Matt Bullock
12 October 2011
J. Sainsbury's recently announced it acquired Global Media Vault for £1 million to enhance the U.K. supermarket's non-food offerings to online shoppers. GMV was established in January 2009 and Sainsbury's has been the digital media provider's largest client. GMV developed a unique multichannel platform to offer products to shoppers in alternative venues besides bricks-and-mortar stores.
Users of GMV can currently purchase digital music, film and game assets that can be browsed, purchased and distributed from the company's website, mobile site, TV spots and kiosk applications. Luke Jensen, Sainsbury's group development director, said taking control of GMV will help the grocer develop its existing entertainment website, enabling customers to buy, rent and stream content directly from Sainsbury's.
"Online retailing and the delivery of digital content will play a key role in the future of entertainment so this is an important acquisition for Sainsbury's," Jensen said.
According to Paid Content, the acquisition is similar to other campaigns such as Tesco Entertainment's strategy that launched earlier this year. Tesco purchased 80 percent of the online movie renter Blinkbox to offer a movie service connected directly to TVs.
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