InformationWeek: The Business Value of Technology

Scheduled to debut this summer, Kinkos.com combines Web technology from Liveprint.com and more than 1,000 digitally linked Kinko's retail stores. Customers will be able to design online business cards, stationery, and more, and then electronically send orders to Kinko's stores, where their products will be produced.

Kinkos.com initially will target small businesses and provide free access to Web-design tools, business advice, and various marketing packages. Eventually, the Alexandria, Va., company will add more services, customized products, and broader delivery and payment options that appeal to a wider market, including consumers and business customers.

"We're no longer just a copy shop," Kinko's CEO Joe Hardin Jr., said at a news conference last week. "We have created another channel of access to our broad array of products and services."

For its part, Liveprint.com gets a well-known brand established through years of business--a luxury most dot-coms don't have. "One hundred million dollars and a Super Bowl ad does not a brand make," says Kinkos.com CEO Rick Steele, formerly CEO of Liveprint.com.

Steele also points to Kinko's fulfillment channel and physical presence as key elements in Kinkos.com's future success. "Brand brings loyalty, fulfillment brings quality control, and the brick-and-mortar aspect adds the human element," he says.

Under terms of the deal, Kinkos.com will receive $40 million from Kinko's and Liveprint.com. Kinko's Inc. will own a majority of Kinkos.com.