As a result of this relationship, consumers of online entertainment can make payments at 7-Eleven stores using both Kwedit Direct [image-nocss] and Kwedit Promise, two services provided by Kwedit.
Kwedit Direct creates Kwedit Slipspaper "invoices" that consumers print and bring to participating 7-Eleven stores where Kwedit Slips are scanned and payment is accepted at the register.
Kwedit Promise allows consumers to "Play Now. Pay Later." If they want to enhance their game experience, customers not using plastic or Pay Pal no longer have to stop playing just to purchase a prepaid gaming card or get someone else to buy a virtual item for them. With Kwedit Promise, consumers can instead receive digital content and virtual goods from online publishers in exchange for promises to pay later.
Consumers can conveniently pay off their Kwedit Promises using Kwedit Slips at their local 7-Eleven store.
In addition to facilitating payments, Kwedit Slips can deliver valuable, targeted promotions that consumers can use when they visit a 7-Eleven store. In the near future, Kwedit Slips will also be rendered and scanned from consumers' smartphones, providing even greater convenience.
The markets that 7-Eleven and Kwedit will serve with these new products are large and growing: U.S. virtual goods sales reached $1B in 2009 and are projected to grow to $1.6B in 2010, according to InsideVirtualGoods.com. These projections do not include game subscriptions, music purchases, digital downloads and other forms of digital content that can also be served by 7-Eleven and Kwedit.
"7-Eleven and Kwedit are ready to serve millions of Americans who would like to purchase digital content and virtual goods but were unable until today," said Joe DePinto, CEO of 7-Eleven. "This new and innovative Kwedit Payment Network supports 7-Eleven's strategy of offering a broad range of services for consumers who pay with cash or do not have a credit or debit card."
Charles Hudson, co-author of the report The Future of Social Gaming 2010, said, "The combination of 7-Eleven and Kwedit opens up the world of virtual goods to additional consumers who were previously excluded from this exciting market. Publishers and consumers stand to gain a great deal from [this] announcement."
"Offering the convenience of 7-Eleven to online consumers is a key component of Kwedit," said Danny Shader, CEO of Mountain View, Calif.-based Kwedit. "7-Eleven's thousands of locations, trusted brand and reputation for being first-to-market with innovative products and services make it an ideal partner for Kwedit. We look forward to jointly working with 7-Eleven to provide access to even more products and services for consumers."
Kwedit Promise and Kwedit Direct are powered by the patents-pending Kwedit Payment Network.
Based in Dallas, 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses more than 8,100 7-Eleven stores in North America. Globally, 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses close to 37,500 stores in 16 countries. During 2008, 7-Eleven stores worldwide generated total sales of more than $53.7 billion.
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