The assessment is based on the perspective of a variety of industryexecutives, including manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and a wealthof third party and secondary research sources. This report includes factand opinion-based information and is presented with charts, discussion, andanalysis that describes and assesses the raw data.

• The information in this study pertains to the U.S. market for School andOffice Products
• The analysis of the market is based on the end-user dollars spent bycustomers in the industry, or sometimes referred to as the "retail market."However, "retail" is a misnomer in this case, as retail consumers representonly one customer group, in addition to institutional customers, contractcustomers, and direct customers (customers purchasing directly frommanufacturers or manufacturers' reps). Essentially, this represents thetotal cumulative sales of all retailers, institutional dealers anddistributors, contract stationers, office product wholesalers and dealers,mail order houses/catalogs, and Internet web sites with e-commerce. This isin contrast to the market for wholesale shipments, which would represent thesum of manufacturers' sales of the industry's products
• Issues that are addressed in the present regarding the industry's sizerefer to the calendar year 2001, unless otherwise stated
• This report assesses products used only for school, home office andtraditional office uses, and it does not include household products that areused for daily living, decorative, or home improvement purposes (i.e.,housewares, kitchen, bath, cooking, garden, etc.)

This market analysis doesn't depict the total of manufacturer salesThe SHOPA Strategic Overview and Distribution Trends Report, Volume 7,depicts a market size based on the sum of manufacturer shipments (i.e.,wholesale dollars) for school and office products. According to that study,for which the market size data was collected in 1997, the projected marketsize for 2000 was $132 billion in the U.S. That market size should not becompared as "apples-to-apples" with the market size presented in thisreport, since this report depicts end-user dollars spent (as noted above),as opposed to manufacturer sales.

In addition to market size determination, the basis for market segmentationby distribution channel is slightly different in this report than theDistribution Trends Report. This report includes E-commerce andInstitutional as separate and distinct channels, and it separates DirectMail/Catalog from the Commercial channel (which were combined in thedistribution trends report). As well, the retail channel in this reportincludes all retail outlets. Therefore, it represents a greater market thanthe Distribution Trends Report, since some retail channels were groups inthe "Other" category in that report.Research methodologyAcclaro Growth Partners conducted the research for this study through theuse of data from both primary as well as secondary sources.

Acclaro Growth Partners gathered the data and conclusions presented withinthis document for SHOPA and its members through analysis of primary andsecondary research.

The primary survey included interviews with knowledgeable professionals viatelephone, email or fax. Primary data such as market information,statistics, articles and relevant documents and opinion on strategic issueswas requested from these professionals. The telephone interviews wereconducted by engaging the respondents in a conversation rather than througha traditional survey format. This approach allowed the respondents to offercandid opinion regarding the issues and provided more detailed andqualitative insights.

The secondary research was used primarily to obtain an overview of themarket, relevant statistics, the different industry segments and players toidentify the target professionals for primary research. The secondarysources used in this report include:

• Government data
• Industry association data
• Information published by manufacturers, distributors, retailers,regulators, consultants, research firms, and other industry participants
• Published information and annual reports on company websites
• News and economic data published by independent news agencies andinformation portals
• Online databases

SHOPA Market Research also provided input into this report by providingvarious data based on secondary data sources such as the U.S. Department ofEducation, Small Business Administration, and other consultative services /associations as noted.

Not much information was available through secondary research specific todifferent segments of the industry; hence the report relies mainly on theprimary survey. The challenges faced while gathering information for thereport were as follows:

• For the purposes of this study, we defined the market for School andOffice Products to include the product categories outlined by the School,Home, and Office Products Association (SHOPA) that are used in school,home-school, home-office, and office environments. However this definitionvaries across different industry associations and industry players. Hencethe information collected from different industry participants was notnecessary as per our definition
• During our research on the market size for different product categories,some of the industry participants were not able to give us exact percentageshare of the sales going to home products category (home office and homeschool). Rather they classified the products under two broad categoriesi.e., office and school. We have used views of industry experts duringprimary research and published figures on over all growth in the homeproducts segment to arrive at the market size of the home products segment
• During both primary and secondary research, it was difficult to getspecific numbers on market size and growth rate of different industrysegments. Many industry sources and respondents during the primary researchtend to agree on the overall market size of the industry as $300 billion forthe financial year 2000. However they tend to vary on their estimates forthe size of different segments for 2001 and the growth rate thereafter
• We have relied heavily on primary research to derive the growth rate ofdifferent industry segments and the overall market size in terms of end userdollars spent as very little data was available on it through the secondarysources

The research for this report was conducted over a five-week period fromApril to May 2002.

Table of contents:
Introduction

• Description Of The Report
• The Scope Of The Report
• This Market Analysis Doesn’t Depict The Total Of Manufacturer Sales
• Research Methodology
• Primary Research
• Secondary Research
• Key Challenges
• Research Timeframe
• Introduction To Acclaro Growth Partners

Executive Summary

• Industry Size Analysis
• Industry Segmentation Analysis By Product Areas
• Industry Segmentation By Distribution Channel
• Industry Growth Analysis
• Overall Market Growth
• Factors Affecting Growth

Industry Trends And Key Industry Drivers

1. Multi-Channel Participants
2. Proliferation Of Retailers Offering A Limited Assortment Of Office Products
3. Increasing Trend Of Home Offices
4. School And Enrollment Growth
5. Back To School Market Importance
6. E-Commerce Channel Diverting Sales From Catalog And Contract And Commercial
7. Other Trends

Key Factors For Successful Participation In The Industry

1. Rebuilding Consumer Confidence
2. Efficient Inventory Management (Retail)
3. Becoming Multi-Channel
4. Timely Synergetic Acquisition And Cost Saving At Operational Level Is The Key To Survival For Players In The Institutional Channel

Opportunities And Challenges For Industry Participants

• Opportunities
• Challenges

Description Of The Report

• Scope
• Research Methodology
• Research Timeframe