That Was Easy! Staples VP Shares Keys to mCommerce Success

Name: Steve Bussberg

Title: Staples.com Senior Vice President

Company: Staples, Inc.

What I’m working on now… The roll-out of Staples’ new mobile website, which brings easy to our customers’ smartphones. It features enhanced product ratings and reviews, a Staples retail store locator, store inventory lookup and enhanced on-site search.

What problem I am solving by doing it… Our new mobile site makes the shopping experience easy for our small business customers, who are constantly on the go. We’re saving them time – their most precious resource – so they can get back to running their business efficiently.

My crowning achievement is…  Being a father and husband to an awesome family. From a business standpoint, building a phenomenal team at Staples.com that is passionate about bringing easy to our customers’ offices.

When I go shopping, my preferred method of payment is… My UPromise credit card.

The key to building a mobile presence is… Realizing that the mobile experience doesn’t just start and end with your mobile site or your app. Mobile is truly a cross-channel tool, and you have to think about how your customers will use mobile in tandem with social, traditional online and your store locations.

Cash is… King. I’m a former finance guy, and this important financial metric still holds true for me.

Merchant loyalty programs are… A great way to identify customer needs. The better we understand our customers, the more we can provide them with timely offers, relevant product information and great customer service.

eCommerce will… Continue to significantly grow. Everyday the e-commerce platform provides greater opportunity to know and understand your customers, and ultimately, serve them better.

Mobile commerce will… Grow even faster. Mobile brings a lot of business opportunity for a cross-channel player, allowing you the opportunity to be where your customers are and help drive efficiencies and time savings for them.

Social commerce is… Be the place customers go to for information like product reviews, recommendations and hot deals. Social media is changing the way people shop by putting so much more power in the hands of consumers and forcing companies to adapt their marketing strategy accordingly.

The most important thing to consumers is… Having an easy shopping experience. Small business owners are moving at such a fast rate that they need to be able to shop quickly and whenever and wherever it’s convenient for them, so they can focus on their business and their own customers.

My mentor is/ I’ve learned from my mentor… Staples North America Delivery President Joe Doody. He has taught me the importance of building and developing a great team.

Bio: Steven Bussberg, is the Senior Vice President of Staples.com, a leading e-commerce site which serves small business and home office customers and makes it easy to research, browse and buy a wide assortment of office products and services for customers who shop online, in Staples stores or both.

After joining Staples in 1990, Steve has held roles of increasing responsibilities in Finance and North American Delivery. He previously served as director of financial planning and analysis and vice president of finance for North American Delivery. He was named senior vice president of finance for North American Delivery in 2009. He is a graduate of DePauw University.