rent success, Office Depot must remain on top of the changing technology and expand its already established Internet ordering system. Customers, at the present time, can look through an online catalog, place an order and have it shipped directly to their home or office. Several companies, like the telecommunication company, GTE, have contracted with Office Depot in order to offer discounts of up to forty percent to their employees when they place their orders online. With this service comes the guarantee that the order can be picked up at any store with in two hours. With technology comes a need for extreme efficiency so that products reach the consumer as quickly as possible. Office Depot currently maintains this demand by operating a national business to business delivery network that includes over 2,000 trucks, 1,000 account managers, 30 customer service centers, more than 60 local sales offices and seven regional call centers. This national business to business delivery network is part of Office Depot's Business Services Group (BSG). This group caters to the needs of the delivery customer. Delivery sales through BSG are Office Depot's second largest contributor of sales and operating profit. The second major strategic plan that Office Depot must implement is to continue to expand into markets that have not been tapped by other companies in the industry. In August of 1998, Office Depot completed its purchase of Viking Office Products, one of the industry's leading direct mail marketers of office products. This merger has helped Office Depot's total sales for the first quarter of 2000 increase 17% to $3.1 billion from the $2.6 billion reported for the same period in 1999. Through this wholly owned subsidiary, Office Depot now has operations in 19 countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Columbia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Thailan...
