Kodak is telling show-goers that this PMA, “is all about the retailer” as they plan to showcase what they are calling their new “Pathways to Print” system to make it as easy as possible for both the retailer and the consumer to get high quality prints from digital files at retail.
One of the new “pathways” involves the company’s Qualex lab and a revamping of the capabilities of Kodak’s NexPress printing systems. Kodak explains that they are empowering retailers with the ability to give their customers the chance to tap into the new power of the Qualex/NexPress set-up by giving them a CD that contains a software package that allows the user to create a number of photo gifts (photobooks, calendars, etc.) at home and then upload the items to the retailer for fulfillment on the new NexPress at Qualex. Kodak is targeting smaller retail locations that may not have the financial wherewithal to offer these types of services in-store. The software can also be loaded on a kiosk so consumers can create the projects in-store and the retailers would then send them off to Qualex. Turnaround time was unclear but estimated at 3-4 days. We’ll have details of exactly what Kodak has done to the NexPress in future issues but suffice it to say, this is not your father’s NexPress.
This new retail approach for Kodak falls in the hands of the newly formed Retail Printing Solutions Group, now part of the Kodak’s Consumer Digital Group, an announcement the company made late last year. This new group is comprised of the Paper and Output Systems (silver-halide paper and chemistry), Photo Services (Qualex and Event Imaging businesses), Service and Support, and Kiosk Business. According to Kodak, the aforementioned Qualex/NexPress offering is but one of several opportunities for retailers the company is coming to market with in early 2007.
