Asda moves into online photo market

Supermarket giant Asda is to launch an online photo shop offering digital prints from 10p each.

The company, which will launch its photo service next month, currently operates 120 photo centres in stores throughout Britain making it the third largest photo shop in the country.

By comparison, Boots cheapest deal on bulk photos is 12p each, while Jessops charges 15p.

Asda is also developing a photo collection service, which has been pioneered by its parent company Wal-Mart in the US, called 'Click and Collect'. The service will enable customers with broadband internet access to upload digital images online and collect them from their local store within an hour.

The supermarket said that orders placed using the online service will be delivered back to the customer within two working days.

The new photo site will also feature a range of photo gifts including personalised photo albums, calendars, baby bibs and pet gifts. Companies will also be able to download their logos to create corporate merchandise including gift cards and greetings cards.

Already this year Asda has accelerated the rollout of its online businesses. It has invested more than £7m in its grocery delivery service, launched an entertainment site with more than 140,000 CDs, DVDs and games online, and introduced an online optical service selling disposable contact lenses.