Sears Portrait Studios in Canada has introduced a piece of photographic technology that one of its top executives touts as the biggest change in the category in the last 50 years.
Stephen Glickman, vice-president of marketing at Sears Portrait Studios, in St. Louis, Mo., says Sears Portrait Preview System takes the category into the digital age and provides consumers with instant gratification, a major change in the industry.
‘I would think, if you look at it, [the system takes the category] into the digital imaging age,’ Glickman says.
‘One of the benefits is the instant gratification, being able to instantly see and approve the portraits,’ he says.
‘That’s one of the benefits to the consumer, which means it will change the industry.
‘[Another benefit is the] ability to order portraits upfront, versus waiting three weeks until they come back printed.’
The Sears Portrait Preview System is based on a Pentium chip-equipped computer, proprietary software and a Sony or Kodak color printer.
The system combines freeze-frame technology and computer-enhanced imaging.
During a sitting, parents or others can look at a color monitor in the studio to see and approve the poses the children are in.
The purchaser no longer has to wait three weeks for portrait proofs to see if the child was smiling or had his or her eyes closed.
As well as the camera-monitor link in the studio, the camera is also linked to a second monitor in an anteroom.
After the sitting, the customer views his or her selected poses on this monitor, choosing the size and quantity of the portraits desired.
Glickman says although Kmart’s photographic studios, its principal competitor in the category, is the sole chain besides Sears to have color monitors in the studio, his company is the only one to offer a photographic quality color proof consumers can take home with them immediately after the sitting.
This color proof is nine inches by 12 inches and includes six 2 3/4-inch by 3 3/4-inch poses that is matted for handling or framing.
The proof also gives parents and others the option of phoning the Sears studio with their selection instead of having to return the proof to the outlet.
Each pose in the proof is coded with a photo number, name and photo session date.
Glickman says Sears’ considerable research shows there are two things consumers consider important about photo studios: interaction with the photographer and the choice of photograph or photographs.
He says, looking to the future, Sears is working on digital imaging products for its studios that will change the nature of photographic portraiture.
For example, Glickman says a person in Toronto with relatives in Vancouver and Quebec City could all have their photographs taken in Sears studios in those cities then have the results digitally blended to create one portrait.
Sears introduced the technology to all 119 of its studios in Canada this May.
Glickman says the company’s capital investment in the Portrait Preview System is about $8 million.
Sears introduced the system in the u.s. in the fall of 1994.
St. Louis-based Consumer Programs is the licensee and operator of Sears Portrait Studios in Canada.
Glickman says there are 600,000 sittings at Sears studios a year in Canada, and with about 400,000 new births a year, the market for portraiture is good.
The target consumer in Canada for Sears studios is a woman aged 18 to 34 with children.
Glickman says the average cost of a sitting at Sears using the new technology is between $70 and $75.
He says Sears studios positions itself as a leader in the category offering high quality portraits at a reasonable price.
Robert Cyr, regional director of Kmart Portrait Studios, says Sears is actually following his company’s lead.
Cyr says Kmart studios are fully digital in Canada and the u.s., with the digital rollout in this country beginning January, 1994.
Cyr, based in Mississauga, Ont., is enthusiastic about the technology his company and Sears are using.
He says it is ‘absolutely amazing,’ adding it will improve customer service and provide much consumer surprise in the photographic portrait business.
Although the technology Sears and Kmart are using is broadly similar, the customer’s take-away proof is not.
Cyr says Kmart’s proof is a laser printout in black and white.
Kmart studios are run under licence by Photo Corporation of America International based in Matthews, n.c., a suburb of Charlotte.
Cyr says there are 107 Kmart studios in Canada.
Zellers, another competitor in the photographic portrait category, required a faxed request for information sent to its Montreal headquarters.
At press-time, Zellers had not responded to Strategy’s fax.
Other Sears competitors in the category include The Bay and Wal-Mart Canada.
Glickman says the worth of the photo portrait category in Canada is difficult to arrive at since there are so many independents who work outside of the major chains.
To introduce the Portrait Preview System to Canadians, Glickman says Sears is planning a direct mail campaign beginning late this month and tv advertising to break in mid-September for about seven weeks.
He says there will be a mass mailing to households across the country and a more limited drop to existing Sears customers.
He says the tv spots will be 30s, but final details have to be worked out. The advertising is handled in-house.
Glickman says he is certain the competition will follow Sears’ lead with the new technology, suggesting by mid-1996 they will have something similar to the Portrait Preview System in place. DC
