Home-office became the new normal in almost every country around the world amidst the coronavirus crisis. As traditional offices remain with almost no occupancy and most paperwork is migrating to digital platforms, there has been a decline in demand for core stationery products, such as pens and paper. In the meantime, sales and demand have shifted towards home offices and standalone desks, headphones, monitors, and similar equipment. The U.S. and Europe are the industry’s top mature markets, driven by the trend of online ordering. Latin America and Asia-Pacific, on the other hand, are low maturity regions where global players do not have a strong presence, thus presenting a significant potential market for expansion and development.
The size of the global office supply market was projected to grow and reach over 270 billion U.S. dollars in 2025. In the U.S., one of the industry’s more mature markets, office supplies and stationery stores revenue has shown a downward trend since 2012 and will continue to do so. By 2024, market revenues in the North American country were estimated to reach a total of 8.2 billion U.S. dollars.
U.S. office stationery wholesale industry revenueThe industry's segments encompass stationery, school supplies, and office supplies, in combination with PCs, office equipment, and furniture. In the United Kingdom, manufacturer sales of pencils, paperboard binders, folders, envelopes, and notebooks have shown an overall downward trend in the past years. Instead, through a push by digitalization and a shift in demand towards home offices, global spending on devices like PCs and printers is expected to increase at least until 2022.
Back to school marketConsumer convenience, easy payments, and lower costs are some of the reasons why online sales present immense benefits and growth opportunities for the industry. Moreover, the increasing demand for recyclable stationery products is another major trend driving market growth. More and more end-users are opting for eco-friendly products driving suppliers to reinvent themselves into eco-friendly entities.
Global market value of green packagingWith geographical presence in North America, Europe, Australia, Asia, and few countries in Latin America, Staples and Office Depot are amongst the leaders in the office supplies industry. Jointly, they generated a revenue of over 14 billion U.S. dollars, however, they were easily surpassed by Amazon. As the world further transforms into a digitized environment, Amazon’s office supplies category is grabbing more wallet share among customers. Other top players include 3M, Alibaba, and Walmart.
AmazonThis industry is comprised of establishments primarily engaged in one or more of the following: retailing new stationery, school supplies, and office supplies; retailing a combination of new office equipment, furniture, and supplies; and retailing new office equipment, furniture, and supplies in combination with selling new computers. Statista offers information about industry leaders and their key financial indicators, industry revenues, number of office supplies stores, and number of employees.
Mon - Fri, 9am - 6pm (EST)
Mon - Fri, 11:30am - 10pm (IST)
Mon - Fri, 9:30am - 5:30pm (JST)
Mon - Fri, 9:30am - 5pm (GMT)
Mon - Fri, 9am - 6pm (EST)
