BASHAS' TESTING DIGITAL KIOSKS

Dan Alaimo

CHANDLER, Ariz. -- Bashas' Markets here this month embarked on a nine-store test of a new endcap incorporating a digital image-processing kiosk with a traditional overnight film drop, said Bryon Roberts, vice president, general merchandise.

Three of the stores are in the Phoenix area and six are in Tucson, Ariz., a smaller market where the program will receive more focused promotion, he said. In Tucson, Bashas' will use print ads, the weekly circular, in-store promotions and possibly coupons, Roberts said.

Although Roberts characterized the program as a test, he noted the chain has purchased the kiosks from Pixel Magic Imaging, San Marcos, Texas, "so we are in business with them." The test, he said, will determine "what we could expect in the time it takes to get a return on investment." The kiosks are branded with the Bashas' name, not the manufacturer's.

"Hopefully, we will see in three months that these things are going great guns and be able to extend these kiosks to the rest of the chain before the year is out. If it takes a little longer than that for the market to understand that this vehicle is there, then we will wait a little bit longer," Roberts said.

The retailer understands that it may take some time for customers to become aware that Bashas' is in the digital print-making business and for the business to build. "We feel very confident that as consumers realize how simple it is to come into the stores and print their digital photos, we will get more people that are not currently developing their digital pictures who will come in to print them," he said.

Because of the immediacy of digital imaging, whether it is on the camera or on a kiosk in the store, "people always have an emotional response when they see their images on the screen," said Laura Oles, vice president, strategic communication, Pixel Magic Imaging.

"We consider digital kiosks to be an additional salesperson," she said. While store personnel can talk to customers about digital image printing, "it's very powerful when they have an instant visual appreciation of what the kiosk can do for them, and then see the prints made right there on the spot," Oles said.

Digital is the present and future of the photo industry, Roberts noted. "It is going to digital. It's here, and it's coming harder," he said.