Target.com To Offer Home Installation

By Alan Wolf -- TWICE, 7/30/2008

Minneapolis — Target.com will begin offering home-installation services to customers through a third-party provider.

The vendor, Zip Express Installation, located here near Target’s headquarters, provides and manages an installation infrastructure for retailers by contracting with some 16,000 TV, home theater and wireless home network installers nationwide.

The partnership represents the first home-installation program for the discount chain, and follows news of a home-installation service that Dell is testing for Wal-Mart.

Going forward, Target.com shoppers will be offered home-installation packages when making any major CE purchase. After paying for their selections at checkout, customers can call a toll-free number or visit www.zipinstallation.com to schedule a day and hour for installation.

“Many retailers today rely on the additional revenue gained from installation services,” said Chris Mauzy, president/CEO of Zip Express Installation. “Our services provide retail partners with the same benefits achieved from an in-house installation service, but without the overhead required to support the in-house program themselves.”

Mauzy previously worked at Best Buy for Business as business development director and at Ultimate Electronics as builder services director.

Services start at $129 and include tabletop TV setup, TV wall mounting, home theater setup, computer and digital camera networking, furniture assembly, electronics recycling and next-day installation. Zip Express installers also remove all trash from the job and train each customer on how to use the new setup. Installations are covered by a one-year warranty and a $10 million per incident insurance policy, the company said, and can also be purchased directly through Zip Express on its Web site.

The company, previously operating as OnCall Installs, said all contracted installers are CE certified and are subjected to a seven-year background check.