InformationWeek

July 31, 2000

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Ace Hardware Uses Kiosks As Virtual Shelf Space

Partnership with OurHouse.com increases offerings and customer convenience

By Beth Bacheldor

And from our sister publications:

InternetWeek Kiosks Take Special Orders (5/8/00)

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rick-and-mortar businesses already use the Internet to extend their reach, enter new businesses, and increase revenue. But what about customers walking the aisles? Ace Hardware Corp. is using the Net plus kiosks to improve the shopping experience in thousands of its stores.

In a partnership with online home improvements retailer OurHouse.com Inc., Ace has kicked off a national rollout of 2,000 kiosks. Customers can research and buy more than 22,000 additional products by accessing OurHouse.com.

The kiosks will help the hardware chain extend the products and services it sells. "If we can offer line extensions over and above what we can carry, that's a big win," says Bill Jablonowski, E-commerce manager at Ace Hardware. "It will also let our retailers offer services they've never been able to offer their customers before." Adds Mark Greenstein, a VP at OurHouse.com who oversees its bricks-and-clicks strategies, "We want to give customers a virtual store inside the Ace Hardware store."

The kiosks, called Home Solutions Stations, are Internet-enabled devices that include a PC running Linux, a flat-panel display, and a printer. Ace, an Oak Brook, Ill., dealer-owned cooperative, last fall bought a 20% stake in OurHouse.com, which exclusively promotes and distributes Ace products.

In the initial testing phase, six kiosks were installed in Ace stores in Milwaukee; North Springfield, Vt.; San Francisco; and three sites in Illinois. Three more kiosks will be placed in Illinois stores this week; all 2,000 kiosks are scheduled to be installed by May 2001.

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