ZoomIn The debut of 7 stores in 5 cities marks the beginning of a new era in customer choice and service in photo retail
May 4, 2010: Zoomin.com, India’s #1 Photo Sharing, Printing and Custom Gifting service, today unveiled its retail strategy with the simultaneous opening of 6 Zoomin Studios throughout the country. These stores are located as shop-in-shop within the Crossword Bookstores in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bangalore and Kolkata.
A Photo Studio for Today’s Generation
The chic new Zoomin Studio format is a significant step in empowering the memory keepsake of the family and giving them the tools to express, create and preserve their moments of magic through photos. Unlike any traditional photo retail store experience available today, the design and execution of each Studio has focused on creating a collaborative experience zone for customers to touch and feel stunningly beautiful and evocative photo gifts, get inspired and work with expert designers on the spot to tell their own story through photos. With a wide selection of products and services on display, such as traditional photo prints, giant enlargements, prints on canvas, coffee table book style hardcover photo books and a vast line of personalized stationery, note cards and invites. The stores are equipped with state of the art touchscreen displays to create a fun and exciting way for everyone to create magic with their photos. All a customer needs to do is walk in with their photographs in print or digital format, then let their imagination and the Zoomin team take over.
A One-Stop Photo Studio: While the Zoomin Studio has introduced an exciting array of innovations in celebrating life through photos such as the Photobook, canvas print, custom 100% cotton tee; the traditional and essential needs of a photo-taking professional, enthusiast or family member have not been ignored. Professional quality photo prints from wallet to giant wall-sized enlargements are available in multiple finishes such as matte, glossy, lustre and metallic. These professional prints are available for next day pickup at the studio, delivery to the home or worldwide through Zoomin’s network of delivery partners. Also launching with the Studios is the Zoomin Passport Photo Pack. A single click by a trained professional at the Zoomin Studio is probably the last time you will need to get a passport photo taken. Instant reorders of your passport prints will be available online and at any Zoomin Studio location nationwide through an SMS.
Commenting on the launch, Sunny Balijepalli, Co-Founder and CEO, Zoomin.com said, our goal both online and now through the launch of retail stores has been consistent we want to allow everyone in the family experience first-hand the magic possible through the exciting new developments in digital photography and on-demand personalization and printing. We are especially thrilled to have partnered with Crossword Bookstores to launch our first wave of stores around the country. As a service that aims to preserve a family favourite moments, Zoomins offerings fit particularly well with the store demographics. We see this partnership as a great opportunity to strengthen our distribution network and to take Zoomin’s photo and personalization services closer to its target audience. We are excited about our growth plans to reach out to a wider audience across the country and aim to expand the number of Zoomin Studios to 25 by end of this year, in a variety of formats and locations.
According to industry reports, the Indian digital printing industry is growing at a whopping CAGR of 85%. Camera enabled handset sales are also expected to boost digital photography over the next few years. We’re seeing very encouraging growth in the area of personalization as there is a plethora of readily available digital content and consumers are looking at innovative ways to celebrate them. Zoomin Studio is a service built for India, serving a Diaspora that is connected through memories and their celebration through photos, added Sunny.
Zoomin had successfully launched its first exclusive franchise store in Mumbai in September 2009.
The Exciting Launch Offer: The Zoomin Studio is excited to celebrate its launch with a free gift to all its customers. For a limited time, every walk-in customer to the Zoomin Studio will be eligible to receive a set of 25 free Photo Prints or a free Photo Book with their first purchase at the Zoomin Studio.
About Zoomin www.zoomin.com is a leading online service that enables customers to store, share, and print their digital photos easily and affordably. Zoomin allows customers around the world to upload unlimited photos and securely share them for free, with friends and family. They can order photo prints or personalize gifts with their favourite photos, a theme and message – delivered to any doorstep in India, the US, UK and Canada. Zoomins photo prints and gifts are of the highest professional quality, using world class technology and infrastructure. Zoomin.com was voted Indias # 1 photo service by PC World magazine and Online Photo Sharing and Printing category winner of the Digit web awards.
