A WYCOMBE business hopes that months spent researching the £6 billion UK office supplies market will pay off.

Purple Stationery Ltd has invested heavily in internet and IT, running a stockless delivery system for customers anywhere in the UK It intends to give traditional office supply businesses a run for their money with its cost savings for businesses and homes.

Graeme Rowe, director of Purple said: "The majority of companies and homes still use traditional shopping methods such as phone, fax and retail to buy office supplies. Being able to make the purchase process easier, have the goods delivered direct to your door and save money is a great incentive."

He spent nine months project managing the website, which has 17,000 products on the database.

Inititial signs are encouraging. He said: "We have been testing the site and selling for three months and already have more than 250 customers.

"So far, over 80 per cent of our customers have placed orders online, which shows that the initial investment has paid off. This allows us to grow the business without increasing costs, so in turn we can pass the savings on to our customers."

Purple, which has five staff and is based in Victoria House, Desborough Street, has joined forces with a major nationwide office supply wholesaler. This ensures 99.9 per cent stock availability and next-working-day delivery anywhere in the UK. "This allows us to save even more costs by operating a stockless delivery system," Rowe said.

To save people time, Purple has put together recommended item lists for small businesses, home workers, students, etc. These feature the most cost-effective and frequently purchased items. Purple also allows customers to build a "favourites list" of their most frequently purchased items which makes re-ordering easy.

Purple offers a free price comparison service. Customers simply fax in their last office supply invoice and Purple works out the online savings. Rowe said: "In 90 per cent of cases, we have been over ten per cent cheaper."

He thinks office supplies are low on the to-do list and not enough time is spent seeking good deals. Mr Rowe said: "They're wasting space, tying-up capital and duplicating effort. We're looking to drag the issue of office supplies into the 21st century."

By providing next day delivery on the majority of items, Purple is allowing customers to operate a just-in-time stock replenishment system that saves space and improves cashflow.

"We are confident that our system means an end to over-ordering and duplication," Rowe summed-up.

Explaining the name, Rowe explained: "Our target market is SMEs (small to medium-sized enterprises) who spend between £500 and £100,000 per year on office supplies. Our research has shown that a high percentage of the purchasers in this market are females below 40. Therefore we gave the company a young, fresh, appealing image.

"We want to be to the office supply industry what Orange are to the mobile phone industry."