The office supply industry has a large number of players with a high diversity of rivals. Competition is very furies between them because the office supply industry is so divers in product and services they provide; they include high volume office supply, warehouse clubs, online retailers, copy and print businesses, discount retailers and local and regional contract stationers. The large number of competitors in this industry, along with a lack of product differences, with low switching coast for buyers and the ability of the buyers to shop around the internet for the best price. Had made this industry growth to become very slow.
source http://360.datamonitor.com/Product?pid=4CA55D31-18F9-44E1-BB86-D1E5E5306887 Rivalry
Figure 9: Drivers of degree of rivalry in the office services & supplies market in the United
States, 2010
Players range in size and product diversity; they include high-volume office supply providers (e.g.
Staples), warehouse clubs (e.g. Costco), copy and print businesses (e.g. FedEx Office), online retailers
(e.g. Amazon.com), ink cartridge specialty stores, discount retailers, as well as several local and regional contract stationers. The large number of players, along with low-cost switching for buyers, low product differentiation, easy expansion by utilizing the internet, and poor market growth in recent years, intensifies rivalry amongst incumbents. This is ameliorated somewhat by the diversity displayed in the product portfolio of some players, such as online retailers and discount retailers, who operate in other markets and are therefore not solely reliant on the revenues generated from the office services and supplies market. Relatively low storage costs and the non-specificity of players’ assets lowers barriers to exit and eases rivalry. Overall, rivalry is strong.
FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS
The office services & supplies market will be analyzed taking retailers of paper,