Office Depot Potter Analysis

The industry consists of three major players and six second-tier players. There is intense competition between the players as shown by the price wars between UPS and Federal Express. Although the market is

Today’s office superstore industry in the United States provides a convenient one-stop shopping experience for small businesses and individuals with home offices. The main competitors in the industry are Office Depot, Staples, and Office Max. All of them offer a variety of office supplies, as well as computers, office furniture and other business related items.

Bargaining Power of Suppliers: The bargaining power of suppliers in the industry is low. There are numerous suppliers in this industry, and the large department stores have the ability to negotiate for the lowest prices. In addition, the switching costs are low, as the products are not highly differentiated. There are a large volume of purchases in the industry, allowing the department stores to exert even more power over the suppliers.

The term 'suppliers' comprises all sources for inputs that are needed in order to provide goods or services. If there is a market with much choice supplier choice, bargaining power will be less.

Suppliers have less power because there are a lot of suppliers and they all willing to accommodate and provide discounts for their customers (economies of scale).

3. Weak Operating Performance Sales per retailing stores was average 6.4 million, the level stayed behind Office Max and Staples. The gross profit margin averages 30% while the operating profit margin almost 0%.

The retail industry is highly competitive, with few barriers to entry. Each Company competes with many other local, regional and national retailers for customers, associates, locations, merchandise, services and other important aspects of the Company’s business. Those competitors include other department stores, discounters, home furnishing stores, specialty retailers, wholesale clubs, direct-to-consumer businesses and other forms of retail commerce. Some competitors are larger than JCPenney, have greater financial resources available to them, and, as a result, may be able to devote greater resources to sourcing, promoting and selling their products.” There are many factors that characterize competition, including advertising, service,

This matrix compares the rivals of Staples, Inc. Each of these environments

The competitive rivalry in the toy industry is intense. Organizations try to sell through their own retailers and online instead of solely through other retailers. Flexibility and responsiveness to the market are

* Market Share: 90% of market cap when comparing Staples, Office Depot (5.72%), Office Max (3.89%)

Supplier Power: This highlights that it is easy for suppliers to rise up their prices. This is determined by the number of suppliers, the uniqueness of their product, their control over the buyer, and the cost of changing from one buyer to another. The scarcer the supplier choices you might have, and the more you need the help and that

In 1996, there were three largest and absolutely dominant office superstores (OSS) chains in United States office supply market, Staples, Office Depot and OfficeMax. Office superstores can get access to much more convenient and cheaper supply of goods than small retailers through signing a mass of contracts with suppliers. They are mostly located in downtown business districts, and own considerable floor areas, a wide variety of product types and sizable supply size. Therefore, they can provide consumers with great user experience and convenience by

If suppliers are limited, they have a greater opportunity to charge higher prices for raw materials, and they may also pose a threat of forward integration to the industry.  Similarly, if an industry has few buyers, or buyers can cheaply and easily change suppliers, they can make demands for less expensive higher quality products, causing impact to profit (Porter, 2008, p. 83).

A supplier group have even more power over an industry if it is dominated by a few companies, there are no substitute products, the industry is not an important consumer for the suppliers, their product is essential to the industry, the supplier differs costs, and forward integration potential of the supplier group exists. Labor supply can also influence the position of the suppliers. These factors are generally out of the control of the industry or company but strategy can alter the power of

For example, Boeing and Airbus supply most commercial aircraft. The concentration within the suppliers segment of the industry makes it very difficult for competitors to exercise leverage over another supplier and obtain lower prices. The power of the supplier is one key in prohibiting the ability of competitors to earn higher profits.