I've always hated gift cards. I find it silly to use widely accepted currency and exchange it for store limited currency that expires where even if there is stuff that you want, it's still a gamble whether you can just get it cheaper elsewhere and you're essentially throwing away money.

FRISH
I've always hated gift cards. I find it silly to use widely accepted currency and exchange it for store limited currency that expires where even if there is stuff that you want, it's still a gamble whether you can just get it cheaper elsewhere and you're essentially throwing away money.

It's a hang-over from days when you couldn't send cash in cards due to theft, and before the days when Amazon had become the most awesomest retailer ever.
Not so relevant now that nobody but a fool would use an actual real B&M shop, but HMV are rather old-fashioned that way. They probably still sell CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays….!!

I always thought it was only a matter of time before it fell back into administration when it got bought out of it, but I have to admit that it did last longer than I expected.

I still expect GAME to fall back into administration at some point too.

Output
I always thought it was only a matter of time before it fell back into administration when it got bought out of it, but I have to admit that it did last longer than I expected.

I still expect GAME to fall back into administration at some point too.

What amazes me is that HMV sell Spotify/Apple music vouchers, Waterstones will sell you a Kindle and Game will sell you Sony, MS, Steam or EA vouchers. Why make your competitors life easier by actively pushing custom to them?!?!

There is a reason Sainsbury's don't sell Tesco vouchers after all.

spacein_vader
What amazes me is that HMV sell Spotify/Apple music vouchers, Waterstones will sell you a Kindle and Game will sell you Sony, MS, Steam or EA vouchers. Why make your competitors life easier by actively pushing custom to them?!?!

There is a reason Sainsbury's don't sell Tesco vouchers after all.

A small slice of someone else's pie is still better than no pie at all.
This is what companies are reduced to when they didn't get a proper online/digital/streaming product together when others did.

spacein_vader
What amazes me is that HMV sell Spotify/Apple music vouchers

Tesco also sells them, along with vouchers for cinemas, coffee shops, Facebook, Game, WHSmith, Halfrauds, Currys and Waterstones…

spacein_vader
Waterstones will sell you a Kindle

So will Currys, Argos and John Lewis…

spacein_vader
Game will sell you Sony, MS, Steam or EA vouchers.

Presumably to download digital stuff that cannot be physically sold by a physical B&M?

Output
I always thought it was only a matter of time before it fell back into administration when it got bought out of it, but I have to admit that it did last longer than I expected.

I still expect GAME to fall back into administration at some point too.

Wouldn't be surprised if Game went like Gamestation did a few years ago, to me the big problem is all the pre-owned / refurbished stock that will depreciate and go unsold e.g. old consoles.

Ttaskmaster
Tesco also sells them, along with vouchers for cinemas, coffee shops, Facebook, Game, WHSmith, Halfrauds, Currys and Waterstones…


So will Currys, Argos and John Lewis…


Presumably to download digital stuff that cannot be physically sold by a physical B&M?

GAME I can accept as most games are online now, but the difference between Waterstones selling you a kindle and Currys/Argos/JL is that 2 of those 3 don't sell books at all and JL only sell a tiny amount. Waterstones selling you a Kindle means they get the retail markup of one £100ish purhcase in exchange for you never having to buy a single one of their products ever again.

The same is true of Tesco. They don't make the vast bulk of their money from music/movies/books/games.

delta5361
Wouldn't be surprised if Game went like Gamestation did a few years ago

GAME actually bought Gamestation at one point (2007 according to Wikipedia), as far as I know they were never in trouble before that.

I can't remember if they actually kept any Gamestation stores open or whether it was simply getting rid of the competition though.

spacein_vader
Waterstones selling you a Kindle means they get the retail markup of one £100ish purhcase in exchange for you never having to buy a single one of their products ever again.

And yet people are still buying their products, even those with e-readers and ebook apps…

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jan/18/waterstones-annual-profits-jump-80-percent-books-sale

Output
Game actually bought Gamestation at one point (2007 according to Wikipedia), as far as I know they were never in trouble before that.

Oh thanks, never knew that. The only gamestation shops near me had closing down sales, can't remember what year that would be though.

This time, it better be for good!

OilSheikh
This time, it better be for good!

Why?

If someone thinks they can run them, and some people still want to buy there, what's the problem?

I'm surprised HMV lasted this long!

spacein_vader
Waterstones selling you a Kindle means they get the retail markup of one £100ish purhcase in exchange for you never having to buy a single one of their products ever again.

Different market. My wife has now bought me 2 e-readers as I wore out the Nook. She reads more than I do, but only paper books. Then there are people who only use e-books for travel or browsing, or buy books they want to read again in paper form.

If Waterstones forced customers to go elsewhere for any book related purchasing then there is a danger they will be pushed away and never come back. I did that with Tesco once, I kept finding things that I needed weren't in store. The final straw was when I couldn't find corned beef. I figured if I was going to have to go to Sainsburys to get a few basic items like that on top of my weekly Tesco shop, I might as well just do the entire shop at Sainsburys and save one trip.

I just get the impression that they're not actually using the physical bricks and mortar they have to their full extent. Take for example Games Workshop, they have events in-store and will do free delivery to their stores (free footfall).

So why don't HMV have music events in-store (small events), create that free footfall that can translate into something more community based. It's something they could offer that Amazon etc can't offer without bricks and mortar. Same for Game, events in-store.

They're being one trick ponies at this stage, even the larger retailers like Sainsbury's and Tesco have diversified over the years offering more than “just food” (Magazines, Books, Media, Chemists, Argos, Phone shops, Cafe, Clothing, etc etc). If bricks and mortar retailers want to compete then they need both a strong in-store offering as well as a well managed and designed online offering. HMV and Game? They don't do this from what I've seen, they'll go the way of the dodo if they don't diversify to their own strengths for their markets.

DanceswithUnix
I might as well just do the entire shop at Sainsburys and save one trip.

You should do that anyway. Far better place to shop. I'm actually starting to quite enjoy ours, although it is a pretty massive one…

Iota
So why don't HMV have music events in-store

Probably some licencing issues over publicly broadcasting music or hosting a live event.
I believe Waterstones sometimes get authors in to sign stuff, but there are so many authors of so many books that you'd likely not hit a wide enough range of people without doing a full signing tour, and there again are fees to be paid…

Ttaskmaster
You should do that anyway. Far better place to shop. I'm actually starting to quite enjoy ours, although it is a pretty massive one…

lol. Our current house is quite near a large Tesco, but we drive some distance to use Sainsburys instead. I presume you are talking about the Theale branch, that's a bit bigger than ours from memory. They don't annoy me too often, though I find myself hunting the shelves for items with a use by date beyond the next day far more than at Tesco.

Back on topic…

Last time I saw an HMV I wandered in and looked around wondering what the point in the place was these days. In my youth I would travel to London with friends to prowl the record shops for rare LPs and CDs, these days it just seems bizarre to leave your seat to find music to listen to.

DanceswithUnix
I find myself hunting the shelves for items with a use by date beyond the next day far more than at Tesco.

Theale yes… But the use by date is actually the reason I won't go to Tesco. I'll see some things on their shelves that are actually in the past!

DanceswithUnix
I would travel to London with friends to prowl the record shops for rare LPs and CDs

Sister Ray, perchance?
Certain musician's work I have always collected on CD or vinyl, most of which has also been autographed, so I continue in that. You can't really offer a download for someone to sign…

Just had a waltz around yesterday and saw many staff just plain old chatting and a few working their arses off to restock shelves. Far too many staff in most HMV stores. Guess I won’t bother with anymore steelbook pre orders just yet.

DanceswithUnix
…. The final straw was when I couldn't find corned beef. I figured if I was going to have to go to Sainsburys to get a few basic items like that on top of my weekly Tesco shop, I might as well just do the entire shop at Sainsburys and save one trip.

That's quite a well-known phenomenon in retail management.

Some years ago, I was involved in a store refurb of a large supermarket. It was a massive job, building huge extension, etc, and my part was right at the tail end, the computer installation, and I asked the store's project manager

“Rather than weeks or months of chaos, closing this bit, then rotating to that bit, with all the effort involved in doing that evrry few days and the job taking weeks, why not just close entirely, empty the store, bung loads of labour in, and re-open after a week or two, instead of six?”

He told me they did that once. Closed a small branch for one week. But it forced ALL customers to go elsewhere for that week. They estimated 30-40% never came back, even though the new store was hugely improved.

The moral? Consumer inertia is a piwerful dtiving force. Mess with it at your peril. Once you push a customer away, even temporarily, you run a serious risk of them staying away. As my local Waitrose is currently doing with me.

Thing is if people don't go out shopping then shops like HMV will go into administration, Online shopping has a lot to answer for.