Staples Australia and New Zealand has announced a rebranding and service-oriented pivot following Platinum Equity’s acquisition of the local division earlier this year.

The company will be retitled ‘Winc’, a name the company said was derived from the term “work incorporated”, and is expected to represent a “breakaway from traditional competitors” as the company adjusts its focus to more than just office product reselling.

Winc will continue to serve Staples ANZ’s more than 26,000 customers, including banks, telcos and healthcare providers from sites across both Australia and New Zealand.

Chief executive Darren Fullerton said the brand was “designed to bring a breath of fresh air to an industry that has been historically quite traditional and predictable”.

“It represents our shift from offering products to providing solutions and inspiring a better way for workers and learners to get things done. By its nature, it also gives us the ability to flex and add adjacent solutions and offerings to meet our customers’ needs both now and into the future,” he said.

Changes to the business also include investments in its supply chain, digital experience and a new service to help businesses monitor the performance of their company, heralding “the start of a complete change to the customer experience”, according to Fullerton.

“It is more than defending disruption from the likes of Amazon, it’s about developing our ability to see around corners and fully anticipate customer needs. We are also investing in a best-in-class digital experience, complete with artificial intelligence and full automation to remove friction in the cart process and provide smart insights to customers,” Fullerton said.

“Our competitive edge sits in our deep domain expertise. With our new customer insight report, called The Winc Review, we will provide a new level of insight and data for our customers into their own supply chain, innovation, compliance, cost management and sustainability. This information will, in turn, allow them to improve the overall health of their business in these critical areas.”

Fuller also spoke of strengthening the company’s delivery service, which was a point of pride for the business.

“Our drivers know our customers’ personally – in many cases they see them every day with a straight-to-desk-and-doorstep delivery experience. You don’t get this experience when you buy straight from an e-Commerce site. This is something our customers in Australia and New Zealand have told us time again that they value and we are making investments to make this experience even better,” he said.

The company will officially be known as Winc from 4 September.

|  A CrowdZ release  || August 7,  2017   |||