Staples Launches Multi-Page Tablet Section to Support Strong Push into Tablet Business

After a stutter start in the tablet business last fall, Staples is taking the nascent category head-on with an online section dedicated to tablet technology, and plans to field a lineup of half a dozen models “over the next few months,” the company said Thursday. Staples launched its tablet business in November with a 10-inch Viewsonic model (CED Nov 22 p8) then it pulled a month later citing a “manufacturing defect” that it attributed to a glitch in the Android software.

"Viewsonic was a good first step for the tablet market,” Peter Scala, general merchandising manager of office technology at Staples, told Consumer Electronics Daily. “The product wasn’t quite right at time, so we felt like we should move through that product as quickly as we could to get ready for the new products ready to launch soon.” From that experience, they learned it’s important to be able to articulate to consumers “the difference between what you're getting in a full computer versus a tablet and how it will complement your mobile communications device as well.” Customers have questions about whether a tablet replaces a computer, what a tablet can and can’t do, and what software is supported, he said. “Getting them into the right product is very important,” he said.

At Staples stores and online, the Motorola Xoom, currently on shelves, will be joined next month by three versions of the BlackBerry PlayBook along with the Dell Streak 7 tablet. The company is taking-pre-orders for all four now. The Staples website gives a generous window for delivery of the Streak 7, citing business delivery between April 4 and April 13 for customers who pre-order the device. The same window applies for delivery of the 64-gigabyte Playbook ($699) and shipping dates are April 18-20 for the 32-gigabyte ($599) and 16-gigabyte ($499) Playbooks. The site also lists HP and Toshiba as future suppliers with no pre-order option yet. Scala wouldn’t say how many tablet SKUs Staples is planning, but told us, “We'll have all the big guys when they launch.” After evaluating initial results, “we'll see how much more we have to go from there."

Apple, which has been highly restrictive with distribution of the iPad, isn’t part of Staples’ tablet plans, Scala said. “Today we don’t have Apple and I don’t expect to have them any time soon,” he said, “but this is the technology industry and things change rapidly.” Instead, Staples is positioning itself as a “tablet destination for other brands,” and he said new brands coming out under the Android OS will “do great.” Scala referred to the mobile handset market where Android phones are gaining ground on the iPhone and said, “I fully expect it to be a very competitive marketplace with lots of growth potential and opportunity for lots of brands to do well."

To get there, consumer education will be key to fueling consumer interest. Toward that end, Staples’ Tablet Center is a designated landing page on the company’s consumer website (www.staples.com/tablets) where consumers can compare models available for purchase and pre-order, learn about tablets in general and compare Android and BlackBerry operating systems. “This is a new category that didn’t exist before so it’s important for us as a tablet destination to provide all the information for customers to make the best decision,” Scala said. The website information will be available via kiosks and computers in Staples stores, and tablet displays will be powered and interactive so consumers can access information on tablets while they're in the store, Scala said.

The sales message for tablets is “instant on, instant access” and a way to “bring your desktop with you in an easy, portable way,” Scala said. The retailer will position the devices as a better portable computing experience for entertainment and productivity compared with smartphones due to the larger screen. Android’s multi-tasking capability provides a “much richer experience” that’s easy to demonstrate to shoppers, he said. Although in some cases, tablets are “as powerful as a computer,” Scala said the retailer isn’t cutting back on its stock of laptops. “A tablet doesn’t provide all the productivity that a computer provides,” he said. “It’s an additional product in the tech portfolio, not a replacement for a PC. … It would be foolish for us to expect that there won’t be a little dip in sales initially when these start to roll in a big way. But we still see quite robust demand for PCs today, and we believe there will be robust demand in the future."

Competitor Office Max also announced on Thursday plans to carry the three versions of the BlackBerry Playbook, with sales beginning April 19. Office Max stores currently carry the 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab for $549 but it was not available from Office Max online when we checked Thursday. Office Max lists the Galaxy tablet as an “in-store-only” purchase under the laptop section of its website. Questions to the company about strategic plans for tablet sales weren’t answered by our deadline.