Hmv Case Study

HMV

Mini case study

HMV is a Retail company, originally known as His Master's Voice. The stores are currently the largest in the UK music retail industry. In 1921 the Gramophone Company opened its first HMV shop in London. In 1998, HMV media acquired Waterstone's for Ј300 million. Three years later HMV Group plc was floated on the London stock exchange.

HMV focuses on providing its customers with access to the widest possible range and in-depth selection of recorded music, DVDs and computer games to suit all tastes from the past and the present.

Looking at HMV's activities in the retail industry, it can be said that certain strategic decisions implemented by HMV have been the result of modify made by other competitors. As for example, Apple stores have leading sales in the MP3 market, in the stores all products are available on show to be tested out and played with. HMV has taken this idea and applied it in to the new Hubs. . Make the customers enjoy the store and have access to the products, thus moving along in the transition from a traditional music store to an entertainment retailer. Changes to the HMV stores have already begun. New gaming zones and hubs have been built in Edinburgh and The West Midlands this year and are already proving to be a success. HMV's hopes are that these new look stores will help reverse the decline in profits shown over the previous year.

HMV has a well established and respected reputation within the retail industry. It is well known for the expertise and the knowledge of the staff, the quality of service and products that are provided and the loyalty given to its customers. This brilliant reputation has allowed HMV to become an international retailer, with many worldwide stores. Currently HMV have approximately 680 stores in 7 different countries including Ireland, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore. After closing or selling the ones in Australia, Japan, the USA and Germany.

The world of technology has changed a how the Business environment. Day by day technology is changing, developing and improving changing the way everybody goes about their lives. This is also the case for the music, films and games retail industry. Evolution has set in, no longer do people just want to go and buy the latest CD or DVD they can do that at the local supermarket whilst collecting their groceries, it's about the retail experience the new HMV stores have to offer. It is obvious that the driving force in the music retail industry is the continual introduction of new and improved technology.

In its struggle to compete within the industry, HMV music and DVD has engaged in certain acquisitions, alliances and partnerships. Entering into contract agreements with the mobile phone company 3 Network. 3 Network will have a stall located in the new HMV stores selling the latest Phone models and contracts, Phones purchased from the stalls will allow the customer to have music downloads from HMV on their phones as well as updates about the DVD and CD releases. HMV will be devoting more space in stores to Apple, so that Ipod's and Ipod accessories can be purchased in store. A download centre will be installed in the new stores, Computers with access to the newly designed HMV website will be available for use to download the latest music tracks and the movies from past and present. One of HMV's recent initiatives was the launch of a social networking site featuring film and music content that will allow users to create home pages, meet like-minded people and access reviews of films and music performances. They have also secured a deal to sell EMI's 'DRM-free' (digital rights management) catalogue of over 1 million tracks via downloads starting September 2007. This range complements its existing offer of 3 million tracks available in WMA (Windows Media Audio) format.

Although it is a technology driven industry, technology has been hindering HMV from doing well, they have been slow to embrace the internet and the competitors were quicker and took the lead in the new market. Amazon, e-bay and Itunes were the first online companies to set up in the music retail industry, these three companies drive the online market and are equal market leaders in their field. HMV stores are under high pressure from music and DVD downloading, both legal and illegal. That has altered the market for recorded music and movies, requiring it to invest heavily in developing an online business. Although HMV are now changing and implementing technology to their stores, systems and services, having launched a website it is not