EYE on RETAIL: Office Depot leans on tech

One of Office Depot’s technology vendors is pointing to substantial efficiency gains for the office-supply retailer.

With Zebra Workcloud Scheduling software, Office Depot has cut overtime costs by 95%, reduced time spent scheduling from approximately three hours to 30 minutes a week and saved 6% in payroll annually, said the vendor, Zebra Technologies.

Zebra’s Workcloud Task Management software has helped Office Depot improve operational efficiency so its 13,000 store associates across 1,500 stores can spend more time serving customers. Store managers can prioritize and divide associate tasks, giving associates a clear overview of what they need to do, what they completed, and what’s next on their task lists - all from the palm of their hands.

Office Depot is based in Boca Raton, Fla., and employs 13,000 store associates across 1,500 locations.

Scheduling, tasks, and reporting have helped associates to be more efficient while field leaders have access to clear real-time reporting along with compliance and completion rates, enabling them to highlight areas of success and improvement across stores.

Office Depot is also using Zebra’s  Workcloud Scheduling software to bolster store managers’ capacity to streamline scheduling to ensure associates with the right skills are available to serve customers at the right time while aligning with store labor budgets. Using this solution, Office Depot has reduced overtime costs by 95%, lowered time spent scheduling from approximately three hours to 30 minutes a week and saved 6% in payroll annually.