Ritz Rolls Out New Internet Print Service

Beltsville, Md.— Courting the elusive digital printing dollar, Ritz Camera has begun rolling out a new Internet print service, called Internet Xpress Prints (IXP), that lets consumers upload their digital images to a Ritz Web site and pick up prints at a local Ritz or Wolf retail store within four hours.

The new program seeks to better intertwine the retailer's Internet and brick-and-mortar business, according to executive VP Rich Tranchida. It also provides a far quicker turnaround time for in-store pick-up of Internet orders, which is a next-day service for most photo retailers, Tranchida said.

Available on the company's Internet printing site, www.RitzPix.com, Xpress Prints is available now in 225 of the approximately 1,300 Ritz and Wolf stores nationwide. All Ritz/Wolf locations with Fuji Frontier digital minilabs (approximately 450 by the end of this year) are slated to get the service.

Ritz's online imaging services previously mailed prints back to consumers, but offered no in-store pick-up. The new service will continue to have a mail-back option, in addition to the in-store pick up. The service will also allow users to upload photos and have them printed at distant Ritz or Wolf locations, allowing faraway friends or relatives to retrieve them.

The pricing structure for IXP will track with the retailer's in-store digital print pricing, Tranchida said. The new service is part of the camera chain's overall efforts to bolster its digital printing business.

"We want consumers to print more images, and we want to make it as easy and as convenient for them as possible," Tranchida said.