PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
HMV has been trialling laptop sales departments in a number of stores, with a view to installing them in more key premises across the UK.
Talking to PCR, HMV’s technology and books product manager, Ricky Gordon said that the move has been primarily inspired by changing patterns in the way people consume music and video media.
“Demand for our traditional core products of music and film, is changing – particularly in the way that people consume it,” Gordon told PCR. “We’re doing our best to be a part of this change, and to respond to the needs of our customers, but this also means looking at new product areas that are still part of entertainment and popular culture, and changing our mix a little.”
However, despite the move being attributed to modern consumer choices, Gordon feels that it is not a radical move for the retailer to make, as in its early days, HMV stocked technology items such as gramophones.
“Ironically, if you go back a few decades, from the Twenties to the Sixties, we stocked not just recorded music, but technology products also,” continued Gordon.
“To begin with it was just gramophones and related items, but then we played a key role in popularising new electronic items such as radios and TVs, and we even got into white goods at one point. So you could argue everything’s going full circle, and in stocking iPods and netbooks, today’s modern day equivalents perhaps, we have gone back in order to move into the future.”
The full text of the interview can be read here.
