Survey Says: Moms Looking for Deals and Value for Back-to-School Shopping
OfficeMax National Survey of Moms Shows Heightened Cost Awareness and Demand for Products That Provide Cost Savings and Quality
NAPERVILLE, Ill., July 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- OfficeMax( )Incorporated (NYSE: OMX), a leader in office products and services, today released the findings of its 2009 Back-to-School Shopping Survey of more than 1,000 moms around the country polled to understand their needs and desires for back-to-school shopping. A resounding consensus among moms is the need for value with school supplies - 70 percent of moms surveyed say they are worried about the cost of all the supplies on their child's school list.
"Our survey findings show that today's challenging economy has parents paying closer attention to the costs of going back-to-school and scrutinizing every purchase on the back-to-school list from clothes to shoes to school supply list and are getting more creative in finding ways to save money," said OfficeMax EVP and Chief Merchandising Officer Ryan Vero. "But price alone isn't the only factor. This year, moms are considering a number of factors, from where and when they shop to whether the products they select provide both a good price and good quality for sustained use."
Addressing a major concern of availability, OfficeMax has focused on providing a wide selection of high-demand school supplies to alleviate the stressful urgency usually affiliated with back-to-school shopping and giving moms more control over when and how they shop.
In recent years, OfficeMax has introduced several private label product categories as a great solution for getting desired quality at a favorable cost. OfficeMax offers one of the largest assortments of private label in office supplies that meet or even exceed national brand product quality and, in general, cost less than national brand products. OfficeMax's popular back-to-school private label product line is Schoolio Von Hoolio and this year is offering two exclusive design patterns - Cupcake and Darling.
"Across the board, today's savvy shoppers are looking to private label product lines as a great way to get quality products at a more affordable cost," said Vero. "The trend has historically been more visible in other retail categories, but is quickly transferring to the supplies category as a great way to find better value."
OfficeMax retail stores provide local school supply lists as a convenience for shoppers and offer a complete range of supplies, technology products and peripherals, and printing and copying services to fully prepare both kids and parents for a successful new school season.
To view a recap of OfficeMax's Back-to-School Shopping Survey findings please click here.
About OfficeMax
OfficeMax Incorporated (NYSE: OMX) is a leader in both business-to-business office products solutions and retail office equipment. The OfficeMax mission is simple. We help our customers do their best work. The company provides office supplies and paper, in-store print and document services through OfficeMax ImPress((R)), technology products and solutions, and office furniture to consumers and to large, medium and small businesses. OfficeMax customers are served by more than 30,000 associates through direct sales, catalogs, e-commerce and more than 1,000 stores. For more information, visit OfficeMax.com.
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