content, visit the July/August issue in the Magazine section on opi.net.

FEATURE

Special Issue

TECHNOLOGY

SOLUTIONS

TELLING

it straight

OPI asked some of the prominent OP software providers Special Issue what constitute the most important technology issues facing VENDOR independent dealers today.

Their replies pulled no punches SPECIAL

T

Special Issue

TECHNOLOGY

SOLUTIONS

Special Issue

VENDOR SPECIAL

Special Issue

VENDOR SPECIAL

he independent dealer community (IDC) faces many digital commerce challenges and the pace of change is rapid. Those that refuse to plan and invest in the necessary technology are in danger of becoming an irrelevance, according to some of the independent software vendors (ISVs) that supply the OP industry. They are issuing some stark warnings that they hope will serve as a wake-up call for any dealers that believe they are immune to the new e-commerce realities.

AMY BROWN

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THE ISSUES The most concerning issue is the lack of security awareness. Today’s threats are real and we have seen many dealers badly affected by malware viruses that have shut down their business for long periods of time or forced them to pay a ransom fee. Hackers will only get more creative and if your dealership is not already protected with the highest-level of security you must make yourself more knowledgeable or find a Cloud service which can assist with security management.

We’ve spent a good portion of the past year trying to educate the IDC about the technology options available, so they can focus their time on running their businesses. Security, digital services, mobile commerce, data analytics and JumpTrack are just a few of the areas we’ve been trying to encourage dealers to take advantage of. But still too many just don’t recognise, or simply choose not to use, these powerful tools.

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DIGITAL COMMERCE The IDC has been slow to adapt to digital commerce in the past, but has definitely made strides to improve recently. However, it is still not adapting to the shift to m-commerce. Less than 0.5% of our dealers have adopted our mobile app – Office Shopper – yet two large competitors to the IDC report that 44-58% of their volume is being done through a smartphone app.

These statistics demonstrate the struggle our channel is having with m-commerce. Dealers need to find a way of communicating their m-commerce

capabilities through their marketing and sales force. Getting your app onto an end-consumer’s mobile device will massively assist sales.

THREATS Amazon is definitely a threat.

However, the IDC has seen many threats over the years and continues to win business. You’re not going to outsmart Amazon so independent dealers have to focus on what they do best and not allow Amazon’s advantages to outweigh their offering.

Dealers need to understand their new buyers and adapt to their ways of wanting to do business. I so often hear, “our customers don’t want to order online, mobile, etc”. I would challenge that thought process and ask dealers to talk to their top customers and make sure they understand their changing needs.

They might be different to what they think.

HIGHLIGHT YOUR USP Your web and e-commerce presence is an extension of your sales representation. If you’re not investing in keeping this fresh, you are missing the opportunity to differentiate yourself. Potential customers will usually check you out online before ever taking your calls, accepting an appointment or placing an order.

If your website and e-commerce site is not telling your story, people will not do business with you. First impressions do count.

Director of Strategic Services, ECi Software Solutions

THE ISSUES I give dealers a lot of credit for working with the tools they currently have and creating front-facing sites that are raising search engine presence, lead generation and brand awareness. However, they still need to be adopting a more robust, inbound marketing strategy that encompasses SEO, content marketing, social media, email and web analytics.

Another imminent issue centres on ‘big data’ and this is an area that OP vendors must act on now.

Some wholesalers are moving in the right direction, collecting data on buying habits and the effectiveness of website merchandising, and using it to personalise their customers’ experience. According to a recent report from Accenture, 75% of consumers are more likely to buy from a retailer that recognises them by name, recommends options based on past purchases or knows their purchase history. It’s crucial that the OP industry moves towards this model.

We are one of the few companies that looks at our clients’ Google Analytics data. There is so much data available from this free tool and inside customer relationship management (CRM) systems, email software and social media channels. All these pieces of the puzzle let you see what is working, what can be adjusted and how many leads or sales you have accomplished from your marketing efforts.

DIGITAL COMMERCE We have been talking about the need for mobile-friendliness for some time now, but most ISVs are still not there. The need for responsive

online ordering is crucial and if dealers don’t have a mobile-friendly e-commerce site they really can’t hope to compete at all. It’s time that all ISVs got on board with this – it’s a priority and should not be taking this long.

THREATS We’ve been talking about this for years, but Amazon is still the 800-pound gorilla in the room.

If you want to counter the threat you have to have a good message, good content, get it out there and convince people that they should buy from you. But marketing is only one piece of the puzzle – ease of ordering is critical, and sensible pricing and delivery options are all part of it too.

President, Fortune Web Marketing

FEATURE Technology Providers

JENNIFER SCHULMAN

HIGHLIGHT YOUR USP Portraying your brand in social media is very important. It’s not all about the ‘sale’; you have to win the relationship before you win the customer.

In our agency we no longer have definitive B2B versus B2C marketing strategies. We go for Person to Person (P2P) or Human to Human (H2H). It’s so important to generate positive and immediate brand recognition for your company and then carry the message over from social media to email and onto your website.

Take some time to humanise your brand too, make it fun and relatable.

July/August 2017 27

Technology Providers FEATURE

CRAIG GREITZER THE ISSUES We continue to see dealers having problems with e-commerce and being able to deliver an intuitive and modern online shopping experience. We expect that to continue as their websites continue to age.

Additionally, independents are now looking to other product sectors to augment their supplies business. This means integration and interaction with new distribution partners. To do this, dealers need to operate an open and accessible platform that can easily connect with business partners that are operating on disparate systems. They also need tools that allow them to receive digital content from various different sources.

Finally, as Cloud computing becomes more prevalent, dealers really need to figure out how they can make this technology work for them.

As an industry, OP needs to do a better job of mining its data. There is a wealth of data in most dealers’ back-office software systems and this is where having an accessible database such as Microsoft SQL can really help them interpret their data to expose sales, purchasing and product trends.

DIGITAL COMMERCE Frankly, many independents have been slow to respond to the digital commerce challenges and opportunities of this day and age. As a result we are likely to continue to see dealer consolidation and erosion of market share as this shifts to players that have seized this opportunity. The technology tools that would enable dealers to stay competitive are there, but adoption has been slow.

Many dealers don’t see the need for m-commerce and believe their core customers rely on desktop

browsers to order through their e-commerce sites. While this may be true today, mobile is playing an increasingly important role as younger people come into the workforce. For similar reasons, it will also become vital for the dealer’s employees to have mobile access to the back office business software.

THREATS In the battle with larger competitors independent dealers have always used their personalised approach to customer service as their most potent weapon. This still needs to be a part of the answer, but they also need to invest in their technology – this is certainly what Amazon is doing. Now more than ever, independents need to embrace and invest in the latest technological developments. If they don’t they will get left behind.

VP Sales, Business Management International (BMI)

HIGHLIGHT YOUR USP All OP industry software providers have a standard e-commerce package that they offer. As a result, their dealers’ sites tend to look similar. Some providers have multiple ‘skins’, but they are still rather generic.

However, if dealers radically change the look and feel of their site, updates, service packs and periodic vendor-functional enhancements become more time consuming. But as long as dealers are aware of this additional cost of ownership they may decide that it’s the right move for them.

BMI has the whole spectrum of dealers, from those that stick with our ‘vanilla’ site to others that have done varying degrees of customisation.

RICK MARLETTE

www.opi.net

THE ISSUES Having an open, adaptive website that’s fully mobile-compatible is essential. You’re just not going to get far without this in place and I don’t see this changing. ISVs that aren’t up to the pace are the biggest holdback here.

Additionally, many independent resellers still aren’t making effective use of their own data. While the wholesalers and ISVs constantly fight over this, the dealers themselves remain oblivious to its value.

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DIGITAL COMMERCE Independent dealers need to be better placed to compete in the digital commerce age, but this is still not occurring as it should. Many haven’t adjusted to the new e-commerce realities and need to be willing to fire their existing ISV if they are not 100% mobile-adaptive. The main priorities are to stay away from the ‘app-trap’ and adopt a fully mobile website.

It’s the only sensible way to go.

But mobile access is not just for customers anymore. We’ve developed a front-to-back system that an independent reseller can run from any mobile device – anywhere, anytime – and now have dealers completely live on the application. Ordering,

purchasing, wholesaler fulfilment, invoicing, billing, receivables, payables and general ledger are all 100% cloud-based. This frees the independent from the desktop so they can concentrate on what they do best.

THREATS We’ve been trying to alert dealers about the harm Amazon is doing.

Amazon Business is the greatest threat to entire economies.

Competing against Amazon is going to require a much better web and customer-service experience from dealers. Both of these are critical and if either one is lacking then you might as well just give up.

HIGHLIGHT YOUR USP Localisation – the ability to adapt search results based on location data – is the key to getting found on Google and differentiating a dealer’s site from the competition. But once again this requires a fully-adaptive mobile website. I can’t stress it highly enough, but think mobile, mobile, mobile or turn off the lights and go home.

Co-owner, OPSoftware

FEATURE

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TECHNOLOGY

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What’s on offer?

Special Issue Independent dealers need support with their digital commerce VENDOR and marketing efforts. Here’s a summary of the programs of some of the best-known solutions providers SPECIAL

LOGICBLOCK The Logicblock eCommerce platform was first launched in 2007, but has undergone many significant updates since then, with new features continuously being added. The platform aims to remove the restrictions that prevent online dealers from growing in a rapidly-changing technological landscape. It provides a full website and e-commerce cloud-based solution that integrates with the largest wholesale distributors over a range of different sectors. These include OP essentials and the industrial, educational and safety categories, among others.

Logicblock’s user interface incorporates an SEO-friendly, mobile-ready storefront that is considered to be a B2X (ie B2B and B2C) solution since it can be tailored to work with any type of online shopper.

The back-end solution transmits orders electronically using two-way communication paths for processing orders, shipping and product inventory, etc, and has the flexibility to integrate with other software solutions.

Find out more: www.logicblock.com

FORTUNE WEB MARKETING Fortune Web Marketing is an online marketing services agency that works closely with many software providers in the office products industry. Founded in 2008, its areas of expertise include search engine marketing, web design, social media, email marketing, content marketing and strategic consulting.

The company’s strategies constantly adapt to the changing OP industry landscape and the ever-evolving world of online marketing. They are driven by the latest trends in search engine optimisation and social media, together with the continuing technological shifts by giants such as Google and Facebook.

Fortune Web Marketing’s core aim is to drive brand awareness, leads and online sales, but it also covers everything from print to web design and branding. The company primarily caters for small to medium-sized businesses, in the traditional OP as well as the office furniture and jan/san sectors.

Find out more: www.fortunewebmarketing.com

www.opi.net

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL (BMI)

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The BMI Software package is designed for progressive dealers seeking to give their customers a superior online shopping experience. It also provides an efficient back-office business management system aimed at increasing efficiency in customer service, purchasing, warehousing and accounting.

The program was first launched in 2006, but underwent a significant update in 2016 to make it compatible with the most recent version of Microsoft Dynamics NAV, the underlying ERP software used in this solution. BMI also completely redesigned its integrated e-commerce site at this time.

The unique selling points of BMI Software include its extensive access to system data due to its deep integration with Microsoft Excel.

Users are also able to create e-commerce landing pages without code as all page data is controlled through back-office software. The program’s fully-integrated accounting abilities mean that no third party software, such as Quickbooks, is required and real-time financial statements are available on demand.

Find out more: www.bmiusa.com

ECI SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS

FusionPlus Data was launched in 2013 and now supplies enriched and fully-attributed versions of about 40 ‘selling catalogues’ to over 1,000 OP dealers throughout the UK and Ireland.

Different types of partners benefit in various ways. Software house partners receive all their mainstream catalogue content from a single source, fully cross-referenced and attributed to cater for the needs of their ERP and web store solutions.

Wholesalers and dealer groups get help with increasing the audience for their e-catalogues and assistance in bringing new products to market, while dealers receive support to grow their range of categories and products they offer to their customer base, particularly online.

Manufacturers, in the meantime, benefit from advice on improving how their products are represented in the e-catalogues in which they appear.

Product content in FusionPlus Data is updated on a daily basis.

This includes adding multiple descriptions, sales bullet points, high resolution images, video and supporting documentation.

The multi-level FusionPlus Data attribute structure was adopted by the UK’s BOSS Federation as an industry standard in 2015.

Find out more: www.fusionplus.net

ECi Software Solutions provides cloud-based business software for small and medium-sized businesses. It has two main packages in the US. DDMSPLUS is aimed at the office products industry and its functionality includes order management, purchasing, inventory, business and sales analytics, sales and marketing, and e-commerce. Mobile applications, CRM, delivery management tools and surveillance services are available as add-ons if required.

The second package is known as Red Falcon and aims to provide ERP and e-commerce together in one package.

It’s directed at dealers that want to expand their business onto the web.

The package is ‘Software as a Service’, or SaaS-based, and can be accessed from any internet connection, including a smartphone.

Essentially, ECi’s platforms allow OP dealers to run their businesses aided by today’s technology. The ERP systems help automate the entire process from order entry through to purchasing, receiving and product delivery, while the e-commerce platform provides dealers with an online ordering system for their customers.

Find out more: op.ecisolutions.com

Wholesalers and dealer groups get help with increasing the audience for their e-catalogues and assistance in bringing new products to market

FEATURE Technology Solutions

FUSIONPLUS DATA

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SPOTLIGHT

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Everybody is telling independents that they need to embraceSpecial Issue technology to remain competitive. OPI caught up with three VENDOR very different business supplies dealers to find out what technology SPECIAL platforms they rate and how they are using them to their advantage

DEALER: ACS (UK) TECHNOLOGY PROVIDERS: EVOLUTION SOFTWARE, ECI Since its creation in 2008, UK-based business supplies dealer ACS has continually evolved, to meet the needs of customers but also to future-proof its own business. OPI spoke to ACS E-commerce Manager Simon Walsh about technology and its use in achieving these aims.

www.opi.net

OPI: Which software programs do you use and why?

Simon Walsh: Our strategy has always been to adopt solutions that create a seamless process, not only for customers but also for our in-house staff.

We use Horizon from ECi BlueSky as our main ERP, a system which we find to be both user-friendly and rich in features.

Our online platform, meanwhile, is currently provided by Evolution Software.

Throughout our time with them, we have been provided with unrivalled customer service levels which have helped our web store to go from strength to strength.

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OPI: Do all the technologies integrate into your overall business?

SW: We have chosen not to directly integrate all systems into one, but to give them their own unique identities within the business. However, we have had great success in linking the Evolution store to our internal ERP system which ensures all orders are processed automatically, from both standard online customers through to our PunchOut portfolio.

OPI: How much support do you get from your wholesaler in terms of technology?

SW: We receive comprehensive price files and vendor offer support from our wholesaler which has helped to keep our online content up to date and promote a number of brands throughout our e-commerce channel.

Although we are self-sufficient in a number of areas, the wholesaler’s support with these elements is vitally important to ensure we remain current in our product offering.

OPI: How successful do you believe your e-commerce offering is?

SW: It’s providing great results and the level of business channelled through it is increasing month on month. We now transact one third of our overall business through this channel and expect this figure to continue to improve throughout the rest of 2017 and beyond.

OPI: How important overall is e-commerce to your business?

SW: Our e-commerce channel will play a vital role in securing existing and generating future business. Requests for system integrations and PunchOut stores are becoming a daily occurrence and our current online offering is being relied upon in a much greater capacity.

We intend to continually invest in this area to ensure that our technology is both up to date and relevant to the changing nature of the office products industry.

Dealer Case Studies

Legacy Office Solutions was formed in 2012 and is the combination of four different independent, family-owned OP businesses – Peck’s Office Plus, Skill-Graphics/Crest Office Products/Classic Legal Supply, Weiss Stationery and AGM Office Products. All four dealers are based in the New York metropolitan area and they initially came together when Peck’s Office Plus bought the other three.

Legacy is hugely loyal to its technology provider Innovative Business Associates (IBA) which Peck’s had previously been using for over 20 years. “We find IBA extremely user-friendly and customisable,” says Legacy Office Solutions VP Chris Rhyne (also previously with Peck’s).

IBA was instrumental in enabling the data conversions from other systems providers used by each standalone business before they became part of the group. “While each brand kept its identity with company logos changing on delivery receipts, packing slips, invoices and statements, being on the same back-end platform makes sense as there is one system for order entry, inventory control, payables, etc,” says Rhyne.

In an effort to ensure that its customers are provided with the best service, some technology aspects have changed over the years. For example, Legacy replaced its original “unwieldy” web store to Trade Web which could be easily integrated into its back-end system. This change has clearly helped push online sales which, according to Rhyne, are becoming an indispensable aspect of the business and now account for about 23% of total revenues.

ECi’s business intelligence solution Acsellerate enables the Legacy team to make effective use of the available usage reports and track sales and gross profit per customer and sales person, all of which helps to further grow this percentage. But, as Rhyne explains, he would prefer to have more control over the web content that is wholesaler-delivered, as well as over what appears in terms of ‘first in search’.

Acknowledging the increasing importance of new generations entering the workforce, Legacy is certainly aware of the pressing need to embrace mobile, social media and omnichannel paths to maintain its customer service. According to Rhyne, while mobile marketing technologies such as mobile-friendly templates have been implemented, Legacy’s m-commerce offering is still a work in progress. “Technology and e-commerce are a huge part of doing business these days and will become even more important in the future,” he says.

SPOTLIGHT

DEALER: LEGACY OFFICE SOLUTIONS TECHNOLOGY PROVIDERS: INNOVATIVE BUSINESS ASSOCIATES, ECI

DEALER: TWIST OFFICE PRODUCTS TECHNOLOGY PROVIDER: ECI Chicago, US-based Twist Office Products has embraced technology in all its forms for many years, but as owner and President Wendy Pike tells OPI, it’s not all plain sailing.

OPI: Which software programs do you use and why?

Wendy Pike: Twist currently uses ECi’s software programs – both DDMSPLUS for the back end and ECinteractive for e-commerce.

When we acquired Twin City Office Supply in Minneapolis, this was the system that they were on, so we went with the program almost by default. Our main priority at the time was to be on a system that our office manager knew and to integrate the two locations as quickly as possible.

OPI: Are you using social media?

WP: We post on Facebook and Twitter every day to actively engage with our customers, and try to post on LinkedIn regularly. When we first started with Twitter, we got quite a few customers out of our interactions within different Twitter meet-ups, and they were national chains if you can believe it!

On Facebook, it has definitely been harder to reach through the clutter with its new algorithms, but we still see it as a great touchpoint to engage with our customers. We put links to our blog posts on all of our social media platforms and we know that this has drawn new customers to our website.

Some of our most successful sales reps use LinkedIn to prospect for new customers and showcase themselves as experts in the OP industry.

OPI: What technology or software would be beneficial to your business?

WP: It would be great if we were able to have catalogue content and other marketing collateral adapted to multiple languages.

July/August 2017

OPI: How do both programs integrate into your overall business?

WP: One of the challenges with ECi is that each program is completely separate in terms of support and development teams, so when there are issues between the programs we get bounced around both teams and it takes longer for problems to get resolved.

Another major challenge is on the marketing front as the wholesalers own a lot of the space within ECinteractive, so we cannot customise it as much as we would like – from banner ads to first in search, they own a lot of the main positions.

But, ECi enables us to provide more complex customisation for our customers such as multiple approvers, budget limits, item restrictions, etc.

OPI: Where on the e-commerce curve are you?

WP: Our customers are always commenting how much they love our website. We work hard to put on interactive banners, coupons and other resources and change them every month. All of our ‘younger’ buyers utilise our website and all of its features.

We are working with our more ‘senior’ users to convert them from phone and fax to placing their orders online.

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Maximising the SOLUTIONS

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Independent dealers need help with providing a good digital experience, there’s no doubt. But if they use all the tools on offer and analyse, personalise and customise, they should be on the right track

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orward-thinking e-commerce solutions and the effective use of data analytics are critical to the future of dealers. And while the independent software vendors (ISVs) offer the most appropriate software programs, the onus is also on the wholesalers to ‘enable’ the independent dealer community (IDC) to play in the digital commerce arena as best they can.

OPI’s Heike Dieckmann spoke to Paul Gatens, VP of E-commerce and Marketing Services at SP Richards (SPR), about what the wholesaler brings to the table and how dealers must use the tools available to them to remain competitive in the digital era.

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OPI: Paul, we talked about this before and I know you’ve invested across the channel to enhance e-commerce and bring greater analytics-based insights to the IDC. What’s the latest?

Paul Gatens: One of our biggest initiatives in this space is infusing analytics and personalisation into our digital marketing program CampaignAdvantage.

With the new program CampaignAdvantageOne, dealers will be able to gain analytical insights from their website and their customers and be able to act on those insights through personalised, one-to-one

It’s not just about creating more content, it’s about relevant, engaging and aligned content

email campaigns. We’re not quite ready to fully let the cat out of the bag on the details, but we’re confident that it will be a game changer for dealers to succeed in the digital space.

These investments are made solely for the benefit of the IDC. SPR continues to invest tens of millions of dollars annually in the production of print and digital marketing materials for our IDC reseller partners.

Many of the newer enhancements are there to help them compete against the likes of Amazon and to stay relevant in their marketplaces.

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VENDOR SPECIAL

OPI: So what are the key points you’ve been focusing on over the past year in terms of digital marketing and content? Tell me more about the personalisation you’re referring to.

PG: Well, we’ve all heard the saying ‘content is king’ and that is more true now than ever. But it’s not just about creating more content, it’s about relevant, engaging and aligned content. We have spent a lot of time over the past year on this.

One of the main things we’ve focused on is developing a monthly set of themes. We reviewed our sales analytics, for example, so we could establish exactly what to promote to consumers and when to do it. We then paired this with national events and holidays, and other relevant themes. Finally, we combined it all into a set of solution-oriented and engaging content focuses for every month of the year.

This monthly-themed marketing calendar now drives the content for all our marketing deliverables.

And with that coordinated effort, we have been able to further align our print and digital marketing, giving customers an all-round better experience.

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Wholesaler Interview FEATURE www.opi.net 36

For example, the imagery, content, SKUs and promotional offers a customer sees in the printed WorkLife flyer are the same that they’ll see through their digital marketing with CampaignAdvantage.

Additionally, we have significantly expanded our MarketingOnDemand portal, giving dealers streamlined access to a lot of curated content, from SPR promotions and manufacturer rebates to individual email campaigns and web banners.

OPI: Do you feel dealers are embracing what you’re offering? If not, what are the main obstacles?

PG: The progressive dealers definitely are. All of our customers are challenged with finding the time to allocate to marketing. It always falls behind sales and operational issues on the list of daily firefights.

The true challenge is scheduling the time for strategy and marketing development work that will drive future sales and operational performance.

With all of our new initiatives, we always try to find a way to make the program as automated as possible.

We provide customisation abilities for the dealers that have the time and resources, but for those dealers that need the support from SPR, we want to help them succeed through automation wherever possible.

We are definitely underpenetrated in IDC use of CampaignAdvantage and MyAnalyst. These capabilities would cost thousands of dollars for dealers if they were forced to pursue them on their own. We leverage our size and make these things available at a very low cost. Collaboration would suggest we can all be better aligned.

Also, we are constantly hearing about the need for the endless aisle, yet most of our dealers don’t load all of the 70,000 SKUs currently available to them.

We are working with the buying groups to expand the content offering even further, but we need the dealer community to start leveraging the investments being made on their behalf if we are going to be able to continue the focus.

OPI: You mention MyAnalyst. What specifically does that program do?

PG: MyAnalyst is a world-class suite of business analytics tools that is made up of three components: BidPro, MarketLink and MyReports.

The first component, BidPro, is the cross referencing tool that helps our dealers with their bids using 375,000+ industry product codes.

The second component, MarketLink, is a patent-pending process that aggregates billions of consumer sales transactions annually. This enables our dealers to use market-based pricing to support their pricing strategies.

The third component, MyReports, helps manage dealers’ sales data and organise it into meaningful reports to better enable their sales and profit improvement strategies.

A couple of years ago, two of the industry’s most powerful analytical software tools – MyReports and ECi’s Acsellerate – were combined to help dealers have additional access to more capabilities to maximise profitability. Together, MyReports and Acsellerate now offer a comprehensive suite of reporting functionality, ‘what-if’ analysis, CRM and business reviews. This has been very well received

as our dealers can now log into one website and have access to the “best of both worlds”.

OPI: Are dealers seeing results using MyAnalyst?

PG: Yes. The dealers that use our margin enhancement programs have measurably greater margin improvement than those that don’t. The most exciting enhancement that we’ve incorporated has been ‘Push’ reporting.

We are constantly hearing about the need for the endless aisle, yet most of our dealers don’t load all of the 70,000 SKUs currently available to them We hear quite often from dealers that their time is limited and they don’t have the resources available to learn a new system or pull reports on an ad hoc basis.

Now dealers are receiving automated reports in their inbox on a daily, weekly and/or quarterly basis without ever opening up the software.

This allows them to spend more time learning about their business, taking care of the concerns and finding ways to improve their profitability.

OPI: Broadly speaking, do you think dealers’ sales teams are really on board now with digital marketing and e-content? And do you think this is a generational thing at all?

PG: I don’t see it as a generational issue anymore.

If dealers are struggling with their sales team in this

OPI: What about mobile commerce – is that on dealer’s radar yet (sufficiently)? Are the ISVs and indeed the wholesalers doing enough to bring dealers up to the necessary level?

PG: This particular development arena is not really the wholesalers’ responsibility as it is strictly about user interface development. However, we fully support the ISVs in their development efforts. If dealers’ ISVs are behind the curve, the IDC has to push for this development. The software vendors have to formalise the technology in order for the dealer community to be able to compete in a mobile economy. And then, of course, dealers have to adopt it.

Several ISVs have responsive design sites today. A couple have mobile apps. To date, adoption of these apps has been less than nominal. The superstores constantly promote their mobile capabilities. The IDC must adapt and do the same.

Paul Gatens, VP of E-commerce & Marketing Services, SP Richards

OPI: You can’t talk about digital commerce and technology without bringing in Amazon and Amazon Business. What’s your view?

PG: We believe the channel as a whole – not just the IDC – loses lines to Amazon, not entire orders. What we need to do is collaborate on a consistent message of how to overcome the Amazon perception. Some dealers do this very well. In fact, they never even think about Amazon as a threat. Others focus too much on Amazon instead of focusing on their value proposition; a value proposition that this channel – including all buying groups and both wholesalers – make possible.

For example, if you are forced to match one item from Amazon on a five-line order then why not ask if you can also match the other four items? We have to assume Amazon was higher in price on those given the question. Also, take a screenshot of that one item today; and five more times today; and every day for the next week. Then show the customer how often that price changes. Sell your consistency and your value proposition. Overcome the threat.

FEATURE Wholesaler Interview

arena, it is typically a motivational issue. If reps are motivated to keep orders close to their chest to maintain account “ownership”, they are less inclined to convert customers to online ordering.

On the other hand, dealers that make online ordering percentage a part of their corporate goals and those that require all new customers be set up to order online don’t experience the same level of issues, regardless of sales rep age or technical expertise.

OPI: How does an ever-expanding product portfolio that dealers need to offer sit with the further requirement to have more and more content?

PG: We will never be Amazon nor will the dealer. We need to specialise in the areas where we are really good operationally, while adding adjacent categories that make sense for dealers to sell. That’s our goal.

That said, as stated earlier, we have over 70,000 SKUs in content currently and that offering is constantly expanding to help dealers compete.

Not providing a digital experience that is acceptable to the consumer – regardless of age – is a death sentence OPI: All these SKUs mean huge amounts of data. Are the manufacturers making headway in providing better content?

PG: There are more and less progressive manufacturers, just like with the dealers. The more progressive ones are definitely focused on providing more and better content for their products.

I’ll give a shout out to Avery on this. This manufacturer has product videos for about 40% of its SKUs and A+ product pages for more than a third. It also has an average of over three images per product.

This extra-rich content drives increased conversion rates for them.

July/August 2017

OPI: To finish up, how in your opinion does good/ bad digital performance impact the bottom line?

PG: Bad digital performance threatens the existence of the business. Relationships matter and they always will, but not providing a digital experience that is acceptable to the consumer – regardless of age – is a death sentence. Dealers must collaborate with the investments being made by the wholesalers and ISVs to maximise their digital experience.

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Amazon-proof YOUR

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Paddy Donnelly from Evolution Software talks to OPI’s Steve Hilleard about the forthcoming launch of EvolutionX and why it’s so important to Amazon-proof independent dealers

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After a few conversations and follow-up meetings Paddy Donnelly, SPECIAL we concluded that in order to succeed in the future, co-founder and CEO, dealers would need a highly-functional, robust, Evolution Software well-designed e-commerce capability and that we would start a business which delivered that.

So in November 2006 Evolution Software was born with the mission to web-enable the UK office products industry. Over ten years later, we now power the web stores of over 450 dealers in the UK, Ireland and North America across the OP, janitorial and industrial sectors.

OPI: How do you charge for what you do?

PD: Back in 2006 when we started, the financial model for selling e-commerce web stores was for customers to sign three-year lease agreements. It was very important at the time to get that commitment, because it allowed us to quickly scale the team, the infrastructure and the technology. Then the financial crisis happened.

In November 2006 Evolution Software was born with the mission to web-enable the UK office products industry It became very difficult and the business model of leasing sites didn’t work anymore. Instead, we had to transition to a monthly rental model, which now of course is how all software is charged for. However, it was quite a bold and innovate step at a time when everyone else was selling big bang releases of software for big bucks.

The monthly rental model suits us; it means we have to earn our customers’ money every month and that’s just fine with us.

July/August 2017

OPI: Not all our readers will be familiar with Paddy Donnelly or indeed Evolution Software. Could you give me a potted version of your and your company’s background?

Paddy Donnelly: Sure. I got my start in the industry at my uncle’s office products dealership on the west coast of Scotland. I left school and joined the business and over several years got great exposure to all the key disciplines involved in running a dealership, including customer service, buying, sales and marketing, and taking responsibility for IT and software systems. I didn’t realise back then just how much this introduction to the industry would prepare me for the career I was about to embark on.

Around the year 2000, I left my uncle’s business to pursue an opportunity with London-based Netstationers. It was one of the first office products dealers in the UK to deploy a well-designed, robust web store capability. It was here that I got an even deeper exposure to the software side of the business and also saw up close and personal how the operational aspect of a rapidly-growing dot.com business worked.

Over the next three or four years I commuted weekly from Scotland to London performing various roles, including working in the partner program team, implementing ERP systems and more latterly running one of the business units based in Watford.

After several years at Netstationers I finally succumbed to the horror of the commute and decided to pursue an IT consultant role back in Scotland. It was during one of these consultancy projects that I became acquainted with a couple of guys who would soon become my business partners.

To cut a long story short, we were discussing between the three of us that the office products industry was underserved from an e-commerce perspective. Then we literally had one of those light bulb moments: Jon Hood (co-founder and CTO) knew software; Philip Wood (co-founder) knew the customer base; and I knew the industry, some software and had a lot of operational and team-building experience.

TECHNOLOGY

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Evolution Software ADVERTORIAL

Of course, we have dealers at both ends of the spectrum across our customer base, with some guys operating from a home office through to £100 million+ businesses and all points in between.

OPI: When – and why – did you decide to hop across the Atlantic?

PD: We started looking at geographical expansion in late 2010. The UK is pretty small, about one third of the size of Texas, and we already had lots of dealers in a very confined space using our product. It was clear that over time and given our growth trajectory we were going to reach saturation point.

We launched in the US with support from Essendant (then United Stationers) at their Vision event in Florida in 2011. We came back, having had a very successful show, and started working on setting up an infrastructure in the US. The first few years were challenging and exciting in equal measure as we deployed our software to new customers, worked hard on the development side to make sure we were feature-complete, and scaled our teams and operational capability to meet the growing demands of our customers.

If you can build software for OP dealers, you can build software for just about anyone OPI: Who are your customers in the US? PD: We have customers spread across three distinct verticals – janitorial, industrial and office products. It turns out that if you can build software for OP dealers, you can build software for just about anyone, the same B2B procurement metaphors seem to translate really well into industrial and janitorial.

The truth is each industry has its quirks and challenges which you don’t quite appreciate until you get into the weeds. Weirdly, solving these industry-specific nuances and going deep is the part I really enjoy. It’s also what makes the product sticky.

www.opi.net

OPI: What about customers in the UK? PD: In the UK we’re purely selling to office products dealers at the moment. It’s tough to profile it, but I’d say our sweet spot is dealers in the £1-£10 million ($1.3-$13 million) range that maybe have a few vans, 10-50 staff members, a bit of infrastructure, a sales team – that’s a typical customer and we really know how to make those guys super successful with the software.

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OPI: Tell me about your upgraded software that you’re about to launch.

PD: A few years ago it became clear to us that we needed to take the product that had served us really well for the past ten years and rewrite it for the next ten.

The first question was: where is the resource going to come from when we’re completely maxed out looking after our existing customers? In the end, we decided to acquire a business in Ireland called Freeman Contingent to help us with this project.

The design goals for the new product were to build something that was even more capable and feature-rich, mobile first, easy to integrate with, and provide huge flexibility. Of course it had to do all this at scale, with great fault tolerance and redundancy. We look forward to unveiling the product for the first time at the SP Richards ABC show in Orlando.

OPI: Are you simultaneously testing that on both sides of the Atlantic?

PD: Yes, we are. The software is designed to work anywhere, irrespective of country, currency or language. It hasn’t just been built for the UK and the US. OPI: That implies international expansion is on the radar?

PD: That’s correct. We could launch in Australia without changing a line of code in the software, for example.

Goods and services tax in Australia is the same structurally as value added tax in the UK. Taxation is often the differentiator between countries, a problem we really battled with in the US in the early days.

There’s also a real opportunity in Canada which is a much-neglected place by software vendors. So yes, further international expansion is definitely on the cards.

The EvolutionX development team

OPI: What is the new program actually called?

PD: It’s gone from Evolution to EvolutionX, the X standing for the 10th anniversary edition.

Re-writing software is always painful and when the dust settles we’ll have spent over £1 million on it, but we think it’s going to be the last re-write ever.

OPI: So what’s the core USP of EvolutionX (and perhaps Evolution beforehand)? What does it do that other software programs don’t?

PD: That’s easy as far as I’m concerned. In the industries we operate in, integration trumps everything. The killer features of Evolution are that we are feature-complete for the markets we serve and have two-way integration with many of the ERP systems our customers use.

We’ve spent a decade working very hard to try and get good, solid and authorised integrations with the industry-specific ERP vendors. And that’s difficult because they are usually also competitors as they all tend to have some form of web offering. In most cases though, providers realise that they can’t block or limit customer choice. It makes good business sense to partner with best of breed products that orbit their ecosystem, which in almost every case makes their core product even more valuable and sticky.

As for us, we’ve proven that we’ll partner with any software vendor if there’s demand in the customer base for it.

ADVERTORIAL Evolution Software

OPI: That’s a bold statement.

PD: Famous last words I know. But the software is developed in a modular way, meaning we can take any part of it and replace it, instead of throwing the whole package away and building it again.

The new EvolutionX admin experience

It’s vital that the software integrates and works well with all the key software products that our customers deploy OPI: Apart from wanting to have a product that’s far more fit for purpose, what other motivations were there for spending £1 million? Was it more a defensive rather than an offensive market share growth move?

PD: It was both. On the defensive side, we knew that Amazon Business was coming. It’s an existential threat to dealers. Despite what some may think, dealers are not competing with the guy up the road, they’re competing with Amazon and, even if they’re not already, they will be real soon.

What’s also scary is that Amazon is recruiting sales people now. They are dangerous enough as a technology-only player, but potentially adding that personal touch that’s always been the USP of independents is a real concern.

MORE INFO For details on Evolution Software and a demo of EvolutionX, visit www.evolutionx.io

OPI: Is the idea to keep up with Amazon or are you trying to jump ahead?

PD: Well, there’s only so far you can go with web store functionality because if you build 20,000 features, (a) you need to train people on how to use them and, (b) you need to support what you’ve created. It’s like having children. Once you’ve brought this new thing into the world, you’re going to have to look after it forever. So we’re careful about new features we introduce into the software because we know we’re going to have to look after them for a very long time.

Apart from functionality – and I’ve just mentioned this – it’s vital that the software integrates and works well with all the key software products that our customers deploy. We believe in best-of-breed services and software than can be seamlessly connected to EvolutionX through our app-store capability.

OPI: So the plan for the next 12 months is to migrate your existing customer base onto the new platform.

PD: Yes, and introduce EvolutionX to new customers and markets. At the moment we’re working on fit and finish, and making sure that the product is as well tested as it can be prior to release. The whole team is incredibly excited about sharing EvolutionX with the world. It’s taken a long time, but we’re convinced our customers will agree that it’s been worth it.

July/August 2017

OPI: There’s still a lot of bespoke stuff that Amazon can’t do. My worry is that the dealers that don’t get it will fall by the wayside which will result in a lack of critical mass to support the wholesale function and that could result in serious carnage.

PD: Yes, there’s huge consolidation happening, whether you look at all the combined dealers that use companies like us, ECi, Prima, etc, for their software needs or the total of all the dealer group members – the current number of meaningful office products dealers in the UK and Ireland is between 800 and 900 I would guess. That number is only going to go down.

We’re going to Amazon-proof dealers with the new EvolutionX software. But there’s more to it than just Amazon’s amazing tech capabilities. They’ve got this huge range of products and that’s a problem we are simultaneously trying to solve with our FusionPlus Data business which is growing extremely fast and is signing up multiple new brand owners and wholesalers every month. It’s the combination of software and data that’s uniquely positioned to deliver the Amazon-proof solution – you need both parts.

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The changing workplace REALITIES

CATEGORY UPDATE

As the furniture industry adapts to the new realities of the modern office space, OPI uncovers several strong themes driving this sector forward

F

eedback from the furniture sector continues to impress, with several companies reporting strong performances and robust results this year.

At DAMS, a British manufacturer and wholesaler of office furniture, the prospects are looking good.

According to Marketing & Communications Manager Simon Howorth, the company has achieved record sales in the past quarter: “Revenues are up some 25% compared to the previous two quarters, which is a great sign that our industry is performing well. We are now on target for £40 million ($51 million) in sales this financial year for the first time. UK manufacturing seems to be on a high in 2017.”

Travel across the pond to the US and you find a similar story. Steve Griego, Divisional Merchandise Manager at Office Depot, reports: “We’ve had very strong results in the furniture business with consistent year-over-year growth. Much of this has been driven through our retail stores, but more recently we’ve also seen rising sales in our digital business, with customers noticeably willing to spend a little more money for function and quality.”

Asked what trends are fuelling this upswing and both manufacturers and resellers consistently mention three main factors that are having a major influence on this category.

1. Flexibility: Continuous shifts in technology and working culture mean that organisations are now creating workspaces with flexibility built in.

Companies need furniture that can adapt as they change and allow for a multitude of different uses as they grow and expand.

Companies need furniture that can adapt [...] and allow for a multitude of different uses as they grow and expand 2. Activity-based design: This trend is fostered by two competing factors – the desire to promote collaboration, but with a need for increased privacy.

Together, these needs can’t be met in the same space, so activity-based design creates separate areas with furniture suited to different work-styles dependent on the task.

3. Well-being: Workplaces that aim to promote the health and fitness of employees through the layout and design of their offices are on the rise, with designers using furniture functionality and its placement to encourage movement throughout the day.

July/August 2017

THE ADAPTABLE SPACE Increasingly, businesses are moving away from dedicated single-employee workspaces towards more flexible working environments. At the same time there’s a growing demand for modular furniture and soft seating that can be endlessly reconfigured as the workplace adapts and spaces are created to offset the impact of a decreasing, per-employee footprint. As Bryan Leister, Merchandising Manager at US wholesaler SP Richards, explains: “With this diminishing workspace footprint comes an increased need for more personal storage areas as employees

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Furniture CATEGORY UPDATE

require additional space to store their personal items in places that can still provide a level of security.”

There’s also a sharp focus on the additional spaces that surround the main office area, says Michelle Boolton, Director of Design & Workplace Strategy at Staples Business Advantage: “While the breadth of furniture products available for ancillary spaces is vast, the items finally selected are chosen to perform a

The importance placed on the ‘active office’ is huge.

It’s by far the hottest trend in the furniture category specific function. All need to be flexible, serve multiple uses and many now have integrated technology too.

For instance, lounge seating today often requires power and USB ports, mobility and arms that are wide enough to serve as a place to perch a tablet. Tables need to be powered, height adjustable and often double as a writable surface. It’s all about finding the right curated solution for each client.”

“More offices are now migrating to flexible work surfaces that can be modified as their business grows,” adds Griego. “Products such as our WorkPro Flex range are designed to meet this growing trend.

The tables can be used in numerous different ways, from training stations to conference tables or as personal workstations. Their heavy duty construction means they can support a lot of equipment and the multiple leg options mean you can set them at different heights or add castors for mobility, making them highly adaptable.”

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WALLS COME TUMBLING Walls are literally coming down in the modern workspace, with traditional divider panel heights decreasing or disappearing completely, giving way to a more open, collaborative office. However, as Leister explains: “Companies are struggling as they try to balance the open office with the right amount of seclusion that employees need to do their particular type of work. As such we’re seeing demand for more

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Safco Adapt configurable space dividers

privacy panels, sound dampening and provision for an increased numbers of smaller conference areas.”

This tension between a need for quiet areas in an increasingly open-plan workspace is also mentioned

by Vanessa Warne, Furniture Category Director at UK wholesaler VOW. She cites this as a huge driver for the growth in sales of acoustic high-backed seating and acoustic pods for workers who need to insulate themselves from rising office decibel levels.

At DAMS, meanwhile, the integration of technology within the design of modern furniture is now widespread, with its desking, social-space sofas and meeting pod ranges all incorporating integrated power management systems, with a selection of in-built power and data modules.

As Howorth explains: “These multifunctional furniture systems are designed to enhance creativity in the workplace. They allow people to spend time away from their desks, bring their laptops and phones with them and escape the distractions. We are now planning to incorporate bluetooth speakers into our meeting pods so people can connect their phones to them while they work.”

He also reports great success with products aimed at corporate breakout areas. “While not every company is ready for Google-style slides and swings in the office or dedicated games zones, designing a workplace with social spaces that employees can use as informal work areas, meeting places, chill-out spaces and break-out zones is fundamental to creating a forward-focused and people-friendly office.

We have big plans to expand this range in 2017.”

HEALTH AND HAPPINESS Perhaps the biggest changes predicted this year are driven by the rapidly increasing focus on well-being in the office. “The importance placed on the ‘active office’ is huge,” says Leister. “It’s by far the hottest trend in the furniture category, with sit-stand products now the bestselling furniture items. This is coupled with tremendous interest in active seating, anti-fatigue accessories and, indeed, any product designed around wellness.” (see also Hot Topic, page 22) It’s a rapidly expanding market according to Depot’s Griego. “Active furniture products have been on the market for years, but social awareness of their benefits is now spreading quickly. We’ve responded to this trend with the 2017 launch of our Realspace adjustable-height desks. The manual adjustment model has exceeded all forecasts and we expect to see similar results with the electric model that was launched in May.” VOW is also experiencing substantial interest in this area from its resellers. To cater for this surge in demand it’s launching a series of training sessions centred on this ‘ergonomic solutions’ sub-sector.

The growing adoption of the WELL Building Standard focused exclusively on human health and wellness is driving the demand for products that can be used outdoors. “These are not the metal benches or wrought-iron tables of yesterday,” say Boolton, “but highly-functional items that serve the needs of lounges, meeting spaces and even classrooms, all situated in the external environment. Pieces we are seeing now are solar-powered, technology-equipped and beautifully designed. This is an area we all need to watch.”

Guernsey Inc. is one of the top dealers in the US, headquartered in Dulles, Virginia. OPI spoke to its VP of Marketing and Merchandising, Savannah Guernsey, about its furniture subsidiary ‘Interiors

by Guernsey’ and recent corporate acquisition in this sector.

OPI: You’ve recently bought interior design company Systems Furniture Gallery. What was the thinking behind this acquisition?

Savannah Guernsey: Selling furniture requires more of a service element and investing in this area will make us stronger for the future. With this purchase, Interiors by Guernsey has added a team of dedicated designers – including one with LEED certification – professional sales people and a showroom. We’ve been a strong contender in the workplace furniture industry for years, but adding Systems Furniture Gallery has been like a shot of adrenaline, doubling our market share and topline with the speed that only an acquisition offers.

OPI: Your consultation, design and installation services are a core part of the company. What trends and changes in consumer tastes and behaviours are you seeing?

SG: We call this part of the business the ‘project’ side. Taking a space and transforming it into a viable workplace is now about 70% of what we do and it’s going very well.

We’re noticing a general shift towards a healthier, more active workplace that covers both the mind and body, with a focus on standing and walking desks, expansive break-out areas, lounge seating and collaborative spaces. Of course, ergonomics and environmentally-friendly materials are having a big moment too and manufacturers have their hands full keeping up with it all.

One concept that takes a truly new approach to promoting a more dynamic workplace is the adult jungle gym from BuzziSpace known as the BuzziJungle. It’s full of areas for people to perch and work, meet or simply take a break. Rather than being developed with singular work tasks in mind, the user makes what he or she will of the furniture available.

Savannah Guernsey

The workplace furniture supply chain seems to view resellers whose roots are in OP as imposters supplies company that sells furniture. To be taken seriously, you need to feel like a fully-fledged furniture business. That’s why we set up Interiors by Guernsey and invested heavily in a website that projects our image as an established furniture supplier. We’ve been doing large furniture jobs for years, but fully embracing the furniture identity now allows us to compete at another level.

The BuzziJungle from BuzziSpace

July/August 2017

OPI: How are you tailoring your offering to the requirements of specific verticals such as the healthcare, education and office sectors?

SG: Healthcare is an interesting one. For designers, it requires an emotional investment and an acute awareness of the feel of a place which goes beyond that needed for other verticals. For manufacturers, the fabrics and materials must meet all sorts of special requirements. A waiting room chair, for example, may have antimicrobial fabric, interwoven with copper to decrease infections, with the seat angled for easier cleaning and leaving a wider gap between seat and backrest. However, what is regarded as a successful colour, shape or fabric for the healthcare sector won’t work in education or in the office. All these verticals have unique needs and, accordingly, we have specialists with expertise and experience in each of them.

OPI: How do you view the future prospects for Guernsey and the furniture sector in general?

What are the challenges?

SG: Now that the ‘Great Recession’ has lifted, we’re seeing bigger budgets, greater optimism and a focus on construction materials and methods that are good for both employees and the environment.

For Guernsey, the end game is to be more than a product-based organisation that moves boxes from warehouses to waiting areas. The future is in services, but the workplace furniture supply chain seems to view resellers whose roots are in OP as imposters. It’s not enough to simply be an office

CATEGORY UPDATE Furniture

FULLY-FLEDGED FURNITURE APPROACH

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Clerkenwell Design Week CATEGORY UPDATE

Urban

CREATIONS

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The public had the chance to visit some of the area’s exclusive design showrooms

www.opi.net

Moss soundproofing and a wireless charging surface made from recycled glass piqued the interest of visitors

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Nightclub Fabric was transformed into an ultra-modern design exhibition space

n the last week of May, Clerkenwell – a district in central London in the UK – once again became host to the latest trends from the world of design, with over 100 exhibition spaces and more than 300 events across dozens of contemporary office furniture showrooms.

Installations were set up in venues ranging from a church to some historic dungeons, while the infamous Fabric nightclub opened for a rare daytime viewing as it became Icon magazine’s ‘House of Culture’. The club’s impressive brick vaults held a curated selection of lighting and other high-design pieces from top international brands.

FULLY INTERACTIVE In keeping with previous years, many of the spaces at this year’s Clerkenwell Design Week were fully interactive, including the towering Perspex ‘Beacon’ which offered a 360-degree aerial view of the whole venue. Similarly, the Next Generation Design Pavilion’s ‘Unity Bridge’ explored the idea of architecture as a social tool and was the result of a series of workshops with school children from across London. Visitors were asked to write their thoughts on ribbons and tie them to the structure.

One of the highlights of the event was its inclusivity and interactivity. Everything was open to the public and this high level of engagement brought a lot of the exhibits alive. A large meeting structure cum climbing frame (BuzziJungle, see also page 45), for example, made a lot more sense when people could be seen lounging and chatting on it.

Located in the ‘Design Fields’ exhibition space were examples from some of the most highly-rated

CATEGORY UPDATE Clerkenwell Design Week

designers in the sector globally, with a selection of sleek and stylish office furniture showrooms.

Particular highlights included a wall of moss soundproofing and a ‘wobble-free’ chair that made for some interesting, if quirky, workspaces. Indeed, the red thread running through the entire festival was that of an ever-changing, modern office. Nowadays, the workplace is becoming a rather loosely-defined space, of course, and often a more casual environment.

HEALTHY WORKPLACE A core talking point at the moment, the negative health effects of sitting at our desks for extended periods were also emphasised, as were many of the solutions that can counteract the sedentary workplace, such as sit-stand desks, perching or leaning chairs and balance boards, to name but a few.

Yet, as well as the contemporary innovations that give us a glimpse into how we may work soon, there were also new takes on classic pieces that have stood the test of time and proved resilient to some of the perhaps more fleeting trends in office furniture now.

July/August 2017 47

HOW TO...

In this second part of our How to… guide to succession planning, Charlie Cleary looks at some of the common mistakes people make when deciding to sell their business – and how to avoid them

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ou’ve spent over 30 years building your business, the children have their own professional careers and you decide it’s time to sell the business and retire. So far so good. But a number of businesses that go on the market for sale never complete a transaction or sell for much less than planned by the retiring owner.

Of course, external factors such as the economy or credit markets can impact transaction results, but in most cases what impacts success or failure is under the direct control of the seller. Proper planning and preparation will avoid costly mistakes when selling your business.

Here’s a look at the most common mistakes that occur when selling a business – and what to do to prevent them.

Not having an advisory team when it’s time to sell You’ll need an advisor for your business valuation and deal negotiations, an accountant for tax planning and digesting the numbers, and a lawyer who has

Don’t make the costly mistake of saving money when selling your business by not hiring a team of professional consultants Not communicating with family and key managers It’s important to understand that buyers are acquiring sales as well as people. Making sure that a key person or two are excited to stay on board to lead the integration and retention of sales will increase the value of your business. Whether this is a family member or key manager, this can only happen with careful planning and confidential communication.

The key manager needs to know that he/she is an integral part to the post-transaction sale and future of the business, and that an employment agreement with the buyer will provide job security and new opportunities. Additionally, even if you don’t have family in your business, communicate with your immediate family during the selling process for support throughout the challenging selling cycle. If they know what you’re doing, family can provide moral support throughout the inevitable ups and downs of selling a business.

Not keeping it confidential It is essential that outside of family only you and a key person or two in your organisation know of your

July/August 2017

Not knowing what your business is worth When it’s time to sell your house, you contact an estate agent to get an appraisal on your home. So likewise, when you are ready to sell your business, you need to have a professional valuation done. Unfortunately, the value of your business is not necessarily the amount of money you need to comfortably retire. Ultimately, your business is worth what a buyer is willing to pay for it.

Establishing a valuation range based on similar-size market transactions and then finding the right buyer are essential to success.

worked with an asset purchase agreement. Don’t make the costly mistake of saving money when selling your business by not hiring a team of professional consultants. Your advisory team will help you sell your largest asset and protect your financial future.

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Succession Planning HOW TO...

intention to sell and they must keep it confidential.

An agreement with your key manager, advisors and potential buyers is essential to maintain confidentiality throughout the process.

Avoid the risk of employees learning of your intention to sell the business and resigning, because that may reduce the value of your company and the purchase price. You also increase the value of your business having non-compete/non-solicitation agreements in place with sales representatives, customer service people and drivers.

Not finding the perfect buyer for your business Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and finding the perfect buyer that sees nothing but synergies in your business will obtain the highest selling price. It might be eliminating a competitor in a market, acquiring a much-needed and highly capable sales manager or obtaining the system platform upgrade for the next decade. Identifying the right buyers that recognsie all the synergies in your business is a critical step in marketing your company to prospective acquirers.

If you’re thinking of selling your business in the next few years, start work on a plan to eliminate stress throughout the selling process Not building a complementary prospectus Market valuations based on closed transactions provide a range in line with the size of your dealership. The ability to close the transaction at the high end of the valuation range requires presenting your company in its most favourable light based on the criteria of the buyer.

Key factors tend to be lack of dependence on the owner, sales growth potential, diversified customer base, system platform and market reputation.

Preparing a prospectus that features synergistic value to the perfect buyer can save time in negotiations and maximise the perceived value of your company.

www.opi.net

Not understanding the selling process It all begins a year before putting the business on the market and requires a plan. The selling process then starts with a business valuation, building a prospectus and identifying the perfect buyer.

The Letter of Intent (LOI) from the buyer is followed by negotiations and then the due diligence process.

The purchase agreement with further negotiations is the final big step prior to closing and integration.

Despite integration being the responsibility of the

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buyer, being engaged, supportive, even excited for the future will assure closing the transaction and continued success for former associates. Knowing the process from start to finish saves time and money for the buyer and avoids costly mistakes that can blow up a deal.

Not preparing for the due diligence process Due diligence occurs following the signing of the LOI and allows the buyer to dig into the financials, employees and payroll, customer performance, sales rep results, processes, integration discussion and more. The buyer is focused on future growth opportunities, risk factors and return on investment.

Preparing the right information ahead of the selling process while maintaining confidentiality will save considerable time through due diligence. Having due diligence reports ready to be updated will eliminate disruption in your organisation, reduce employee suspicion and lead to a quicker closing.

Not planning your next career or retirement There’s nothing worse than a seller’s remorse or wavering when the transaction is just about to close.

You start thinking about your employees, your legacy and most importantly, what it is that you are going to do next in your life. Don’t let this happen to you. Spend time well ahead of the selling process figuring out what it is you want to be or do after office products.

Whether playing golf, sitting on the beach, reading books at home or volunteering for a good cause, try it out before making a decision. Make sure you like it and it’s what you really want to do for the next few years.

You also need to make sure that you’ve saved enough money and can sell the business for the right price to live comfortably in retirement if that is what you’re after.

It requires financial planning years ahead of selling, knowing the realistic market valuation of your business, understanding how taxes and fees impact net proceeds and identifying your future cost of living.

Like most things in life, selling your business takes a bit of planning to avoid costly mistakes and make it a reality. So if you’re thinking of selling your business in the next few years, start work on a plan to eliminate stress throughout the process and assure continued success in your next career or a happy and well-earned retirement.

Charlie Cleary is the owner of Cleary Consulting, assisting office products dealers with succession planning, buying and selling businesses and strategic planning. With over 30 years of industry experience, he understands the challenges facing independents today and helps them build strategic plans for growth through acquisition or successful exit strategies.

RESEARCH

Martin Wilde Associates and OPI’s latest report on Amazon Business reveals some game-changing facts about OP purchasing behaviour

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mazon Business accounted for 23% of customers’ total business supplies purchases in 2016 and is set to rise significantly in the next two years, particularly for some sizes of customer organisation.

That’s just one of the findings of Piranha Business: Investigating The Appeal Of Amazon Business, a new research report that was recently published by specialist OP researchers Martin Wilde Associates (MWA) and OPI.

One of the key findings of the report is the extent to which previous familiarity with the Amazon brand has assisted the successful growth of Amazon Business in the US market Amazon originally launched Amazon Business in the US in the spring of 2015 as a B2B portal offering “hundreds of millions” of products, business-only pricing on select items, quantity discounts, corporate credit, free two-day shipping on eligible items and orders above $49 and multi-user business account administration allowing integration with third party procurement solutions.

Fig 1: Before Amazon Business, did you order from Amazon or AmazonSupply?

61% Yes – from Amazon

70 60 50

30% Yes – from Amazon Supply

40 30

24% No

20 10 Source: MWA

0% 80 70

1% Don’t know

July/August 2017

SIGNIFICANT THREAT

By November 2016, Amazon Business was already reported to have reached US sales of $1.9 billion and to be achieving 20% month-on-month growth. Since then, Amazon has been rolling out the model in other countries and – as a result – it is vital that OP suppliers across the world get an up-to-date understanding of the strengths, weaknesses, issues and opportunities being presented by Amazon Business.

Piranha Business aims to do exactly that: the 200-page in-depth report investigates the profile, behaviour, needs and attitudes of 400 business customers in the US that had bought any type

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of office supplies from Amazon Business in the previous 12 months.

The study investigates customers’ current usage of Amazon Business across seven major product categories: traditional stationery products, office paper, computer and printer supplies, office furniture, breakroom products, jan/san supplies and business machines. It indicates the supply channels other than Amazon Business that are currently being used by respondents – as well as those that have so far lost sales in each category to Amazon Business.

The sample used for the research contained quotas to ensure that sufficient respondents from all sizes of company and US region were interviewed, and the study found some key characteristics of Amazon Business customers: • they are comparatively young on average; • they are equally likely to be male or female; • they are mainly employed in some type of office administration role, rather than specifically a purchasing or senior management role.

The research also uncovered some interesting facts about how and why buyers choose to purchase business supplies from Amazon Business. Indeed, one of the key findings of the report is the extent to which previous familiarity with the Amazon brand has

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Fig 3: Importance of supplier representative visits

RESEARCH

Slightly unimportant 34%

Slightly important 21%

70

Source: MWA

think of any disadvantages in buying business supplies from Amazon Business

20 10

The survey also contains some real ‘game changer’ findings, showing how traditional customers’ needs % are changing rapidly in line with the Amazon model in areas such as the need for representative visits (see Fig 3), catalogue usage and speed of delivery.

Other issues, such as how Amazon Business

0

80

70

Fig 2: Perceived advantages of using Amazon Business

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Source: MWA

A NEW RESEARCH STUDY BY MARTIN WILDE ASSOCIATES AND OPI

Exclusive discounts and promotions offered – 44%

0%

Free shipping on orders above $49 – 44%

10

Convenience – 59%

20

Low prices – 71%

30

Rapid delivery service – 48%

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• How important is low price to customers and what is their perception of the ongoing competitiveness of Amazon Business’s pricing?

• What do customers think about the quality of Amazon Business’s customer and after-sales service?

• How frequently do customers place an order with Amazon Business and what is their average order value?

• How important is ‘free delivery’ and how often do customers qualify for it?

• Are customers happy to buy from third party suppliers via Amazon Business and to receive their order in several separate consignments?

• What are customers’ usage and perceptions of the Amazon Basics brand?

• Would customers ever go back to using a conventional OP supplier and what would persuade them to do so?

Piranha Business: Investigating The Appeal Of Amazon Business is an essential tool for understanding what is happening right now in the business supplies marketplace, where it is going in future and what action needs to be taken by vendors and resellers. The report is available now for $3,750. Please visit www.opi.net/ Piranha-Business to order your copy.

To order your copy, visit www.opi.net/Piranha-Business

July/August 2017

piranha business

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30 As many as 22% of respondents could not

customers search for products and place their orders online, or what they really think about the company’s exclusive discounts, multi-user account facilities, business analytics and its integration with end-user e-procurement systems, are also investigated.

In addition, the report covers key questions such as:

40

40

40

Very unimportant 41%

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Don’t know 1%

70

50

Very important 3%

80

60

60

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Amazon Business

assisted the successful growth of Amazon Business in the US market.

As Fig 1 shows, only 24% of Amazon Business customers had never used Amazon before to source business supplies for their organisations.

The survey findings are supported by many of the answers given by respondents when asked why they had first started buying from Amazon Business. It’s noteworthy that, when asked about the perceived advantages of buying from the e-tailer (see Fig 2), customers tend to report that their expectations on first choosing to buy from Amazon Business are generally realised in practice. And as many as 22% of respondents could not think of any disadvantages in buying business supplies from Amazon Business.

However, the remainder of respondents could identify downsides to buying from the company, and these are discussed in the report.

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EVENT

Breaking down the OPI EUROPEAN FORUM REVIEW

WALLS OPI’s sixth European Forum brought together big names in the sector to openly discuss and break down some of the barriers facing the industry

Lyreco CEO Hervé Milcent

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round 90 leading figures from the OP industry converged in Berlin in June for the OPI European Forum 2017.

On the eve of the event, delegates met at the 5-star event venue, the Westin Grand Hotel, in Germany’s capital for drinks and dinner.

Attendees made the most of the beautiful weather and were treated to a stunning barbecue in the hotel’s Sommergarten. It was the perfect setting to greet old friends and make new connections ahead of the early start the following morning.

OPI CEO Steve Hilleard started proceedings with a welcome speech before handing over to conference chair Simon Drakeford, CEO of EO Group. Drakeford’s acerbic presenting style and pertinent analysis kept things running smoothly and made sure delegates got the most out of the event.

For details of upcoming OPI events, please visit: www.opi.net/events

WHAT’S NEXT? The second morning kicked off with an outstanding session by Brother UK Managing Director Phil Jones.

His keynote discussed the benefits of an engaged workforce and how to build a high-performance workplace culture.

Chris Grundy of Bitbond had the challenging task of teaching the audience about cryptocurrency.

His mindbending introduction to blockchain and its potential to revolutionise business most definitely got everyone thinking. SOFEA Managing Director Anita Singh-Gunther and President Matthias Schumacher followed with a brief update on the association’s office supplies environmental grading initiative.

Moderated by Staples Solutions UK & Ireland Managing Director Robert Baldrey, the final panel of the European Forum tackled the current state of mergers and acquisitions, asking “what’s next for big-box players and independent dealers alike?” What a good question that is.

July/August 2017

RAPID CHANGES As a start, Jeanette Huber, Associate Director of the Zukunftsinstitut – one of the most influential think tanks in European trend research – treated attendees to an illuminating keynote on the future of the workplace and the workforce it will accommodate. She demonstrated how rapidly society has changed over the past decade and highlighted how business leaders in the sector must prepare for this new landscape.

As in previous years, OPI is unable to report on specifics from the forum due to Chatham House rules, but naturally the theme this year revolved heavily around the future of the sector and the disruption happening in the industry right now.

Unsurprisingly, one of the big topics at the event was the impact of Amazon, especially since the launch of Amazon Business in Germany and the UK. Fortunately, delegates were able to voice their concerns directly, as a number of representatives from the internet titan were also in attendance.

Seminar highlights of the day included a lively panel debate which looked at the changes in the supply chain in our industry asking, for example, what the role of the wholesaler is in this brave new world.

Other sessions included an energetic presentation on the value of content marketing by Andre Alpar,

CEO of Performics, while Louise Shipley from Fellowes Brands Europe explored the changing work environment and its impact on employee health.

Former marine Chris Paton of Quirk Solutions delivered an insightful talk on stress testing and planning in uncertain times, drawing upon his military career and five tours with British troops in Afghanistan.

One of the standout sessions of the first day was a fascinating live Big Interview with Lyreco CEO Hervé Milcent. Quizzed by OPI’s Hilleard, Milcent gave an interesting overview of the group and the industry, and frankly answered questions pitched by the audience.

Delegates got to have their say again during the interactive roundtables which explored key themes from the sector, including the impact of Brexit, exploiting the IoT, business foresight and content strategy. There was also a highly sought-after discussion moderated by Bill Burkland and Tawia Odoi from Amazon Business UK. After a long day of educational sessions, delegates were invited to attend a fabulous four-course dinner at the luxurious Austernbank restaurant, situated in the former vault of the Disconto Bank.

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NeoConnections NEOCON REVIEW

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he key protagonists of the furniture industry converged on NeoCon 2017 in the middle of June to witness the latest designs and innovative ideas from this rapidly-changing sector.

Now in its 49th year, NeoCon is considered the premier global platform for learning about and conducting business in commercial interiors. With over 500 companies exhibiting, this year’s event which was held at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, US, from 12-14 June, attracted more than 50,000 design professionals from across the globe.

Acoustic comfort: Employee surveys show that acoustic problems are a prominent source of dissatisfaction within the office. NeoCon highlighted plenty of resources that can help mitigate unwanted noise and minimise disruptions.

TRENDSETTER The event caters to a range of verticals from healthcare to hospitality, but as always ‘the future of the office’ was a core talking point, with ‘wellness’ another topic that’s becoming mainstream. Cutting across these macro themes, the organisers saw four main trends in evidence at the show: Biophilic design: An increasing number of commercial interiors are now taking their cues from nature. They are incorporating natural materials, natural light and vegetation into the modern office environment as studies have shown that this makes employees happier and more productive.

Privacy on demand: In the open plan workplace people also need private areas where they can escape distractions.

Solutions to facilitate this – from agile partitions to mobile pods – were all on display, with many manufacturers showing new solutions to satisfy these needs.

NEOCON 2018 Next year’s show will take place from 11-13 June 2018 at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, US.

LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES The NeoCon exhibition was once again complemented by a comprehensive educational programme that comprised over 100 seminars, special events and presentations. Headlining the programme over the course of the event were three keynotes, all of them “providing solutions that enhance the built environments of today and tomorrow”, according to Monica DeBartolo, NeoCon’s Director of Programming.

On the first day, Arianna Huffington – founder of The Huffington Post – took to the stage to discuss Thrive Global, her new venture which aims to end the epidemic of stress and burnout by offering companies science-based solutions to enhance well-being and performance.

World-renowned scientist Jessica Green, on day two, encouraged attendees to think about bacteria in entirely new ways. As founding director of the Biology and the Built Environment (BioBE) Centre, she works with architects and engineers to advance urban design that promotes sustainability, human health and well-being. In her presentation, Green explored how the microbial blueprint of human beings, homes, cities, and forests impacts the world and the futurwe.

Chicago-based architect John Ronan rounded off the keynotes on the final day of the show. He talked about iterative design methodologies that explore and test a wide range of ideas in order to find the one that feels intuitively correct for each situation, based on its unique site and cultural, economic or social context.

Many NeoCon attendees described the furniture industry as currently undergoing a renaissance, while others went as far as to call it a ‘revolution’. The pace of change in the commercial interiors space has certainly never been faster and that requires a nimble sector that can rapidly adapt to this new normal and provide the solutions required.

July/August 2017

Adaptive furnishings: In the fast-evolving office environment furniture that can adapt to changing uses is key. Exhibitors featured the latest reconfigurable and highly-adjustable solutions, with versatile, modular and flexible designs offering a myriad of options.

EVENT

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EVENT

Come for EPIC...

As the fifth EPIC convention approaches for Independent Stationers and TriMega, attending dealers will also have the opportunity to maximise their time with a visit to ISSA’s flagship event – Las Vegas is the place to be this September

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On Monday, 11 September, following a short series of dealer group-specific meetings, delegates have the chance to take part in EPIC’s education forum.

Presented under the banner ‘For Dealers, By Dealers’, these sessions take the form of panel discussions, roundtables and idea swaps as the organisers try to get away from the more traditional seminar format to allow industry peers to learn from each other – sharing best practice, tips and tricks relevant to their businesses and the office products industry in general. This year, topics up for discussion include Succession Planning, Selling from a Position of Power and Motivating Sales People.

EPIC PREVIEW

ow in its fifth incarnation, EPIC – the groundbreaking convention collaboration between US dealer groups Independent Stationers (IS) and TriMega – will return to Las Vegas in 2017, bigger and bolder than before.

Since its inception in 2013, when two of the largest dealer groups in the US took the unprecedented step of combining their national conventions into a single event, the EPIC show has grown year on year in terms of the number of attendees it attracts and the size of its tradeshow floor. It has continued to provide added value for all attendees by constantly coming up with new and innovative ideas to ensure they get the most out of the event.

www.opi.net

STARTING WITH CHARITY Proceedings kick off a little earlier this year, namely on Sunday, 10 September. Day one of EPIC used to be all about the annual golf outing, but more events have been added to the opening day agenda over the years. Aside from networking sessions for members of both dealer groups, two of the big charity events will take place on this day.

The third annual Hike for Hope, a sponsored trek around the spectacular surroundings of the Valley of Fire National Park takes place in the morning where all money raised goes to City of Hope, while in the afternoon volunteer attendees can help assemble Cheeriodical gift boxes for hospitalised children as part of the annual Spreading Cheer event.

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EPIC takes place from 10-12 September at the Bellagio Resort & Convention Center in Las Vegas

GET TOGETHER AT EPIC The tradeshow on the third day sees the return of the extremely successful Epic Get Together (EGT), introduced to the exhibition element of the convention last year. The idea behind EGTs is to have specifically-scheduled slots between exhibitors and tradeshow attendees, meaning there’s no wasting time and ‘missing each other’, and ensuring that both parties get quality, one-on-one time together with prepared and pre-arranged topics to discuss.

“The quality of the interaction attendees get out of EGTs is really quite different,” explains Michael Morris, EVP of Marketing at TriMega. “Both dealer and exhibitor participants have a chance to get their homework done and prepare the relevant reports for more constructive discussion. Plus, scheduled EGT appointments take the chance out of booth visits.

We received such good feedback from delegates who participated last year that we are happy to bring them back as one of the many ways EPIC delivers more value for event attendees.”

Janet Eshenour, Director of Marketing at Independent Stationers, adds: “We are excited to be hosting our next – and biggest – EPIC event this year in Las Vegas. It will be a great opportunity for all IS shareholders and affiliate members to network, participate in dealer-focused seminars, learn about new products and much more. The collaboration with dealer colleagues is well worth the trip.”

In another effort to help consolidate the events calendar and bring yet more value to attendees and the industry, this year EPIC is co-located with ISSA/INTERCLEAN North America 2017 – one of the largest trade shows for the cleaning industry worldwide. Delegates who register for EPIC will be able to attend ISSA/INTERCLEAN at no extra cost on the Wednesday and Thursday after the show.

EVENT EPIC & ISSA/INTERCLEAN

... stay for ISSA/

INTERCLEAN

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ISSA/INTERCLEAN NORTH AMERICA PREVIEW

he 2017 ISSA/INTERCLEAN North America Trade Show and ISSA Convention is returning to the Las Vegas Convention Center this year and will feature a new schedule and expanded exhibition space, together with customised events tailored to attendees’ specific needs. It’s billed as the largest exhibition for the cleaning and hygiene industry and will take place from 11-14 September.

The expo typically attracts more than 16,000 cleaning and facilities supplies professionals who gather annually to sharpen their skills, learn what’s new and discover fresh ideas.

The theme for this year’s ISSA/INTERCLEAN event is ‘Uncover Extraordinary’ and over 700 exhibitors will reveal the latest developments in facility solutions.

According to ISSA’s Senior Director of Marketing and Communications, Lisa Richter, one of the most popular areas of the trade show floor promises to be the ISSA Innovation Showcase. “This is where top manufacturers and suppliers showcase their most cutting-edge products and services – everything from self-cleaning surfaces to robotics and smart technology that can help facility managers monitor their inventory.”

CONVENTION PACKAGES The all-inclusive trade show and convention packages are another new feature this year, each designed with specific goals in mind and tailored to the needs of people from different industry sectors. They include a welcome networking reception, tradeshow floor access, keynote speakers, show floor guided tour and evening roundtables. Attendees can either mix and match seminar sessions as they see fit, or choose from one of five programmes centred on the following topic areas: • Disrupt and innovate – a new think tank for distribution: designed to spark innovation in this distribution sector.

• Commercial cleaning business solutions: aimed at building service contractors.

• Residential cleaning connection: provides more than 20 hours of education customised for residential cleaning companies.

• Green clean schools: designed to provide facility personnel based at schools and universities with the tools they need to implement healthy, successful and effective green cleaning programmes.

• Healthcare environment essentials: an intensive educational programme designed for those with a special interest in safeguarding within the healthcare sector.

Also available are several workshops and certification opportunities covering topics such as hard floor, carpet and restroom care through ISSA’s Cleaning Management Institute.

Rounding off ISSA/INTERCLEAN in 2017 are more networking opportunities than ever before, including the ISSA Lunch and Learn on the Monday.

July/August 2017

NEW FOR 2017 In addition to the greater exhibition space, the 2017 event includes more options for attendees to tailor their own learning programme to suit the particular cleaning sub-sector in which they operate. There are also new show dates – the event now runs from Monday to Thursday, whereas previously it was held from a Tuesday to a Friday.

As Richter explains: “Feedback from previous years had highlighted the challenge of fitting everything in, so we’ve shifted the schedule with the show finishing on a Thursday. Attendees can now use this last day to meet with suppliers and see products and services they may have previously missed, while still making it home in time for the weekend.

“There’s also a valuable programme of events lined up on that Thursday, including the State of the Industry panels for each or our major audience segments, and our ISSA keynote address, which this year will feature Howie Mandell – comedian and a judge on the popular US TV show America’s Got Talent.”

The trend for mergers and acquisitions is one of the main issues affecting the cleaning industry

in 2017, according to Richter. Retaining talent in this sector can also be difficult, she adds: “Whether it’s sales people, managers or frontline workers, this continues to be a real challenge for professionals in this category. We’ve packed our education schedule with plenty of seminars to address all these issues and help businesses keep abreast of the key trends, allowing them to innovate and stay relevant in this shifting landscape.”

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GENERATION GAME

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the apprentice

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s a young person starting out in any organisation there are many thoughts that run through your head. “I hope the people there will like me. I hope my first day goes well. I hope they won’t treat me differently because I’m young. I hope I won’t just be making drinks for everybody. I hope I won’t be given simplistic work to do.”

Beginning an apprenticeship at Brother UK, my initial training was split between digital marketing and IT. I would work on many projects via different technology platforms. As my skills developed, so too did my workload! But I was fortunate in that I was always given plenty of time to learn and develop, and then put my skills into action.

I had the chance to learn how the business operates from an IT infrastructure point of view, and help to set up and implement business changes that included upgrading mobile systems and implementing software.

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We have a lot to offer and being given the right opportunity can really contribute to the future success of this industry

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THE IMPORTANCE OF NETWORKING One vital experience was the chance to network in the business. You may not necessarily think that an IT department is a good place to network, but if your laptop or any piece of equipment you use stops working, where do you go? I met around 80% of the organisation by working in this department which was a great way to get to know my co-workers and form new relationships.

The point of an apprenticeship is that it gives you the chance to learn about different topics and various departments in an organisation. So having proved my initial capability, an opportunity arose in product management. I had heard of the department, but didn’t know the detailed responsibilities involved.

Talking to my peers, we’re all in agreement about one thing: we want to know exactly about our roles and job titles. What work will we be doing? What will we be helping to achieve? What is the goal that this department is working towards? I think that’s a good

thought for employers to bear in mind when they are planning to recruit.

My current role in product management is a new experience altogether and offers a totally different perspective. It also comes with a lot more responsibilities. I’m providing training to customers, implementing changes across the business and help influence processes to increase efficiency and productivity through changing the way the business looks at information.

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HONING NEW SKILLS Another skill I continue to develop and get better at is research. In a product-focused role, thinking about the next big thing that will meet the needs of the market is vital. There will always be something new and exciting coming out with all the latest tech that’s on offer.

Ongoing research allows me to become familiar with technology and keep up to date in this area.

Knowing about new tech also drives creativity that can bring something to life. There is no right or wrong answer, it’s simply ideas and concepts that grow businesses through new innovations.

As a young person entering an organisation, I had – and still have – lots of things to learn. But I also feel that the company I work for could maybe learn something from me too – a fresh and young perspective and a new way of looking at information to increase productivity and efficiency.

I think it is key to make a real impact on the younger generation early on. It will help them get embedded in an industry, promote new idea creation and execution, and positively guide and influence future decision-making. We have a lot to offer and being given the right opportunity can really contribute to the future success of this industry.

Editor’s note: Aaron Hopkinson won the Young Executive of the Year award at this year’s European Office Products Awards ceremony in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in March 2017.

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Aaron Hopkinson, Assistant Product Manager – Document Management, Brother UK

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5 MINUTES WITH...

Mélanie Martins CAREER Q&A

Your favourite gadget?

It would have to be party bubbles.

What’s your favourite place to visit in your country and why?

Lavandou in the south of France, because it feels like paradise.

Describe yourself in one word.

Wildcard.

If you were President, what would be the first law you would pass?

I would launch a digital transformation plan that would enable French public services to become more efficient.

What was the last gift you gave someone?

I gave my mum a Bluetooth mobile speaker so she can listen to music everywhere in her house.

What would you cook for a dinner party?

The safest option would definitely be to order a takeaway. I’m not a good cook.

Best way to spend the weekend?

To go on an unplanned trip with a few friends.

Best compliment you’ve ever received?

Each time someone says I had a good idea; it’s great to hear.

What was your last online search?

Freepik. I was looking for nice images for some marketing material I am working on.

www.opi.net

Favourite season?

Summer – the days are longer and the sun keeps you in a good mood.

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What would be a good theme song for your life?

I don’t know about the theme song for my entire life, but my song of the moment is the latest from Coldplay, Something Just Like This, which they did in collaboration with The Chainsmokers.

I’ve been listening to it constantly since it was released.

Describe your current job.

I am the Digital Marketing Manager at CEP Office Solutions, a European manufacturer of office products based in France.

What is the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do?

The preparatory class during my studies.

I quit after a year and decided to do something else.

If you weren’t doing your present job, what would you like to be doing?

Some kind of manual job, such as a dressmaker perhaps. I don’t know how to sew though, but it would be fun to learn!

What makes you happy?

Drinking coffee.

I’m easily pleased.

Favourite author?

There’s no one in particular at the moment, but I am a big fan of French author Michel Bussi.

What would you consider to be the worst-ever job?

To be honest, there are probably quite a few jobs that I wouldn’t like to do. But it would be far worse to be unemployed in my opinion.

What do you like best about the OP industry?

I like the huge product diversity of the industry, in particular all the different product functionalities, designs and colours.

FINAL WORD

The POWER of NETWORKING

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www.opi.net

riting this piece is my last job before packing my bag and heading off to the OPI European Forum in Berlin, Germany (editor’s note: the European Forum was held just before going to press with this issue of OPI, from 14-16 June; see our review on page 57). It’s going to be excellent and I’m already anticipating the new business it will generate. Not necessarily because of the conference content – though I’m sure it will be great – but because of the new business opportunities that will come from a conversation at lunch, dinner or in the small hours over a few beers in the bar.

In fact, I had made up my mind to go to the event before I even knew what the agenda was, because it’s the networking that matters to me and I know the right people will be there.

At Focus7, networking is a core pillar of our marketing activity, letting us meet and get to know potential customers. Though we operate in many different sectors, for quality networking events, the business supplies channel is among the best for providing excellent opportunities.

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VALUE PROPOSITION Beyond the various wholesaler and dealer group conferences and the Stationery Show, there are numerous events run in the UK by a number of organisations, including the Livery Company at Stationers’ Hall, the BOSS Federation and of course OPI. They all offer real value, and what I find startling is how few dealers attend some of them!

Clearly, most don’t appreciate the value, which is surprising, as those that do attend tend to be the largest, most progressive and fastest-growing resellers in the industry. And why? Because they learn from each other, from supply chain partners and invited speakers, and mostly because they form relationships that encourage support and collaboration.

This brings me to another great networking opportunity, one of the channel’s best-kept secrets, the Society of Old Friends. I was recently elevated to the position of President of the Society, the 82nd in its 108-year history. Unlike Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron I have no power, no nuclear button or presidential palace, but I do serve a useful purpose.

My role is to enable people in the business supplies sector to network in a uniquely social environment.

The Society of Old Friends provides opportunities for people from all parts of the channel to meet and get to know each other; not as buyer and seller, not as big corporate and small business, not as competitors, but as people. Its constitution sets the purpose of the Old Friends as bringing people in the

same trade together for camaraderie and good fellowship, to create relationships that ultimately oil the wheels of business.

We talk a lot in our business about nurturing; the need to understand our target customers and to allow them to know, like and trust us before trying to sell anything to them. That is the approach that the Society of Old Friends enables. Over time, to build relationships that demonstrate your personal and business values so that people will want to help you or work with you.

David Langdown, Sales and Marketing Director, Focus7 International

Everybody leaves their job title at the door, meets old friends and makes new ones. Business is not on the agenda, yet many a productive relationship or significant deal has been initiated at these events PERSON TO PERSON MARKETING Forget B2B and B2C, this is P2P marketing – Person to Person. Remember what has always been true: people like dealing with people, especially people they like! When we get along, we temper the confrontational aspects of doing business. We want to collaborate with people that we know and like, so our starting point is to look for mutually beneficial opportunities rather than trying to get one over on them, to find ways to help their business or ways theirs can help yours.

The Old Friends meet for Clachans (essentially beers and burgers in a nice pub) and a couple of dinners a year. Everybody leaves their job title atIssue the door, meets old Special FACILITIES friends and makes new ones. Business is SUPPLIES not on the agenda, yet many a productive relationship or significant deal has been initiated at these events.

David Langdown is Sales and Marketing Director of Focus7 International, a marketing and business growth agency; non-executive director of the BOSS Federation; Liveryman at the Stationers’ Company; and President of the Society of Old Friends.

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NEXT ISSUE

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FACILITIES SUPPLIES Big Interview Raj Advani Managing Director Exertis Supplies

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FACILITIES HotSUPPLIES Topic Where next for the business supplies sector?

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Facilities Supplies Category update l Interview with Mike Gentile/IS and Dennis Riffer/AFFLINK l Facilities trends l

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