HMV, one of the UK’s strongest high-street retailers, has this week revealed an initiative to expand its videogame appeal with customers by embracing second-hand software trade-ins.
HMV looks to take the trade-in game to GAME and GameStation. Image: yoppy/Flickr.
More pointedly, by offering its new Re/Play service across some 160 stores from this coming Friday, HMV will accept second-hand games covering the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, PS2, PSP and Nintendo DS in return for store credit.
That accumulated credit can be spent by customers on any in-store product, including games, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, CDs, MP3 tracks, and more.
According to Tim Ellis, head of HMV’s game arm, Re/Play is “a great deal for [HMV’s] customers,” and will see the store benefiting from boosted walk-in trade as well as increasing sales of new videogame software and hardware.
However, despite HMV’s apparent enthusiasm, it is not alone on the high street when it comes to offering software trade-ins, with videogame specialist stores such as GameStation and GAME already well established with gamers fond of second-hand trading.
Speaking with online trade magazine GamesIndustry, HMV’s Martin Baxter said the chain has seen itself as a games specialist for quite some time, and believes that the introduction of Re/Play will only reinforce its position while sending a clear message to its high street rivals.
“[Re/Play] is like a final piece of the jigsaw,” commented Baxter, before adding that it will bring HMV in line with its software-stocking competitors.
While the introduction of Re/Play provides gamers with yet another possible trade-in and acquisition outlet, it’s unlikely that the gaming industry will be overly pleased with the high-profile expansion of second-hand retailing, which denies developers and publishers a cut of the profit from re-sold titles.
“Our supplier partners have been aware of our plans for some time,” said Baxter. “I appreciate PPG [pre-played gaming] has attracted mixed views in the past, but our key competitors have been doing this for a while now, so it was time for us, really.”
Looking to offset any subsequent disquiet from software developers and publishers, Baxter said that the lure of Re/Play should increase the volume of HMV’s walk-in customer base, which will hopefully generate more interest in new, full-price releases and gaming hardware.
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