Office supplies & stationary industry has seen a remarkable
growth in the past few years with the USA being the front runner in the
competition. This huge industry comprises establishments which are
primarily engaged in the production of wholesaling stationery, office
supplies & gift wrappings. The US Stationery & Office Supplies
Wholesaling industry is gravely involved in the distribution of a wide
range of office products especially paper stationery products to
retailers which boasts of supermarkets, resellers, office supplies &
stationery retailers, general merchandise stores, etc.
Infact, the industry's revenue in the year 2007 was approximately $8.1
billion USD with an estimated gross profit of 22.59%. The industry's
import was valued at around $.7 billion USD from its 56 exporting
countries. USA even exported $1.1 billion USD worth of merchandise to
approximately 107 countries. Therefore, the total domestic demand for
the industry in 2007 came to about $7.7 billion USD after adding the
import value to & the subsequent subtraction of the export value
from the industry's shipment value.
In a nutshell, the wholesale & retail distribution of office paper &
office related accessories help in generating annual sales of about $55
billion every year in the US alone. Large scale companies featuring
contract stationers, wholesale-retail chains, small dealers & mail
order companies are active sellers on the web market.
It was noted that the entire industry has actually become concentrated
with 50 largest wholesalers holding for about 70 percent of the market.
A particular regional distributor actually held an annual revenue close
to $30 million. The industry's demand is closely tied to the level of
the business activities. Infact, the profitability of individual
companies depends on merchandising & an efficient delivery system.
Wherein, the big companies have economies of scale in distribution as
they are capable of supplying a wide range of products to the same
customer, the small companies as well are in a position to compete
successfully by distributing specialty products or providing superior
customer service. These operations are highly automated & within the
industry's wholesale segment, the annual revenue per employee is
approximately about $300,000.
