Camera shops change focus to survive

Brian Corrigan

Nigel Roper of Croydon Camera House is unhappy about the $1000 tax-free threshold for online sales. Photo: Josh Robenstone

High-street camera shops are fighting for their future as changing customer habits threaten to put them out of business.

These family-operated stores have competed with larger retailers that have greater buying power for years. Now the internet has pitted them against online rivals that are based overseas, have tiny overheads and are exempt from GST for goods worth less than $1000.

Then there’s the growing trend for consumers to take photos on phones, instead of the compact cameras that were once ever-present at any family gathering. Crippling deflation for electronic devices is also hurting sales.

Yet having survived a move from print to digital that decimated one revenue stream as people stopped printing their memories, camera shops are ready for the challenge.

Nigel Roper is the managing director of Croydon Camera House, a business started by his father, Lewis, about 35 kilometres west of Melbourne, in 1985. Back then they were the only two employees, but it now has a staff of 20.

It was once one of four businesses that offered film processing in the small Victorian town, but Mr Roper said it was now the only one for miles around. Once a highly profitable part of the business, these days it is mostly young mums and grey nomads who come in to have snaps developed. He doesn’t see a future in it.

Like many other independent camera shops, Mr Roper’s main line of business was traditionally selling more expensive single-lens reflex cameras and lenses used by hobby photographers. That is now under threat from the price transparency that the internet and mobile devices have made available to consumers.

“The biggest beef I have is the unfair playing field with GST because we have one of the highest tax-free thresholds in the world,” Mr Roper said. “We are 10 per cent behind before we start but if you take that out we are quite competitive.”

Sales director Saul Frank runs Perth-based independent retailer Camera Electronic with his brother, Howard.

It started out as a repair business operated by their father, Ron, in 1971 but moved into camera sales in the mid-1970s with a focus on the professional market. For the past decade or so it has diversified greatly to include consumer cameras. Mr Frank tells a similar tale to Mr Roper.

“People often come in with printouts from the internet asking if we can match a price, or they’ll show us something on their iPhone, but they are still coming through the door,” he said.

“That might not have happened five years ago but now it’s several times a day.”

While both businesses fight to compete on camera prices where possible, they are betting their future on photo­graphy courses and other after-sale services that provide recurring rev­enue.

Six months ago, Camera Electronic opened photography workshops in the premises next door, offering a range of courses teaching people how to use their digital SLR cameras or editing software. The courses also offer more targeted tuition for mums wanting better photos of their kids, or frequent travellers looking to take more impressive architecture shots.

Croydon Camera House has run courses for many years, but Mr Roper said it was now putting on more than ever, with topics from portraiture to night shooting. It has also seen growth in demand for specialist printing of cherished memories on canvas, posters or in photo books.

Although confident there is still a role for high-street camera shops, Mr Frank predicts more change is ahead.

“In 10 or 20 years’ time maybe it will be better to have the photography workshop and courses business but no longer sell cameras,” he said.

The Australian Financial Review