Institutional purchasing through Staples is different from simply shopping at a retail store or placing an order through a consumer account. Colleges, universities, community colleges, and K-12 systems need contracted pricing, defined purchasing terms, account controls, and fulfillment capabilities that fit formal procurement processes.
Education buyers researching Staples Contract and Commercial, Inc may encounter several Staples business and commercial entities, account types, and contract references. It can be confusing to figure out which of the programs apply. E&I Cooperative Services makes it easy by connecting academic institutions with Staples Business, providing access to the full Staples catalog while offering exclusive discounts, incentives, and rebates.
What Institutional Contract Purchasing Means
Contract purchasing gives an institution an established framework for buying rather than treating every order as an isolated transaction. Under a cooperative purchasing agreement, pricing, product coverage, service expectations, incentives, and other terms are established through the underlying contract. Authorized institutional users can then purchase through accounts connected to that agreement, subject to the institution’s own purchasing policies and approval requirements.
That differs from ordinary retail purchasing, where an employee may simply select a product at the prevailing price and pay at checkout. It also differs from a basic business account that may provide organizational features, but doesn’t offer the same level of price breaks or terms.
What Academic Institutions Get Through the E&I Staples Contract
The E&I cooperative agreement with Staples, contract CR001309, provides academic institutions with access to a broad range of products and services under one contract.
Broad Product Coverage
The agreement includes Staples’ full product offering, extending well beyond traditional office supplies. Institutions can also purchase technology, furniture, jan-san products, breakroom supplies, promotional items, and custom print services. In total, Staples offers access to more than one million products through its business platform.
That breadth can be useful for procurement teams managing purchases across academic departments, administrative offices, facilities, IT, athletics, libraries, research operations, and student services. Rather than establishing separate purchasing channels for every routine category, institutions may be able to consolidate appropriate spend through one contracted supplier relationship.
Contracted Pricing and Economic Value
Cooperative agreements give sourcing cooperatives a way to aggregate purchasing demand across members. E&I represents more than 6,500 academic institutions to achieve significant volume discounts, but the value extends beyond the item pricing. E&I reports a Total Economic Benefit of 13.2% to 15.8% for its Staples agreement. That figure incorporates cost reduction, cost avoidance, incentives, and revenue, including financial incentives and rebates for eligible members.
Administrative efficiency, avoided sourcing costs, incentives, and improved purchasing consistency all contribute to the overall return.
Account Access and Purchasing Controls
Higher education purchasing is often decentralized, with buyers distributed across numerous departments and campuses. Staples Business supports unlimited account users and budget controls, allowing institutions to provide access to multiple authorized purchasers while maintaining a structured account environment.
Procurement teams can align access with institutional delegation-of-authority policies, departmental responsibilities, and approval processes. That can make it easier to support local purchasing needs without giving up centralized oversight.
Delivery and Fulfillment
Fulfillment capability is another important consideration for academic institutions with ongoing supply needs. Staples operates 32 national fulfillment centers and offers next-day delivery coverage across 98% of the United States. For institutions with multiple campuses or geographically dispersed locations, that infrastructure can help support routine replenishment and reduce delays for commonly purchased products.
eProcurement Compatibility
The E&I Staples contract is also punchout capable, and Staples supports more than 150 eProcurement systems. That allows institutions with compatible platforms to integrate contracted Staples purchasing into existing workflows for requisitions, approvals, purchase orders, and spend tracking rather than creating a separate process for each order.
Sustainability Capabilities
The agreement also includes sustainability-related options that can support institutional environmental goals. Staples offers approximately 20,000 environmentally preferable products along with supporting reporting. Its sustainability capabilities also include smart-size packaging designed to improve box utilization and reduce corrugate and air pillows, as well as logistics optimization and a more sustainable delivery fleet.
Understanding the Contract Structure
Education buyers researching Staples Contract and Commercial, Inc may see different corporate names, business units, or contract references depending on where they look. The key is to identify the specific agreement governing institutional purchases rather than relying on a generic Staples account or commercial reference. For E&I members, that agreement is Staples contract CR001309, which runs through February 2, 2030, with one five-year renewal option remaining.
You may see the term Staples lease contract when you’re searching. You can ignore that. A Staples lease contract refers to an off-the-shelf legal form kit available in stores for managing residential leases.
See also: Maximize Business Efficiency with Virtual Office Services
The E&I Model Is Designed for Education
E&I Cooperative Services is the only member-owned, nonprofit cooperative exclusively serving the education sector, and offers more than 260 cooperative contracts across categories important to schools, colleges, and universities. That education focus can help procurement teams access contracts structured around the operational realities, compliance requirements, and purchasing patterns of academic institutions.
Explore the E&I Staples cooperative contract or contact your E&I representative to review available products, pricing, incentives, and implementation options for your institution.
