Borders Partners with Netkey For In-Store Kiosks

Posted on September 25, 2000

Borders has announced plans to offer in-store kiosks that allow customers to look at staff-recommended titles, read book reviews, view commentary about new videos and music, learn about upcoming in-store events or print information about a specific title. The kiosks, featuring Netkey's software, let Borders customers perform self-directed searches of more than 400 subject areas including books, music and videos/DVDs.

Netkey worked with Borders to customize its kiosk network, allowing customers to locate a desired title within the retail store immediately or locate it in the company-wide stock supply. Netkey is demonstrating its retail kiosks at the National Retail Federation Conference (NRF.com 2000), Booth No. 933, at the San Diego Convention Center on September 25-26, 2000.

``Title Sleuth is a significant milestone in our retail convergence strategy,'' said Mary Jean Raab, senior vice president, retail direct and convergence for Borders. ``We are taking our fundamental strength in customer service to a new level by bringing the range and convenience of the Internet to the store and marrying it with the insight and knowledge of our staff to create a powerful customer experience.''

The rollout of Title Sleuth kiosks began this summer and will continue throughout this fiscal year to the more than 300 Borders stores around the country. The kiosks are continuing to be rolled out in Borders stores across the country, in time for the holiday shopping season.

``Netkey's mission is to provide clients with kiosk software solutions that can be molded to their businesses' specific needs,'' said Alex Richardson, Netkey's CEO. ``The flexibility of Netkey software allows clients like Borders to provide their customers a targeted, enhanced level of service.''