APRIL 11, 2011 • U.K. retailer HMV launched an app for iOS and Android users that can tell gamers what the current value of their used games is without having to come into a store. After scanning the title’s barcode the app shows the up-to-the-minute trade-in value, plus whatever trade-in values are in force at the time.

Impact: This is a great example of how a brick and mortar retailer can benefit from growing consumer access to digital technology.  In this case, the play is making consumers realize that their products have a certain amount of resale value at a retail store.  This is a big difference between having to spend the time to actually go into a store and figure out what the value is. Furthermore, many products that are only digitally distributed do not have any resale value.  Thus a retailer that combines the best of both physical and digital distribution could potentially have an interesting play as digital distribution grows.