Article

Photo Kiosks: A spectrum of users

Printing choices, cheap SLRs are driving the growth of an already robust market.

January 3, 2006 by

This article originally published in Kiosk magazine, Nov/Dec 2005.

In the 1970s, the photo kiosk was a yellow-roofed Fotomat hut plopped in the strip center parking lot. It offered a convenient way for consumers to drop off rolls of film on the way to do something else. The film was sent to another location for processing, and returned to the kiosk for pick up several days later.

Today, the photo processing industry has wholeheartedly embraced self-service digital kiosks, with approximately 50,000 in use in the U.S. They are popping up everywhere, including traditional camera, drug and discount stores, as well as in myriad other outlets.

The kiosk has evolved, however, into far more than just a dispenser of digital prints. To truly grasp the paradigm shift offered by these self-service machines, you must view the kiosks within the photo/imaging ecosystem.

Types of printing evolve

Most consumers are familiar with the self-service kiosks pioneered by the Kodak "Create-A-Print" machines in the late 1980s. These machines pre-dated digital cameras by accepting film negatives, and producing photographic prints up to 11-by-14 inches. One major difference is the "Create-A-Print" was marketed as an enlargement center, not the place to print your everyday snapshots. It was just too expensive to process and sell 4-by- 6 inch snapshots, even in a self-service environment.

Dye-sub. As digital technology improved, however, self-service machines have begun to use dye-sublimation printers, which are faster and easier to use, both from a retailer's view and from the consumer's. The greater efficiency also permits popular snapshot-size printers to be used in kiosks. Today, more than 16 percent of digital prints are served on the spot by kiosks.

Minilabs. Many photo retailers have already invested in digital photo processing equipment, called minilabs, which can make digital photos on photographic paper. Adding kiosk terminals, essentially PCs with touchscreens, to the minilab's network has added a self-service component to the store's offerings.

`Print' from home. A third iteration is the "kiosk at home" concept, where consumers are given soft ware - either on a CD or a free download - which duplicates the in-store kiosk interface.

Kiosks and the photo hobbyist

PMA marketing research shows that consumers are adding kiosks to their photo/imaging options, not replacing them. In addition, users of photo kiosks also tend to participate in other areas of the photo/imaging ecosystem, such as home printing and online photography.

For example, photo hobbyists - typically males - are not considered the prime market for photo kiosks. Female shoppers, including those with children, are the target demo.

But within the last year, digital SLR cameras have become relatively affordable, with many superb units priced less than $1,000. This is the type of camera the hobbyist has been waiting for.

The heavily male hobbyist market is also a significant user of kiosks. Though a relatively small portion of the overall camera market, digital SLR owners are the most likely to have used a retail kiosk. They use kiosks at more than twice the rate as the overall market.

This makes sense, since SLR users shoot in quantity and demand fast, efficient ways to make prints. Retail solutions are an answer to that demand.

What does the future hold for photo kiosks? Growth areas await, including making prints from cameraphones and downloading content to either CD or to cameraphones. The industry has only just begun to exploit these versatile machines.

Gary Pageau is group executive of content development and strategic initiatives at Photo Marketing Association International.