MIAMI, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- CompUSA has launched Retail 2.0 at their Dadeland Miami concept store, infusing traditional retail with the Internet to revolutionize the way people shop.

Retail 2.0 gives customers access to online information to research products: owner's manuals, reviews, product tutorials, pictures, installation details -- whatever they need to make purchasing decisions -- literally right at their fingertips.

Technology consumers spend hours shopping different stores and online retailers as well as researching online product reviews. Retail 2.0 lets them do it from the CompUSA store as if they were home and eliminates guesswork.

Bringing Internet capabilities to in-store customers is the start of a megatrend. "No one has done this yet," said Gilbert Fiorentino, Chief Executive of Systemax Inc.'s Technology Products business, which includes CompUSA. "We want to be the most progressive and forward-thinking retailer in the world."

CompUSA took the model of its web site -- one of the best for providing information, pictures and how-to videos, among other things -- and brought it into the retail stores, said Fiorentino. "Shoppers will get the online experience inside the store. They will know everything about the product before getting it home and unpackaged."

Among the highlights of Retail 2.0 at the Dadeland store, and planned for other stores in the future:

-- All desktops, laptops, monitors and televisions -- more than 170 total screens -- are connected to dedicated computers, providing direct, single key access to all production information on the item from the Internet and allowing further discovery -- even outside of the CompUSA website.

-- In every aisle, additional stations are available so customers can obtain buying advice, type in a printer name to find out what ink they need or their computer model to determine what RAM to add for the capabilities they want.

-- CompUSA will offer workshops every weekend that will be podcast on its web site as well. Look for sessions such as 'How to build a PC at home,' or 'How to design a Facebook page.'

Even though customers don't need an employee's assistance to use in-store Internet, Retail 2.0 raises the bar on customer service for traditional retail. "Everything has changed in technology. Nothing has changed in retail, where the same old stores have employees who aren't educated about the products they're selling," Fiorentino said. CompUSA's concept boosts employees' expertise by giving them access to all product information they may need to help customers.

Technology giant Microsoft Corp. applauded CompUSA's innovation. "Consumers want the same sophisticated product, brand and comparison information at retail store locations as they get on the web, and successful retailers will integrate these channels in a seamless and compelling way," said David Gruehn, Microsoft's U.S. retail industry solutions director.

"The All-New CompUSA's Retail 2.0 initiative shows how technologies like the Microsoft .NET Framework and Windows Vista are enabling retailers to launch a new wave of innovation in multi-channel retailing and at a time when they must increasingly compete for loyalty and wallet share," Gruehn said. "Ultimately, The All-New CompUSA has put the consumer at the center of retail experience and is empowering them with the information they need to make more informed buying decisions."

Seventy-seven percent of consumer purchases were influenced by Internet research, according to a 2006 study by the Consumer Electronics Association and Yahoo! While most consumer electronics purchases were made at retail stores, the study cited reasons shoppers researched online first, including 73 percent who said because it's easy to compare prices of the same product at different stores. Consumers who finally bought spent an average 12 hours researching online before they purchased, the study said.

The complexity of electronics causes consumers to delay purchases, according to a 2003 study by Metafacts Inc. for Advanced Micro Devices. Forty- eight percent of respondents in that survey, for instance, delayed buying digital cameras because they were too complicated and 44 percent delayed buying a personal computer.

About CompUSA

The CompUSA companies (www.compusa.com) serve the needs of both personal and business computer users, selling consumer electronics, computers, digital media technology and peripherals via retail stores, catalogs and Internet channels. The CompUSA companies are subsidiaries of Systemax Inc. (NYSE: SYX).

About Systemax Inc.

Systemax Inc. (http://www.systemax.com), a Fortune 1000 company, sells personal computers, computer supplies, consumer electronics and industrial products through a system of branded ecommerce web sites, direct mail catalogs, relationship marketers and retail stores in North America and Europe. It also manufacturers and sells personal computers under the Systemax and Ultra brands and develops and markets ProfitCenter Software, a web-based, on-demand application for multi-channel direct marketing companies.

SOURCE CompUSA