Reliable Office Supplies is an online retailer of office supplies, electronics and furniture. The website offers a product search engine and a categorization scheme to make it easier for shoppers to find the right product. With standard express shipping (most orders are delivered within 2 days), Reliable is a great choice for replenishing supplies for offices and home workspaces. Reliable has an extensive customer satisfaction program, and also donates a portion of its proceeds to a charity called The City of Hope.
Reliable carries the entire range of general office supplies and a good selection of furniture for office environments, including desks, chairs, workstations and presentation equipment. The site also sells accessories, peripherals and software for many types of desktop and laptop computers. Recycled products are available in several categories and can be found by entering “recycled” in the search bar.
Reliable carries reputable brand names throughout the various office supply categories, including (among others) 3M, Oxford, Post-it and Office Max brands. If there is a specific product you need but can’t find it on the website, Reliable provides an online request form (in the left-hand navigation, under “special order service”) where you can query the availability of that product. The company does not charge an additional fee for special-order items.
Reliable offers an ink/toner finder that allows shoppers to select the proper ink/toner cartridge by choosing the manufacturer and model number of the machine.
Reliable’s website uses a familiar system of product categorization, coupled with a search function to help shoppers find specific items quickly. There is a list of product categories along the left side of the screen. A cascading set of subcategories pops up on the right when you hover over a category. Another set of subcategories pops up when you click on one of these sub categories and you must select a category to view actual product listings.
There is no way to view entire categories at once without narrowing your search by at least two (and in some cases up to six) subcategories. However, the search function works well and takes the shopper directly to products. Within the product listings, items are sorted by brand and category, so within a subcategory it is easy to compare different products by the same manufacturer.
On the homepage, shoppers can find sale/discount items and featured products. The website offers tracking for all orders, but to track an order shoppers must create a customer account. The “Favorites” tab in the top navigation makes it easy to re-order items you’ve ordered in the past.
Reliable does not offer any discount programs, however, they offer a price-match guarantee for any other retailer’s published price on an identical product. Reliable produces their own store-brand versions of some products (at discounted prices), but there is no separate category for these products. If there is a Reliable brand option within a certain category, it will pop up first.
Reliable’s selection of office supplies, machines and furniture is excellent. The website is understandable and easy to use, even though the product categories are sometimes too specific for easy browsing. Reliable can be a great option for regular supply ordering for businesses and home offices with standard express shipping, easy re-ordering and 24/7 customer support by phone.
