Staples Adds Scan My List Feature To Its iOS App For Back To School

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Feature helps back-to-school-shoppers find what they need.

Staples has made a new beta test available on its iOS app that makes back-to-school shopping a breeze! The feature allows customers to send a photo of their child’s back-to-school supplies list via the Staples Easy System on the app and have a Staples associate fill the customer’s shopping card with everything they need.

After the cart is filled, Staples customers can check back in and buy immediately or customize their items in the cart, as well as choose to pick up their order in store (where available) or have it shipped to them.

The Staples Easy System’s chat-based experience is fueled by computer vision, artificial intelligence, crowdsourced data, and mobile interfaces. The feature also makes it simple for customers to make adjustments or ask service questions of sales associates. The beta test is available for select customers, and can also be used beyond back-to-school shopping to product reordering for businesses as well.

“We listened to customer feedback about their limited time for back-to-school shopping and delivered an experience utilizing the power of mobile,” said Faisal Masud, executive vice president, eCommerce and customer experience, Staples. “We know parents are busy and the process of back-to-school shopping, especially if there are multiple children involved, can be time-consuming. This new experience enables us to do the hard work on behalf of our customers and we’re already seeing 10 percent of our iOS users interact with the chat feature on a daily basis.”

Staples certainly could use a boost. The company's CEO Ron Sargent stepped down in May after the feds successfully blocked the planned merger of Staples and rival Office Depot. Staples closed 242 stores over 2014 and 2015, with another anticipated 50 closings for 2016. In June, Staples announced the launch of “Staples Rush,” a same-day delivery service for Staples.com customers in major metropolitan areas across the country. It also launched an interaction store map pilot designed to save customers time while shopping.

“This pilot program addresses the need to help customers find products quickly. By digitizing the store with features such as interactive maps, we’re able to create a more user-friendly and customized shopping experience that adds real value to their Staples experience,” said Faisal Masud, executive vice president of global eCommerce, Staples.