HMV is teaming with Digital Rum, a provider of mobile CRM technology, to launch a new m-payments service that will make it possible for consumers to buy CDs, DVDs and games using their mobile handsets.
The new Txt2Buy service allows consumers to buy CDs, DVDs and games by texting a shortcode number that appear in HMV adverts.
Customers willl then be sent back a message containing a mobile Internet link to a secure site where they can pay for purchases using their credit/debit cards. With the order complete, the item is then posted directly to customer.
HMV says no pre-registration is required for the service and customers can also save their card details to a secure 'mobile wallet', accelerating subsequent mobile purchases.
The service is powered by Digital Rum's mobile customer relationship management platform, which handles mobile messaging, through order collection and processing, to secure payment and authentication. Digital Rum also provides the mobile wallet capability.
Russell Tarr, Digital Rum's VP of sales, says the service willl enable consumers to spontaneously purchase physical goods via the mobile phone for the first time.
"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," says Tarr.
Commenting on the service, HMV's head Of Internet, Gideon Lask, says: "Given the increasingly dynamic buying patterns of consumers and the mass market penetration of mobile phones in the UK, offering customers the opportunity to buy music albums, movies and games over their mobiles, whenever and wherever they are, is an incredibly attractive proposition."