Especially since we had our own delivery centers and delivery trucks. The company was up against some timing pressures. Also, the high season for office supply retailers is the first quarter of the year, and the company wanted to be ready with its site to meet demand. Most important, however, Office Depot prided itself on its entrepreneurial culture and didn't think it needed to ruminate over decisions that had obvious benefits to customers. If people wanted to buy online, the company felt it had to make it happen.
Some decisions are purely strategic.
Besides, says Seltzer, with no way to predict what kinds of sales would be generated through such a new medium, any ROI analysis would be guesswork. Doing without one saved the company three to four months in getting the website up and running. It was pretty much an act of faith in our industry and our technology. We may have been working 17 hours a day, seven days a week through Thanksgiving and the holidays, but this gave people something to focus on, which was huge. Seltzer insists there was method to the madness.