OfficeMax Launches New E-Commerce Site for Business-to-Business Customers

OfficeMax Launches New E-Commerce Site for Business-to-Business Customers


New Site Combines Simplicity and Convenience of the Best Consumer Sites, With
Powerful Management Tools Exclusive to Business-to-Business Sites

ITASCA, Ill., Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- OfficeMax(R) today launched a
redesigned business-to-business e-commerce site to provide its more than
600,000 contracted business customers with a simpler and more convenient
online shopping experience. Distinct from the company's main website, the
newly updated site is designed to meet the unique needs of businesses that
purchase office products based on a pre-negotiated contract.
When initiating the site update, OfficeMax took an approach unique in the
industry. Instead of enlisting the help of e-commerce consultants first,
OfficeMax went to its customers. Based on customer feedback and input, the
office products company did an initial redesign of the site. They then took
the site to consultants for review. Internal e-commerce specialists and
customer service representatives also assessed the site. After each review,
the designers made improvements. For the final evaluation, OfficeMax went back
to its customers.
"We gathered diverse customer focus groups and asked them to look at the
new site," said Jim Carrington, director, electronic commerce for OfficeMax.
"They analyzed the navigation, functionality, and content, and provided us
with valuable insight that led to a few final tweaks."
The result is a new site that is fast and simple to use for the thousands
of businesses that purchase office supplies from OfficeMax on a daily basis.
The flat navigation menus allow users to access anything they need on the site
in just one click. Information is presented with intuitive navigation and
user-friendly menus to make it easy to locate products. In addition, the site
allows customers access to past orders for quick reference and to make finding
ink and toner refills painless. It automatically saves previous shopping
selections so if users are interrupted, they don't lose their orders. On a
single order, a purchaser can order products for multiple departments and
arrange billing to different cost centers.
The new site also provides businesses with the ability to customize the
site to comply with distinct purchasing procedures. Flexible cost-center
controls differentiate purchasing activity and assists purchasing
professionals with internal procurement processing. Businesses can pick and
choose product selection and also dictate what information is presented to its
users.
The new site went live after a 30-day trial period to ease the transition
for customers. The site reflects the evolution to the OfficeMax brand for the
company's Boise Office Solutions business-to-business customers, although the
URL will remain BoiseOffice.com until 2005. The company's retail site,
OfficeMax.com, will continue to provide retail customers with online access to
a full range of office supplies. More information on contracted business
services is available from OfficeMax sales representatives or by calling
1-800-472-6473.

About OfficeMax
OfficeMax is a leader in both business-to-business office product
solutions and retail office products. OfficeMax delivers an unparalleled
customer experience -- in service, in product, in timesavings, and in value --
through a relentless focus on its customers. The company provides office
supplies and paper, technology products and solutions, and furniture to large,
medium and small businesses and consumers. OfficeMax customers are served by
more than 40,000 associates through direct sales, catalogs, Internet and
nearly 1,000 superstores. Having joined with Boise Office Solutions, the
company had pro forma revenues of $8.3 billion in 2003. OfficeMax is a
division of Boise Cascade Corporation.

About Boise Cascade Corporation
Boise (NYSE: BCC), headquartered in Boise, Idaho, provides solutions to
help customers work more efficiently, build more effectively, and create new
ways to meet business challenges. We own or control more than 2 million acres
of timberland, primarily in the United States, to support our manufacturing
operations. Boise's annualized first half 2004 sales were $13.9 billion. Visit
the Boise Web site at http://www.bc.com .

OfficeMax Contact Media Contact
Bill Bonner Cari Trayner, Bader Rutter & Associates
630 438 8584 262 784 7200