11 May 2010
Recently released figures from Fujifilm show sales of the company's acclaimed dry inkjet minilabs are exceeding all expectations. Over the past 18 months Fujifilm installed an incredible 80 units - equating to more than one order each and every week.
Paul Henry, Equipment Sales Specialist explains why Fujifilm's dry minilabs are proving such a hit with the industry: "Once the photo retailer has all the facts and figures in front of them, making the switch from wet to dry is really a 'no-brainer'. As opposed to traditional wet labs there are no hidden costs with dry labs - they use far less power, there's no chemistry to dispose of, no downtime, no maintenance - the retailer simply turns the unit on in the morning and turns it off at the end of the day. Sales started strongly when the DL410 was launched but recently they've really gone through the roof."
He continued: "The basic package we offer customers is two of our Smartpix kiosks linked to a DL410 DryMinilab and an Epson 24" wide format printer. This combination offers the widest possible range of on-site products and services including high margin photo gifts such as canvas wraps, posters and wrapping paper in addition to standard prints. Before ordering their dry minilab, many of these new customers were operating without a kiosk, and it's interesting to speak to them once their kiosks have been installed. They very quickly see the huge advantages of effectively having their customers operating their labs for them - it frees up staff time and empowers their customers. The public are now so used to using self-service interfaces like ATM's and supermarket checkouts that any reluctance to them has all but evaporated."
In addition to purchasing the hardware and software, many photo retailers are also choosing to join the Fujifilm Digital Imaging Service (FDIS) group. FDIS is a photo retail support programme that gives its members a fully branded support solution, including shop fascia and merchandising plus a comprehensive marketing and point-of-sale package.
The positivity around Fujifilm's dry minilab sales is backed up by FutureSource, a leading business analyst, who report that for the second half of 2009 Fujifilm accounted for more than half the total number of UK dry minilab sales.
Director of Photo Imaging at Fujifilm, David Honey made this comment: "The advent of dry minilabs has opened up the market to new sectors who previously wouldn't have had the space to offer their customers photo processing. We're now seeing businesses like newsagents and convenience stores entering the market, basically any retailer with decent footfall can make profit out of a Fujifilm dry minilab."
Fujifilm has recently launched the Frontier DL430 DryMinilab as a follow-up to the Frontier DL410 DryMinilab. This latest addition to the Frontier line-up offers the same flexible and compact photofinishing solution with the addition of a dual roll paper capability that allows for the simultaneous printing of multiple sizes or surfaces.
Other additional features of the DL430 include the choice of an 8-order sorter or a 7-order sorter for large prints and two-line backprinting capability. This compact printer, with a footprint of just 0.5mis a real workhorse and is capable or producing 650 4 x 6 inch prints per hour and 250 8 x 10 inch prints per hour.
Email photoimaging@fuji.co.uk for further details.