Lucidiom’s Photo Finale Web Expands Retailer Storefronts and Online Social Network

System Extends Retailer Kiosks to the Web to Create Photo E-Commerce Platform

Vienna, Virginia, USA. - With Photo Finale Web 6.0, one of the latest upgrades within Lucidiom’s EQ solution, photofinishing retailers can develop their own online store and connect customers with their brick-and-mortar offerings in one seamless system. Photo Finale Web 6.0 can be customized by the retailer so consumers can order the same products online that they can order in store, helping retailers to cross-promote their inventory and develop a solid brand. The updated version of this website also has incorporated social networking features to encourage consumer loyalty and to help retailers establish a wider customer base, while giving consumers a fun new way to share and use their photos.

The photo and craft industries can view the new capabilities of Photo Finale Web this week during PMA 08 in Las Vegas, Nevada and later at Winter CHA in Anaheim, Calif., February 10-13, and at Focus on Imaging in Birmingham, U.K., February 24-27.

“Since acquiring Trevoli and its award-winning Photo Finale software suite in late 2006, we’ve pulled the best of Trevoli’s and Lucidiom’s systems together to create a powerful and flexible photo e-commerce platform for photofinishing retailers,” said Stephen Giordano Jr., president of Lucidiom. “The 6.0 site gives consumers more than just static albums of images. We’ve adjusted the way photos and projects are presented and organized in order to bring the emotion back to photo, and to better fit the way that digital has expanded the product lines retailers now can offer. On the retailer side of things, it is still all about ordering, printing and selling, so Web 6.0 provides retailers with a smart, easy way to market and link kiosk store offerings to their online customers and vice-versa.”

For the consumer, Photo Finale Web 6.0 introduces “My Page,” a headquarters for all of the user’s photo collections, activity updates, connections to friends, retailer bulletins and jumping-off points for uploading pictures, starting projects and shopping. “Collections” offer users a way to move and combine pictures and creative projects under a single heading, helping them to focus on the event or subject, rather than on the date range the photos were taken before they cleared their camera card. “Smart Collections” take this organic type of organization even further, allowing users to define criteria by which images are grouped, e.g. by keyword, date, people or event.

For the retailer, the new Photo Finale site offers much in the way of smarter retailing. Throughout the site, the retailer has open ad space where he can run context-sensitive advertising and promotions, which can link to other Photo Finale or external website pages, giving him control over what his customers see and allowing him to tailor what he promotes to his customers.

Photo Finale Web and the APM kiosk now both share the same Photo Folio Template Technology, which means that creative products, like posters, photo books and folded cards offered in-store on the APM kiosk are identical to those offered on the retailers Photo Finale site. Lucidiom has maintained the open architecture of its EQ system by allowing any retailer to take advantage of Folio Technology to create and offer products and designs of his own on the kiosk and Web. This customizability and continuity helps retailers to increase consumer loyalty and to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

During PMA 08, retailers can hear more about EQ and Photo Finale 6.0 at Lucidiom’s booth (P130) and during the DIMA conference session, “What’s Next with Online Services and Applications that Better Connect You to Your Customer,” on Wednesday, January 30, at 1:00 p.m. with speaker Chris Pollard, Lucidiom’s director of marketing for e-commerce.

Note to editors: Hi-res images of the Lucidiom EQ components are available for media use. Contact Lisa Fasold, lfasold@lucidiom.com for files.