Darryl.net

Today, AOL partnered with Walgreens to offer print-to-store functionality for AOL Pictures. This is a big deal for AOL for two reasons: 1) Walgreens has many, many stores nationwide that are within a few miles of most of the country’s population, and 2) customers love this feature - many have probably been flocking to competitors who have added this goodness over this past year. Indeed, the Target-Yahoo connection has been great for consumers.

While print-to-store is a boon for consumers, it’s really only a boon for the consumers who shop at those stores already. If you use one online photo service that works with a retail store you never visit, you might actually end up putting photos on many services depending on which way you are driving home that day. The online photo site that offers more choices will acquire and retain more users… sending more people to each retail partner.