HMV launches mobile phone purchasing service

UK high street retailer HMV has announced the launch of its latest initiative for delivering games, music and movies to customers - with the Txt2Buy system set to allow customers to order products from their mobile phones.

The service, which has been launched by the retail giant in cooperation with mobile CRM technology provider Digital Rum, means that customers will be able to buy products simply by texting in shortcodes found in HMV's advertising.

After texting in their shortcode, users will receive a reply with a mobile Internet link that will allow them to securely pay for purchases on credit cards. Customers will also be able to store their credit card details to avoid re-entering them.\

"By combining SMS ordering with secure credit/debit card payment via the mobile internet, HMV is able to extend the order and payment capability of its high value product portfolio across any promotional medium - print, radio and television - simply by adding an SMS short code," Digital Rum's VP of sales, Russell Tarr, told financial technology publication Finextra.

The move makes HMV into one of the first companies to leverage the mobile phone platform as a way of selling boxed games in the UK. The retailer has previously stated that it hopes to target a significantly larger share of the UK games market; although it is a market leader in music and movies, in the games sector HMV is dwarfed by specialist rival GAME.