CompUSA puts Internet on the sales floor

MIAMI, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- CompUSA is planning to add nearly 300 devoted Internet connections to each U.S. store location to explain its technology products to its live customers.

With the 300 separate screens in each store, a customer will be able to walk up to a printer, for example, and touch a computer that will then move from a promotional message to the printer's online Web site. Customers will then be able to explore the specifications of the printer and compare prices right on the spot, the Miami Herald reported Monday.

The plan includes $50,000 to $100,000 upgrades to each of the chain's 29 locations, the newspaper said.

The experiment started when Systemax bought CompUSA for $30 million in January with the belief it could get Internet customers to visit CompUSA stores, said Gilbert Fiorentino, chief executive officer of Systemax's consumer products division.

The results were disappointing, which prompted a tour of electronic stores.

During the tour, Fiorentino discovered "the state of the art in retail is underwhelming."

He decided to add the strength of the Internet to strength of live shopping.

''We're moving retail into the Internet age,'' he said.

"Everything we hate about retail can be fixed by technology,'' he said.