by Angela Guess
Kim S. Nash recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “Staples Inc., facing tough competition in office supplies from online players, rolled out a new system Tuesday that taps natural language processing and machine learning. The Staples Easy System lets business customers reorder products through a mobile app or its familiar red ‘easy’ button outfitted with sensors, wireless networking and voice-response technology. The Wi-Fi-enabled red button communicates with an ordering system integrated with the customer’s account information and purchasing history to process the request. Using natural language processing software, the system behind the button translates spoken words and makes order confirmations via voice. Custom-built analytics comb a customer’s purchasing history to suggest brands and amounts, based on past orders. The new Easy System mobile app can also make orders by voice or by tapping and typing.”
Nash goes on, “The intent is to fit purchasing into the typical way a company works, rather than require that customers return to their desks to access a special application for ordering, said Shira Goodman, president of North American operations.Staples has seen tough competition in office supplies from online players. Sales were down 6% for the year ended Jan. 30, to $21.1 billion from $22.5 billion the year before. Corporate, as opposed to consumer, sales account for 80% of Staples’ business and the majority of the company’s online sales, Ms. Goodman said. Before building the system, a team of coders, designers and product managers visited business customers to observe how orders for fresh supplies get generated, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to single entrepreneurs, said Ryan Bartley, director of mobile and applied innovation.”
Photo credit: Staples