Office Depot Eases Online Transactions

DELRAY BEACH, FL -- Office Depot announced that it has successfully completed the requirements for Ariba's Ariba Ready designation for online transactions with buyers. Office Depot has demonstrated its integration abilities to the Ariba Supplier Network and provides scalable, repeatable processes for transacting with, and providing content to, buyers using the Ariba Buyer procurement solution, according to a Business Wire release.

Office Depot continues to lead its industry in providing electronic solutions for customers to improve their procurement processes through eProcurement. These external interface solutions are used by many major corporations for efficient web-based procurement. To date, Office Depot has effectively integrated over 800 major corporations through these 3rd party solutions.

Office Depot will utilize Ariba PunchOut, allowing customers to "punch out" from the Ariba Buyer solution to Office Depot's web store front to gather real-time purchasing information, before returning to the Ariba procurement solution to complete the purchase. Ariba PunchOut provides a seamless interface between the end-user's procurement environment and Office Depot's online customer management systems.

"We are pleased to have earned the Ariba Ready designation as it is the latest example of our ability to provide our customers with an integrated shopping experience," said Monica Luechtefeld, evp of global e-commerce for Office Depot. "This designation is sought out by those who use Ariba Buyer, assuring them that they will be able to easily implement their eProcurement solutions with Office Depot."

"For many Ariba customers, office supplies is often the first category of spend they want to get under management, so it's important they can connect with a supplier who understands their needs, and can keep pace with advances in Enterprise Spend Management solutions," said Cindy Elkins, vp supplier programs, Ariba. "Office Depot has not only increased its business opportunities by being more readily accessible to thousands of buyers who are already using Ariba Spend Management solutions, but also by providing solutions such as Ariba PunchOut to enhance their customers' purchasing experience."

Ariba Ready is an Ariba initiative to provide a special designation for suppliers who have demonstrated the ability to effectively transact with and provide content to organizations using Ariba Buyer through Ariba Supplier Network. The program helps suppliers communicate their capabilities by acting as a common standard for integration and enablement that all Ariba SN participants can understand and value. Suppliers can self-test their content and integration abilities through the Ariba Ready portal.

Office Depot is the cover story in the November issue of Retail Merchandiser. Stay tuned.