Staples

Full review
Background:
A couple months ago my husband and I went to Office Max and Staples looking for a desk after searching through both of their Online Stores. While at Staples, I fell in love with a basic task chair for $59.99. I wanted to get it, but we had not even picked out a desk yet, so my husband told me to wait and if we still wanted it we could come back.

I looked at the Online Staples Store upon returning home and found the chair was onsale for $39.99 and offered free delivery. We decided to sleep on it and the next day we ended up ordering two of the task chairs; one for each of us.

Finding Staples Online Store:
http://www.staples.com/
Staples can also be reached at 1-800-378-2753

Staples Has It:
The main thing Staples Online Store has is office supplies ranging from desks, armories, chairs, computer equipment, file cabinets, paper, notebooks, staples, push pins, cameras, and more. Pretty much anything one would have in their office can be bought at this store.

Prices vary due to vast range of office supplies, but I find that Staples is cheaper than many other office stores. They also offer a rewards program. With the program you are given a card to use during all Staples purchases, each quarter the points received are calculated and gift certificates are mailed out. We ordered our camera, camera cards, and rechargeable batteries before our wedding and had a $50 gift certificate to spend at Staples after our honeymoon.

Homepage and Navigation:
It is easy to get to whatever you are looking for from Staples homepage. At the top of the page you can Find a Store, Order by Item Number, or Run a Search. Account Information such as creating an account or order status are also listed at the top of the screen, along with items and cost of items in shopping cart.

The rest of the page is divided into search tabs such as: Products, Ink and Toner, Specials, My Account, and Customer Service. Products is the open tab on the home page and shows product categories of Office Supplies, Technology, and Furniture. Under each of these categories is a list of everything the category includes. For example, if I were looking for labels, I would look at the home page with Products listings and under Office Supplies I could click on Labels to see all the labels Staples offers.

Specials are also listed on the main page and include items such as Weekly Deals, Local Circular, and Clearance items. Under specials there is the option of signing up to have special offers delivered to your email.

At the bottom of the homepage are categories entitled Ways to Save, Policies, and Corporate Information. Ways to Save lists items such as the Rewards program and signing up for a Staples Credit Card. Policies contain frequently asked questions information such as Delivery and Return Policies.

Navigation to whatever you are looking for is relatively easy with all the grouped tabs and items under tabs displayed. As I mentioned on the homepage the Products tab is open allowing the viewer to see all product items when coming to the page. However, if you are not looking for a product you can run the mouse over the other tabs and a drop down screen will show up displaying all the item that can be found in that category. For example running the mouse over My Account will help me instantly see options of personal information, order history, and more.

My Experience:

Finding Desired Items:
In order to find the task chairs I had seen at Staples, I went to their homepage and typed task chair into the Staples Search Engine. This lead to a page displaying items: Fabric Task, Leather Task, Drafting, and Chairs. Next to each item was a number of how many item matched task chair for that category. I clicked leather task, which is the way I remember the chairs. Instantly, I saw the Situations Leather Task Chair with Arms, which is what I wanted.

Purchasing:
I easily changed the quantity from one to two and added the chairs to my cart. The cart came up showing my total of $79.98 for the two chairs. At the top of the screen it said Free Delivery on this Order, which offered additional reassurance to my worry of paying shipping costs. I was then prompted to either Continue Shopping or Begin Secure Checkout. I decided to begin check out. Incase I had any problems during check out the customer support link and hours of operation appeared on the check out screen.

Next I was prompted to create an account. I was already enlisted in the Staples Rewards Program so this did not bother me. While creating an account, I was able to set preferences on whether I wanted Staples to send me emails or not, along with if I wanted my log in information remembered for future transactions. I was also given the Staples phone number incase I wished to order without creating an account.

Following this I entered shipping information and was given the option of adding delivery comments such as leave with neighbor, or put on back porch. Finally I submitted my credit card information and again saw that I did not owe for shipping. I confirmed, received a receipt to print and later a copy of order in my email.

Shipping:
Shipping is free on orders over $50. Staples ships UPS and offers tracking on all orders. Customized items have different shipping costs. I had a hard time finding shipping costs for items under $50. Although, in experimenting with putting a cheap item into the shopping cart it seems that items under $50 have a flat rate of $7.95 for delivery.

Tracking and Customer Service:
Within minutes I received an email that had a link to tracking through UPS. In tracking my order, I observed that my chairs were being sent in two separate boxes. I was able to view when the items arrived to the local UPS and when they were out for delivery. One of my boxes waited for my on my doorstep. I was confused why the second one was not delivered as it too had arrived locally according to the tracking log. I called Staples and the representative told me the other box may be on a different truck and to call back the following day if it was not received.

The next day I looked at my tracking and saw that the box had been delivered elsewhere. I could not understand why UPS would give my chair away, but my husband said it probably was delivered with a truck full of stuff and no one noticed the mistake. I called Staples Customer Service back and the woman verified my item had gone elsewhere. The representative was very apologetic and sent a new chair out that day, which I received in two days time.

Received Order:
The chairs were both packaged well and ready for assembly. I have been using them two months now and they have met my expectations.

Recommendation:
I recommend Staples Online Store for anyone looking for office supplies.

If you are a teacher, company, or big office supply spender then Rewards Points can easily add up for new supplies saving money.

The website is designed for browsing if you are not sure what you are looking for or to search for the item you want. Navigation is easy and the Online Store is user friendly.

Free shipping makes it shopping for heavy items easier and cheaper than going to the store. I may have had problems with delivery, but the customer service representative was courteous and quickly solved the problem.