Kodak unveiled a dramatically altered corporate Web site at the Photo Marketing Association’s annual show earlier this week that eliminates its e-commerce segment in favor of driving sales to Kodak dealers and e-tail partners.
The `shop@kodak‘ portion of Kodak’s Web site, which sold refurbished equipment as well as hard to find accessories, has been eliminated. In its place, consumers will find a dealer locator searchable by zip code, as well as a list of online vendors that sell a particular product.
According to Bob LaPerle, GM, Kodak.com, Kodak has been stocking certain vendors with a broader line of its accessories to make up for the loss of the site.
‘We’ve found through our internal research that consumers are coming to our site for its educational value,’ said LaPerle. The vast majority of customers, however, do their digital camera buying offline, LaPerle noted.
‘The site’s changes are principally centered on our educational content and how visitors access and interact with that content,’ LaPerle said.
To that end, Kodak has updated the look of the site as well as added more interactive demonstrations of its digital imaging technology. Much of the educational content will remain the same. The site’s change will not impact Kodak’s photofinishing Web site, Ofoto, which the company acquired early last year.
