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Both staff
and customer education is essential, as it is a brave new world,
as most digital cameras as sold via "Big Box Merchants"
with profits as little as 5% and with no education or customer
service etc.
Figures just released by a major photo manufacturers/ wholesalers/retailers,
show that the educated and well trained pharmacy staff are way
ahead of the field, and preferred to chain store and camera minilabs
for customer service and product information etc.
Some statistics:
Average age of digital camera buyer is 42yrs, and 16% of all Aussie
homes have a digital camera and this is increasing rapidly (USA
22%).
Only 6% of digital film is being converted to photos at present,
in Australia
Over 30% of all digital images are "deleted" before
they are archived on the home or office computer
Average photos made from digital "film" is 32 compared
with 28 from AgHl film
Photos printed by DIY photo tellers in store is 52
So the answer to the future profitability from your photo centre
in your pharmacy (for those with no mini lab) is:
1. Get a satellite photo teller with a broadband line to your
nearest digital lab (preferably a pharmacy based one that understands
your needs).
Get your 20-30% margin and so your break even is approximately150
photos per day (ie. 5 customers with 30 photos or 3 customers
with 50 photos).
You can either get a sophisticated touch screen, editing,CD duplicating,
receipt producing photo teller in store.
Cost is approximately $15,000.
These are available from all the big companies.
Your clients photos come back to you in the normal run e.g. same
day or overnight, but you have collected the money up front!.
Or in the near future you will be able to get a less fancy 6 card
reader/CD burner and reader attached to a simple computer, on
or under your photo counter, and send your
clients digital photos down the ADSL line for around 2,000 dollars.
The photos come back priced.
2. Photo Kiosk (approximately 55,000 dollars) for the front door
of your shop.
It produces AgHl photos in less than 2 minutes and can operate
independently with no staff involvement with a coin or a card.
WARNING: If you don't do something today your opposition will
i.e. newsagent, card shop etc.
Perhaps your centre manager will....i.e. give a kiosk site in
the mall to some enterprising person.
If they don't then your petrol station surely will!!!!!.
For the small mini lab operator the decision to step up to a digital
lab for approximately $160,000 extra is a big decision.
There are half way solutions that may get you out of trouble while
you are waiting for the price of digital labs to drop.
There are scanners of standard film that can produce CD's with
index prints and attached to these are printers that print on
"photopaper" by inkjet or disublimatious methods.
They produce good looking prints (not photos) that are more expensive
(ie. $1.00+ cost of ink, computer space and clients time - say
total $2.50 per 6"x4") that will fade dramatically within
3-5 years.
Though some of the manufacturers are improving their colour ink
resins, they will never have the archival quality of 80-100 years
of AgHl photos.
But you say you've saved them to a CD and that can be archived
for a 100 years!!!!
Think again.
So who has got a computer that can read a 5 1/4 inch floppy?
If you want to see the huge variety of extras that a modern digital
mini lab can produce (even the customers get confused!!!!) look
at the website that was launched on August 8th 2003.
It has just been built for the outputs from the Noritsu QSS-3101
(2336 photos per/hour) www.kodakexpress-dpi.com.au
The author would be happy to answer any questions email me at
james@healthnut.com.au
Notes on the author:
James Delahunty with two other chemists had the first QSS-2 Noritsu
mini lab in a street front location in
Australia (if not in the world) in 1978.Sold the Fotofun 10 Minilabs
in 1985.
Now back into x3 minilabs in Pharmacy since 1995.
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