Kodak Teams with LifePics to Streamline Online Photo Merchandizing for Retailers

ROCHESTER, NY—Nov. 18, 2011—Eastman Kodak has entered a partnership with Boulder-based LifePics, a market leader in web-based fulfillment of photo merchandizing products, to jointly develop and market a suite of pre-integrated retail photo merchandizing services.

The new services allow photo retailers to leverage their existing fleets of Kodak photofinishing equipment to quickly and cost effectively enter the Internet-to-retail fulfillment business, and offer consumers the convenience of ordering photos online, and picking them up the same day at the retail location. The first two services, private-labeled photo order fulfillment and in-store photo specialty gift catalog ordering, are available now to all U.S. retailers.

Kodak and LifePics are also offering a new photo gift ordering service. The pre-integrated service leverages LifePics’ comprehensive specialty photo gift catalog to allow retailers to offer their customers a variety of specialty photo gifts that can be ordered from a Kodak Picture Kiosk in-store, and fulfilled by a LifePics central lab partner. Gift items include mouse pads, mugs, sweatshirts, T-shirts, photo buttons, playing cards, puzzles, pillow cases, blankets, and ornaments. Consumers can also order canvas prints and have their photos restored and colorized.

According to InfoTrends, more than 21 precent of printed photo merchandise products (photo books, cards, calendars, and specialty prints) that are ordered online in 2011 will be fulfilled in a retail store. That percentage is expected to approach 28 percent by 2015. The Kodak and LifePics partnership allows retailers that have made an investment in Kodak in-store equipment to participate in this market, adding value to their existing Kodak product fleet, and enhancing their portfolios of premium photo products that can be fulfilled in-store or offsite.

The new service uses LifePics-enabled photo merchandizing websites and Kodak’s net-to-retail connectivity installed on a Kodak Picture Kiosk or Kodak Adaptive Picture Exchange (APEX) minilab (running V5.0 software or higher) to fulfill online orders in-store for products such as photo books, greeting cards, calendars collages, and photos.

“Consumers want the ability to place orders online and pick them up in-store,” said Larry Trevarthen, vice president of worldwide marketing, retail systems solutions, Eastman Kodak. “LifePics' market-leading web-based photo services running on Kodak’s retail systems is an efficient, cost effective way for retailers to deliver the value and convenience of net-to-retail photo ordering for consumers.

“The ability to fulfill same-day orders is especially important during holiday seasons when retailers can offer online order service up to the holiday providing retailers with an opportunity to increase photo revenue,” added Trevarthen.

Seattle-based Bartell Drugs, a drug store chain with 58 stores, implemented the Kodak and LifePics service and has seen rapid results. According to Howie Cohen, general merchandise buyer at Bartell Drugs, “We saw significant uptake in orders after we implemented the net-to-retail service. Sales of premium products like photo books have been particularly strong since we established a web presence.”

About LifePics
LifePics is the market leader in turning images into transactions by connecting billions of consumers' digital images to more fulfillment options than any other service on the Internet. Using LifePics' technology, photofinishers and professional photographers are able to accept online photo orders from consumers, and route orders to any fulfillment lab.

About Kodak
As the world’s foremost imaging innovator, Kodak helps consumers, businesses, and creative professionals unleash the power of pictures and printing to enrich their lives.

Source: Kodak.