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Office supply sales attach fun factor

By Mark Albright, Times Staff Writer
In print: Tuesday, May 20, 2008

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Stores that sell bulk food and candy know people buy more by the handful. So Staples is deploying kiosks filled with grab-able office essentials.

They come equipped with plastic containers to fill with 16 types of novelty paper clips, binder clasps in wild patterns and neon push-pins. A filled small container is $5.99; a big one is $9.99.

"Office basics are boring," said Andrew Schneider, Staples brand development director. "This plays to people's sense of self-expression."

In tests, shoppers spent up to 10 minutes picking over the piles for favorites. Surveys said 55 percent of office workers think stylish supplies get them noticed. No word on messy desks.

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Fed up with those annoying "dial 1 if you want service" phone trees? Check out gethuman.com, which lists toll-free customer service numbers for hundreds of companies. The beauty part? The site reveals the codes insiders use to get directly to a real person.

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Traffic to the IRS Web site soared 124 percent the first week in May as taxpayers tried to find out how much their economic stimulus check is projected to be, says Hitwise, which tracks search traffic. Then 11 percent went to a bank site, most likely to confirm a direct deposit. Another 11 percent came to the IRS from a bank site, presumably to find out if that's all they're getting.

Mark Albright can be reached at albright@sptimes.com or

(727) 893-8252.