Personal Publishing Photo Products Pay Off in Tough Retail Climate

Vienna, Va., Nov. 20, 2008 – Photo retailers offering a wide variety of creative photo products like photo books, calendars and folded cards are enjoying a strong fourth quarter despite a tough economic environment, according to the latest APM Network data from Lucidiom. 

Year-over-year data for the month of October shows that photo book orders increased 576 percent this year, calendar orders grew 373 percent, folded cards increased 460 percent and flat cards saw a 172 percent rise. 

“The entire country is prepared for a tough fourth quarter, but all the news out there is not bleak,” said Lucidiom President Steve Giordano, Jr. “While your customers may not be purchasing $300 cameras for multiple people this year, Lucidiom’s APM Network data shows us they are purchasing plenty of profitable personal publishing products. 

“The key this holiday season will be to market these products as the priceless gifts they represent for so many gift recipients.  After all, what grandmother doesn’t want to see her grandkids on her wall calendar throughout the New Year?  And what better way to catalogue memories than in a custom photo book – many of which now come with dust jackets and are produced within the hour.” 

Since 2001, Lucidiom kiosks have processed hundreds of millions of photo orders and billions of prints, creating a unique collection of digital photo data within the APM Network.  The APM Network links and manages every APM, each store’s Lab 50 management station and each fulfillment center to Lucidiom’s central processing servers.  Analysis of this data gives Lucidiom and its retail customers unparalleled and exclusive insight into how consumers capture and print their photos and create their family memories. 

Through the APM Network, Lucidiom can forecast usage and new product trends based on real data, rather than broad projections. The information is sent back to Lucidiom retail customers through the APM ProfitWatcher Web portal. The reports are updated continually to reflect current requests from Lucidiom’s retail customer base.

About Lucidiom:
With more than 55,000 APM photo kiosks deployed worldwide, Lucidiom Inc. is the leading provider of social expression imaging solutions.  Lucidiom’s flexible and brand-independent digital photofinishing system, known as Lucidiom EQ, enables retailers to develop in-store and online revenue streams beyond the standard 4x6 print and empowers consumers to express themselves through images. Lucidiom EQ runs on the APM Network and features the best business systems, software tools and equipment:  the APM photo kiosk; scrapbooking and creative content; the EQ Printer; APM ProfitWatcher statistics tracker; Photo Finale Web portal and the Lab 50 management system. For more information about how Lucidiom drives social expression in the digital imaging world, visit www.lucidiom.com.

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