The Warehouse Store Run Revisited

It’s a sunny Friday afternoon.   Sitting on your desk from Monday is list of office supplies that you have managed to put off ordering all week.

Now you find yourself dashing off across town on a warehouse store run.   You snag a parking spot in a far corner and walk in.  The vastness of the store momentarily surprises you.  The new items placed strategically at the entrance catch your eye.  The smells from the samples remind you that you have not eaten lunch.  Are those cream puffs???

An hour or so later you come to your senses.  You walk out with enough pens, legal pads and facial tissue to last until the following spring.

Did this warehouse store run really save your company money?  You have just spent two or more hours picking up a handful of items that you could have ordered in just a few minutes by calling your local office supply company.  It is very likely that your time, opportunity, and transportation costs outweigh the cost savings of purchasing these bulk items.

You could also be paying an employee several hours of wages and mileage reimbursement rather than for the 15 minutes it would take them to order supplies from their desk.  You also have the increased risk of the employee being in an accident or getting hurt loading, unloading and putting away the supplies.

Purchasing from your local office supply company will allow you to purchase the quantity of items you actually need, most likely with free delivery right to your stock room.  You also will have a much better assortment of products to choose from.  If it is bulk you want, smaller office supply companies also sell in bulk quantities and offer savings for doing so.

These are some factors to consider before your next warehouse run.