Office Depot Inc. is partnering with California startup Deliv to roll out same-day delivery in three major markets, including South Florida.
The Boca Raton-based office supplies retailer (Nasdaq: ODP) on Monday announced that it would begin the service Aug. 28 in Atlanta and Los Angeles, and Sept. 6 in the Fort Lauderdale/Miami area. The service is expected to roll out in more markets by the end of the year.
“With our new same-day delivery and our omnichannel approach, we are utilizing our retail stores as assets and part of our supply chain to give our customers the best possible experience,” said Gerry Smith, chief executive officer of of Office Depot.
Orders on officedepot.com can be scheduled for same-day delivery between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m., 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. or 5 p.m. to 8 p.m, depending on what time they’re ordered. The company is waiving the same-day delivery fee for a limited time.
“Office Depot is now providing businesses with the type of service customers expect,” said Daphne Carmeli, chief executive officer and founder at Deliv. “I am pleased that Deliv was chosen as its partner to power this new offering.”
With its latest move, Office Depot seems to be taking notes from on-demand leader Amazon.com. The online retail giant leads the pack of fastest-growing retailers with a 192 percent sales growth since 2011, according to the National Retail Federation.
Office Depot cites Amazon as one of the companies disrupting its profitability, along with the likes of BestBuy Co. Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The South Florida company’s latest changes, including its CEO and key leadership, point to more a web-focused business model as it continues to shutter stores and slow its profit losses.
In today’s announcement, the company called itself an “office supplies, business products and services delivered through an omnichannel platform” rather than simply a leader in the office supply space.
“Retail is undergoing a rapid transformation,” said Kevin Moffitt, senior vice president and chief digital officer at Office Depot. “To exceed our customers’ increasing expectations, we continue to enhance our omnichannel shopping experience. Adding same-day delivery capabilities to our growing in-store pickup and ship-from-store programs allows us to better leverage our retail locations as distribution hubs, and serve our customers faster and more efficiently.”
Office Depot ended the first quarter of 2017 with 1,439 stores after closing 400 stores between 2014 and 2016. The company plans to close 75 stores this year.
