Gift-related impulse items offer incremental sales at photo counter

Drug Store News, July 11, 2005 by Michelle L. Kirsche

The continued migration away from analog toward digital photography has forced retailers to transition from sales of traditional film products to sales of other photo-related products and ser vices to drive incremental growth in the category. It also has forced retailers to re-evaluate their online photo centers, making them more user-friendly, content-rich and convenient to better compete with Internet-only photo service providers.

Walgreens, for instance, after dedicating a substantial amount of money to reconfigure each of its photo labs to digital technology, recently closed its old online photo center and at press time was Still making adjustments to its newly redesigned center.

"If you purchased album space and have time remaining, you will automatically receive a refund," the site informs customers. It goes on to say, "When the new site opens, you'll be, able to store all your digital photos at no charge."

Offering free online photo storage is one way to entice digital camera users to visit and come back to a retailer's Web site. It also provides the opportunity for retailers to e-mail that photo customer regarding special promotions or to remind them of an upcoming holiday that may be tied to a gift-giving opportunity. The tactic can be especially relevant to female consumers, being as many women look at photos from a gift-giving, as well as an archival perspective.

"Women by and large are responsible for gift giving, so offering products that are solution-based can be very helpful," said Laura Oles, vice president of strategic communications for Pixel Magic Imaging.

Using that knowledge in-store also can clue retailers in to certain key impulse items to position at the photo counter to address female shoppers' needs.

Jennifer Cmich, sales manager for Playhouse Publishing, which creates and distributes personalized children's books, said offering photo memory books at checkout can drive impulse purchases and provide consumers a reason to print more photos at retail. [Also, consumers] are willing to pay a premium price for products that will feature their children or that can be personalized with photos of their family.

And because memory books have open pages for photo inserts, they also provide a place for retailers to position dollar-off coupons or other special offers promoting photofinishing services and capabilities.

Another opportunity at the photo counter is scrapbooking kits, which allow drug retailers to tap into the super-hot scrapbooking trend. "In a drug store, where space is limited, retailers will not be able to carry all the individual scrapbooking accessories," said Cmich. "So a lot of companies are developing special kits for drug stores. They present a higher ring at the register for a single item and also take up little space."

Playhouse Publishing's Picture Me Baby Costume scrapbooking kit, with a suggested retail price of $19.99 to $24.99, also offers retailers an attractive margin.