Nations Photo Lab Competes With Big-Box Players on Price and Quality

Walking down the street, it seems like every person has a mobile phone in their hands texting, scrolling through social media or snapping a photo. People take so many photos, in fact, that their phones’ memory gets totally full (and that annoying notification pops up right when you're trying catch the perfect shot). And out of all the pictures someone may take of a pet, for example, only one may have that “wow” factor — that’s where Nations Photo Lab comes in.

Nations Photo Lab is a pure-play online retailer of photo prints and products. Ryan Millman, CEO and co-founder of Nations Photo Lab, knows that people take the one picture that wows them and turn it into a keepsake.

“People coming to us are looking for the level of quality that they are provided by their wedding photographer or portrait photographer,” explains Millman. “We say, ‘why not provide that level of quality for any and everybody?’”

Nations Photo Lab achieves this level of quality while also being able to compete on price — even against big-box and larger retailers.

“We don’t see big-box retailers as a major challenge, and a lot of that is due to our value proposition,” says Millman. “We feel our combination of quality and cost cannot be beat.”

Nations Photo Lab is able to offer consumers great products at competitive prices because of its efficient operations and testing abilities.

Lean Manufacturing

By looking at every part of its manufacturing process and removing waste, Nations Photo Lab is able offer its customers “excellence across every touchpoint,” from customer service to turnaround time to an extensive product line.

“Waste isn't something a customer should pay for,” says MIllman. “We have a focus on continuous improvement, improving our process and focusing on the value-added parts of manufacturing which allows us to get products out quickly, efficiently and cost effectively.”

Ability to Test

Big-box retailers and major e-commerce players don’t have the ability to test as freely as Nations Photo Lab. Millman says that most large retailers use third-party software companies that only release updates every few months. Nations Photo Lab, on the other hand, is able to try new things more frequently, allowing the company to get ahead of consumers’ wants and needs.

“The key is to be agile in the way that you're developing your tools,” explains Millman. “We get features to market to test and iterate. The big-box companies are locked into a couple releases. They have to pack in a lot of information and hope that’s what going to resonate with their customers.”

Nations Photo Lab’s software is constantly collecting information on customers to identify pain points and remove friction from the purchase journey. Different teams within the company work together to put out new releases every two weeks. The e-tailer recently implemented Amazon Pay and consolidated its shopping cart based on its customers’ feedback.

“If we take a misstep, we can quickly edit it and really put a focus on getting the best features quickly and rapidly, as well as continue to build on them, ” notes Millman.

The updates made by Nations Photo Lab have helped the company improve its conversion rates while decreasing its mobile exit rates. Nations Photo Lab is setting itself up for success against its big-box competitors as e-commerce and mobile adoption continue to grow.