Kodak’s Professional Line Will Be a Point, Click Away

Eastman Kodak Co., the world’s biggest photography company, will enhance its Web site to allow dealers, labs and professional photographers to buy equipment, film and other products online later this year.

Starting in April, the Kodak Professional division will begin unveiling the new features on the site, and customers will be able to transact business online later in the year.

It’s part of Kodak’s effort to boost efficiency by doing more business over the Internet and make buying its products electronically easier. A portrait photographer with a credit card and an Internet connection, for example, would be able to order supplies and other products online from either Kodak or dealers Kodak has linked to the site.

“Our customers--photographers, labs and dealers--are online and want to use the Internet to do business, and we’re accommodating them,” said Patrick Siewert, president of Kodak’s Professional division, in a statement. “We’re making our products available where our customers choose to buy them.”

The site will feature order tracking, payment processing, new product notices, discount notices and even a “community” area for professional photographers to discuss industry issues, Kodak said. Kodak’s professional catalog will also be available online 24 hours a day, Kodak said.

The Rochester, N.Y., company is working with professional photography and graphic arts dealers in setting up the site. Doing business electronically is more efficient than traditional transactions in part because it’s faster and cuts down on costs such as paperwork.

Sales from the Professional division accounted for $1.91 billion of Kodak’s $14.1 billion in revenue last year.