OFFICE POLITICS

convert existing businesses to its brand.

The retailer has been one of the lucky businesses to benefit from the change in work and shopping patterns through the pandemic.

Smith says the retail chain has had a ‘bonanza’ with online sales and deliveries.

“Before this started we all thought Covid would be doom,” he says.

The reality proved otherwise, as work-from-home rules saw employees setting up a mirror image of their office which required printers and copiers that they didn’t transport from the workplace.

“A good example in March was that online ordering multiplied by five, that’s big dollars. In-store traffic has slowed but enquiries and deliveries have gone through the roof,” he explains. “Last time this happened was with the 2007-8 stimulus package.”

While Smith acknowledges this bonanza has a time limit, the figures are still looking good for the business, he says.

“The big bubble will burst, it will calm down. This year to last year though, even taking out Covid, we will be ahead of the curve.”

The pandemic crisis has also proved to be a shortcut in gaining new corporate and healthcare customers who would otherwise take hours of hard work to bring on board.