The deal which has seen restructuring specialist Hilco take effective control of HMV could herald a new era for the music and DVD retailer’s loyalty scheme, MyHMV.
Hilco purchased HMV Canada last year, and, although most observers recognise there are huge differences between the Canadian and UK music markets, the company has blossomed since the deal.
The Canadian business, acquired in July 2011 for £2.05m, recorded sales of $270m (£170.1m) during 2012, and analysts claim much of this growth has been triggered by its digital music strategy.
HMV Canada recently launched a digital subscription-based streaming service, called The Vault, which uses a Spotify-like system to allow shoppers to listen to music across a number of different devices.
The service is said to be slicker and noticeably more appealing than the UK version MyHMV – which was being trialled before the company’s collapse.
MyHMV has its roots in the Pure HMV loyalty programme – rolled out two years ago. The scheme had over 2 million members.
And any move to replicate The Vault in the UK could provide a much welcome shot in the arm in HMV’s battle with the download market – Apple iTunes is now responsible for nearly 30% of all music sold worldwide.
One loyalty industry source said: “HMV has already got a loyalty scheme, which although still relatively new, could provide the much needed impetus for it to exploit the digital music market. If I were at Hilco, I would be taking a long hard look at how we could tap into those valuable customers. It may just provide the basis for a successful rescue operation.”
Another source, who used to work at HMV, added: “Any potential buyer should start with the loyalty scheme. There are also huge numbers of registered hmv.com customers, too. The affinity and loyalty to the brand are huge.”
On Monday, the administrators for HMV said that the retail chain would start accepting gift vouchers in stores from Tuesday.
Deloitte, which had previously said that gift cards could not be redeemed in stores, said it had made the change after assessing HMV’s financial position.
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