The CEO of Office Depot reveals how the company is planning to grow beyond its stores to compete in the next era of retail
- Office Depot CEO Gerry Smith told Business Insider that he believes the future of retail will require an omnichannel approach.
- Smith spoke with Business Insider about what's next for Office Depot.
- The CEO highlighted the retailer's shift from selling office products to offering a range of business and tech services.
Office Depot CEO Gerry Smith could tell the audience wasn't quite buying his speech at his first ever company town hall.
"The company hadn't grown in years, and I walked onstage at my first town hall, in front of all our employees, and said, 'We're going to grow this company,'" Smith told Business Insider in a recent interview.
That was about a year and a half ago. The office supplies retailer was still reeling from the collapse of a planned merger with Staples, the departure of its previous CEO Roland Smith, and a string of seven quarters plagued by declining sales, shuttered stores, and intense competition from Amazon.
Smith told Business Insider that he and his team worked to pivot Office Depot to a more omnichannel approach, leveraging its 28.8 million-strong customer base through three distinct avenues: retail stores, online sales, and B2B options.
And since Smith's first town hall meeting, the company has undergone a financial turnaround.
Last week, Office Depot reported that same-store sales were up 5% for the third quarter, and it's beaten earnings expectations for the past several quarters.
Smith spoke to Business Insider about doubling down on the omnichannel approach.
"It's really about the next evolution of our business, not just as a retailer, but a true omnichannel company that sells business products and services to large companies, small companies, small offices, and home offices across the country," Smith said.
On all of those fronts, Smith said that his company has one asset in particular that sets it apart: its supply chain. Smith said that Office Depot's infrastructure allows it to compete against e-commerce rivals and even gain an edge when it comes to last-mile delivery.
"I was very excited when I came on board and realized, 'Wow, I've got an asset that very few people have,'" Smith told Business Insider.
Office Depot has further attempted to expand its range of offerings through Workonomy, the company's new business-services platform. Workonomy also includes a coworking space in Los Gatos, California. Smith said that the company plans to roll out more coworking stations in areas where there's a market for the service.
"My vision is that Office Depot doesn't provide just office products or just tech services with our CompuCom acquisition," Smith said. "I want to go partner with people who can bring an array of products to companies, because we want to own that customer relationship, we want to give them a great experience, and, most importantly, we want them to grow."
He added that the Workonomy venture has given his business more insight into what customers really want.
"People want a community," he said. "Smalls businesses want a community. They really want a one-stop shopping experience, and they want expertise and someone to talk to."
Through CompuCom and Workonomy, not to mention the company's in-store, online, and B2B channels, Smith said he believes Office Depot is setting itself up to serve customers as both an office supplies retailer and a business and tech services provider.
"We think that because of our unique omnichannel approach, we can be that company that provides that for people," he added. "We talked to customers. They say, 'This is great, because I want to go be a chef. I want to go cook. I don't want to worry about accounting or my server going down or wondering how I generate my website or my logo.' We can do that for them."