You might look forward to or avoid placing a business Stationery order, depending on who you are and how you feel about stationery. There are always so many items to include, and it can be a big responsibility to cater to the needs of everyone in the business. If you are tasked with putting together a business stationery order, here is your guide to creating a checklist so that this task can be completed efficiently every time. Now let’s get started!
The Right Suppliers
Finding a quality wholesale Stationary supplier should be your highest priority as this is going to get you access to a broader selection of goods and will also extend wholesale prices. Wholesalers have a range that far exceeds the average stationery retailer, including basic products to specialized items. Most wholesale suppliers will have a minimum order for most goods, which really covers the wholesale prices that are being offered and makes the order worth the shipment. Be clear on what the minimum order is before you go to order or take orders from your colleagues.
A quality wholesaler will also have other product lines that may go beyond the standard stationary items, so take a look at what is on offer to see if you can shop for other Office goods through one supplier. Ideally, you will use a wholesaler that is based in your country of residence so you can have prompt delivery and see inventory levels in real-time.
Stationary Essentials
While all businesses vary, there are typically the same stationary essentials found in most office environments. These include pens, notebooks, whiteboard markers, folders, highlighters, rulers, tape, staplers, plastic sleeves, post-it notes, and coloured pens. If your business has creatives who require items like A3 sketch pads and specialized pens and pencils, then you might also wish to add this to your stationery order.
Printer cartridges and printer toner will also be part of the stationary order for most offices, and this order should be carefully considered if there is one person ordering this for the entire large office. The last thing you want is to be without printing access, so it may be worth ordering a large volume to begin with and assessing usage over a few months so you can accurately gauge what usage is and order accordingly thereafter.
If you are not actually sure what the stationery essentials are for your specific company, then send a survey around to your colleagues to gauge what items they use on a daily basis and what items are used less frequently. This will allow you to better understand the wider needs of your business.
Storage Solutions
You might think that a stationary checklist will only include pens and paper, but you can also satisfy your storage needs too. Look for things like filing cabinets, storage buckets, draw units, and other storage furniture items. If you do not require anything so drastic, you might be able to explore storage solutions like in-trays, folders, and hard-plastic pouches. In fact, these storage solutions are going to make containing your stationery items more manageable and will reduce the chance of you re-ordering something that you already have that is not visible to you or your colleagues.
Wide Inventory Across Departments
If you are ordering stationery for a large company, then you need to consider all the different departments. Office administration teams have success with extending order forms to each department to fill out so that company orders can be placed for the entire office at once. Be sure to order a small margin over the requested amount to account for new employees and departments that have not included all the necessary items. You may wish to give departments a budget, so they do not go overboard and only select essential items.
Now opening up stationary orders to other departments should come with a caveat - there is only one person who does the ordering. The last thing you want to do is have several orders placed and pay for postage many times over when you could have just paid it once.
Eco-friendly Products
If you are looking to reduce the impact of your organization, then you can consider choosing and ordering eco-friendly stationery products. There is a range of notebooks that are made with recycled paper and plastics, and many of these products have compostable packaging. Most wholesale suppliers will have a collection of eco-friendly goods, and while these may be more expensive than the average offering, they can be a valuable investment in establishing a sustainable culture. You can also reiterate this culture by letting your office know that items should only be ordered if and when they have used their existing stationary items to avoid waste.
If you are still in the process of selecting your stationery supplier, you can shortlist your selection based on who is the greenest and employs the most sustainable products. You can also do further research on the supplier brand, so you are also aware of their sustainable practices and ethical measures. By supporting eco-friendly stationary items, we send a message to stationery manufacturers and can better engineer sustainable change.
Office and Remote Working
How we work has totally changed, with hybrid work environments being commonplace and the classic office setting changing forever. That said, our need for quality stationery is always going to exist, and that means ordering from a stationary wholesale supplier that can equip your employees to do their roles. If your employees work from home, work closely with them to understand what their stationery needs are at home. They might be in a better position in terms of storage and existing stationary, but there might be a greater need for notebooks and other items that can stay at home and notebooks and stationery that stay in the office.
Collaborate with your co-workers on how to better utilize the stationary available and place orders based on the usage of your office colleagues. The last thing you want is waste, but it is also critical to have a reserve in the event that you run out of printer cartridges and other essential items.
