June 10, 2010: HP has announced that it has completed its retail printing equipment installation program into 171 Kmart and 21 Ted’s Camera outlets in Australia. Kmart also has 14 HP installations in New Zealand.
There are now 300 stores throughout Australia and New Zealand running HP Retail Publishing Solutions equipment, according to the company.
All Ted’s stores are running the full suite of HP equipment in their Ted’s Photo Lounges, offering photo books, canvas prints, posters, banners, calendars and more in a one hour service. The HP kiosks have Bluetooth connectivity for easy mobile phone printing,
Most Kmart stores (Kmart Photo Centre pictured above right) match the Ted’s offer in the range of products offered, but there are 27 outlets, primarily in NSW and WA, which only offer printed products to 5×7-inch (no poster prints, canvas, larger photo books etc)
‘HP is committed to playing such a significant role in Kmart’s vision to be the number one destination for photo printing in retail,’ said Mark Loosschilder, business development manager, Retail Photo Solutions, Imaging and Printing Group, HP South Pacific.
Loosschilder noted that: ‘Kmart is the only large retailer in the market to offer a full suite of creative photo products including photo books, canvas prints, posters, banners, calendars, photo cards and collage photo cards, DVDs, flip books and more. All available in-store within the hour.’
Kmart has also launched the ‘Kmart Online Photo Centre, powered by Snapfish’, enabling customers to upload their photos online, order photos or gifts and choose either to have them delivered directly to home or pick them up in store. Most online orders are, like those of competitors Big W and Harvey Norman, handled at the Photo Create wholesale operation in Glenn Innes, with delivery back to the customer within 10 working days.
Ted’s Cameras, as previously reported in Photo Counter, has opted for the Lifepics online solution which directs online orders to the local Ted’s outlet for direct fulfilment. Ted’s has stolen a march on competing chains Big W, Harvey Norman and now Kmart with the online-to-instore model.
In doing so it has provided other specialist retailers with a template for competitive advantage over larger ‘generalist’ competitors.
Print orders will be completed within an hour, creative products like photo books next day, with a goal of same day completion once the system is ‘bedded in’, according to Jason Robertson, sales and marketing manager, Ted’s Online.
‘Ted’s Cameras believed the time was right to move away from traditional chemical-based photo production to a dry-inkjet service that would deliver quality photo products to their loyal customers,’ said Loosschilder.
‘With HP Retail Publishing Solutions, not only have they reduced the occupational health and safety issues and costs of chemistry storage and disposal associated with wet labs, they can build on the service delivery they are known for, and guarantee their customers one hour in-store photo books, greeting cards and more.’
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