XBOX LIVE ON THE HIGH STREET Points mean prizes
Who says retail needs to evolve? The High Street is already making millions from digital by selling Xbox Live codes. Christopher Dring speaks to Microsoft’s Robin Burrowes on how digital is thriving in the physical space
ASK AN industry exec what retailers can do to survive in today’s increasingly digital marketplace, and they’ll tell you: ‘Retail needs to evolve.’
It’s a meaningless soundbite because when asked how, few seem to know. Those that do simply suggest copying Apple’s store format or spending millions on unproven online platforms. Retail may need to evolve, but no one actually has any answers. Except for Xbox. Ever since the Redmond-based giant came up with Xbox Live, the firm has been eager to keep traditional retail on side. The result? Almost 70 per cent of European Xbox Live Gold members buy their subscriptions on the High Street. Store owners bestow the benefits of the online service to their customers, while enjoying consistent sales of points cards, headsets and the rest. To the team at Microsoft, retail already has evolved.
LIVE AND LET LIVE
One glance at the latest figures highlight the scale of Xbox Live today. There are 35m active members (both paid and free) from 35 countries, and these members are spending – on average – 60 hours a month on the platform. Compare that to Facebook, where the monthly average is five hours and 20 minutes per user.
Live has become the centre point to everything Microsoft is doing today – from Windows Phone 7 to the upcoming Windows 8 operating system on PC. Retail is playing a crucial role in this development. From educating consumers to selling points cards, subscriptions and even entire Xbox Live Arcade games in-store – the High Street has got right behind Microsoft’s digital platform. And there are more retail initiatives on the way.
www.mcvuk.com
68%
A third of Xbox Live subs are bought from traditional retailers
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We are continuing to talk to retail in different ways and introduce new digital innovations.
Robin Burrowes, Microsoft
“We are working very actively with retail,” says Robin Burrowes, the Xbox Live marketing manager for EMEA. “And talking to stores in different ways. “There’s going to be new digital innovations that will help drive more business – new form factors and digital tokens. “For example, we’ve been testing electronic software distribution in a couple of places. That’s as well as point-of-sale activation, which is similar to buying digital cards in store and redeeming that code at the point of purchase.”
The most popular form factors are specialist subscription and points cards. Every time new Call of DutyDLC comes out, Activision releases limited edition branded points cards. During the release of the Black Ops: EscalationDLC, 132,000 points cards were sold at retail. That’s more than some new games manage during a debut week. “We are continuing to innovate that with limited editions,” adds Burrowes. “For example, a Gears of War subscription card is on the way where you get 12 months, two
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