Widening Consumer Choice With Gaming & Entertainment Products Into Independents

LONDON, January 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Products such as the Nintendo Wii and Xbox Kinect have revolutionised the traditional gaming console and the way gaming interacts with the player.  With convenience being a major part in the way consumers shop, epay provides a Gaming & Entertainment solution to the independent retail estate. To help retailers capitalise on the gaming and entertainment trend, epay launched gaming credits for Xbox, Sony PlayStation Network and Nintendo, as well as gift cards for Amazon and Amazon Kindle, into the convenience retail market in December 2012. This ensures consumers can now top-up their account, purchase a subscription, or buy a gift card in their local store at a time convenient for them.

The gaming market is one that continues to boom, with one in three people in the UK now playing a form of interactive entertainment. Gaming has moved on from static single player video games to fully immersive, interactive, physical gaming and moved even further with smartphone, virtual, and multiplayer entertainment. The demographics of gamers has changed significantly over the last 10 years; now the average online gamer spends seven hours a week playing online, 42% of these gamers are females between the ages of 25 and 44 years, and over 20 million players spend 17 billion hours on Xbox LIVE alone.

As the market is changing and consumers are using more handheld and digital devices, this is a great time to launch Amazon products into what was normally a traditional retail setting.

"Amazon gift cards are a great gifting solution because they allow the purchase of hundreds of different products from a wide range available and are simple and easy to use," Joni Shakles, Senior Vendor Manager for epay states. "We are also excited about being able to offer Amazon Kindle cards in retail settings. Amazon Kindle cards are the number one bestselling product on Amazon, and the Kindle was one of the most popular Christmas gifts last year in the UK with one in 40 adults receiving an e-reader."  

Providing the activation of these products through their terminals allows the retailers to truly offer a diverse product structure normally not available in the independent market. The gaming products can be purchased on a single basis or on a subscription term and allow extended access, features and gaming ability on consumers' consoles at home.

Leisure time is becoming more precious in peoples increasingly busy lifestyles, and this is changing the way that gamers access and purchase their additional content. Convenience is key, and offering these products within a local store to the consumer means their gaming experience becomes quick, simple and accessible when they want it.

epay are working alongside some of the world's leading brands - such as Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, iTunes, Norton, Adobe and Facebook - to support this vast array of additional content and services now available to gamers through their PC, console and mobile devices. Together, these brands and services promote enhanced gaming enjoyment and provide entertainment not just for one person, but for the entire family.

Joni Shakles states, "The gaming arena is an exciting and fast-evolving marketplace which has changed almost beyond recognition in a few short years. Retailers can benefit from the availability of these products within the convenience market as it attracts a wider demographic into their stores. Additionally, it makes a more convenient shopping experience for the consumer who can purchase product at any time of the day due to the longer opening hours independent stores offer."

Offering gaming products into independents has allowed epay to offer a more diverse product range to their retailers, increasing their offering to consumers and driving footfall to places where normally would be suited for smaller individual purchases.  To find out more and to increase your footfall, contact epay on 0844 800 0233.

About epay

epay, a Division of Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: EEFT), is a global prepaid product provider and distribution network - enabling service providers to maximize the sales of their products and services. epay delivers innovative and tailored electronic payment, cash collection solutions including POS systems integration, a full settlement and reporting service and full marketing and distribution service support.

The epay product portfolio includes prepaid mobile top-up, prepaid long distance, prepaid debit cards, e-wallets, gift cards, digital music and other content, lottery, bill payment and money transfer through its sister company Ria, and transport payment solutions including road tolls and public transport.

epay delivers these products through a worldwide network of approximately 631,000 points of sale at approximately 304,000 retailer locations across a number of markets including Australia, Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US. Visit http://www.epayworldwide.com for more information.

Note to Editors:

For further information please contact:
Hetal Patel, Head of Marketing & Retail Services (epay) - +44(0)1268242222 - hpatel@epayworldwide.com