HMV Responds to My OH HMV... Post.

Here's is HMV's response to my letter/blog post "Oh HMV, Where Art The New Blackie and the Rodeo Kings CD?"  It is reproduced without any editing. I will, however, write another blog post to respond to some of the explanation in this email.

Dear Mr. Rosenbaum:

Thank you for your well written and comprehensive account of the difficulties you have encountered whilst trying to obtain the new Kings & Queens CD from our Chinook HMV location. As someone who has identified themselves as being a passionate music fan, who loves the feel of a tangible product in their hands, (I also refuse to give up my vinyl collection!), I appreciate that you would take the time to write us with your observations and perspectives regarding our in store product selection.  Please allow me to start by acknowledging the fact that you must have invested a significant amount of time and resources into producing the enclosed information. Myself, not being nearly as eloquent a writer as yourself, certainly hope that my response back to you (albeit a bit long) will be equally as beneficial to you, as yours was to me.  

I am sorry to hear that you were disappointed with the product mix we are now offering in our stores.   HMV has been making changes to our inventory complement over the last few years after considerable market research and direct customer input.  What we have learned from our investigations and what has been stated to us time and again by consumers, is that not only do they want to continue to purchase their music and DVD’s from HMV, but they are also very interested in purchasing a wider range of entertainment-related items, such as video games, digital media, accessories and books.  

While at HMV, music will always be in our “DNA”, we have recognized that in order to remain a preferred shopping destination for our clients, it is important for us to evolve in a manner that is consistent with the needs and expectations of today’s shopper, and always with an eye to tomorrow.  As you have noted, this has lead to an obvious change in the amount of CD’s for both core catalogue and new releases, that are actively stocked in our shops. This is due to the physical space constraints of the retail environment prohibiting us from carrying quantity of titles that are not primary releases in every location, or having a full compliment of every item available within the artist/group comprehensive catalogue.

Our ‘point-location’ stores such as Robson Street in Vancouver, West Edmonton Mall, Toronto Superstore and Montreal Megastores will generally receive much higher quantity of new releases because their physical space and market demand for the merchandise makes it viable to hold larger inventory levels than most other locations.  I have addressed the matter of the limited stock in the Chinook store for Blackie & the Rodeo Kings with our Purchasing team.  They confirm for me that there is a replenishment order currently on the way from the supplier to have quantity of this CD sent to the store, so they should be receiving more supply on this title shortly. We apologize for any inconvenience you may have been caused by this title being out of stock on your visit.   

In relation to our digital tracks offered on the web site, the tracks and albums that are hosted on the site must be first provided to one of the one of the main aggregators that represent most of the independent labels and 7Digital (who powers our store) in order to receive the MP3 content.  If the electronic content is not available on our site, it is usually indicative of the fact that the content has not been provided to our service provider at this time, or it may not yet be licensed for distribution with one of our service providers.  Our various digital affiliates ingest upwards of 10,000 new tracks each week; so hopefully, this selection will become available to HMVDigital soon.  

HMV pays particular attention to the opinions of our customers on what they would like to see changed or added in our stores that would make their shopping experiences more beneficial. Certainly, we never want a customer to feel that their business is not appreciated by HMV, or feel unwanted in our stores or as an online customer by failing to have the item they seek available for purchase.  One of the primary reasons why HMV offers customers the ability to place special orders is to ensure we can connect customers to the more ‘hard to find, unique’ selections they desire. Unfortunately, most big box stores do not offer consumers access to these products or to genre's that are outside the top concentration played on most radio stations. Nor do they take the time or effort to make this level of service available to in-person shoppers, and in most cases, consumers who prefer to shop in person are only able to purchase the top concentration of best sellers or new releases at these types of retail establishments. 

At HMV, even though we may not physically have the selection you seek in the store at the time of your visit, we have access to, and can acquire for you, more than 350,000 titles that are currently available through the record labels.  Through our customer special ordering system, if the title is available through our suppliers, we can make that product available to you for purchase at any of our retail locations.  Our sales associates would be pleased to discuss this feature with you and apprise you of the services offered.  Please feel free to contact your local HMV for more information and our staff can assist you with your product enquiry.

You may be asking yourself why HMV bothers to offer goods for special orders considering that many people want instant gratification of a download.  There are hundreds of thousands of selections actively in production on a tangible format, not all of which are available electronically.   We believe that the pro's for making these products available to the music enthusiast who is passionate about owning a physical product far outweighs the cons of not providing customers with the opportunity to acquire music selections or films that they are really interested in obtaining.  

In closing, please allow me to conclude this message by once again expressing our sincere thanks to you for taking the time to write us directly regarding your concerns. Again, I hope that I have been successful at answering the points you have raised with us.  Being able to investigate the information presented has provided HMV with the unique opportunity to improve a weakness in our current service levels that may negatively impact our customers.  We sincerely appreciate your honesty and candour by bringing this to our attention. 

Do not hesitate to contact me again if I can be of further assistance to you in this matter.

Respectfully,

Lori Marshall,
Supervisor, Customer Service