Off-the-shelf deal rings the changes: Universal's urban product included in mobile offering.(Retail)

Woolworths is launching what it is billing as the first of-the-shelf ringtones product, allowing polyphonic and monophonic tones to be racked in their own right alongside singles and albums in-store for the first time.

A series of six themed compilations--one of which features exclusively Universal Music ringtones--is rolling out across 825 Woolworths stores, in partnership with electronic product delivery specialist Eposs and its mobile content arm Ringtones Online.

The "virtual" mobile entertainment packs come in CD-style plastic slipcases but only become active after the customer has paid for them. Retailing at 4.99 [pounds sterling], each "compilation album" allows a purchaser to select five monophonic or polyphonic ringtones from a list of more than 100 titles within a particular genre category.

Ringtone inserts within CD releases have become more common over the past year, while Universal quietly launched a three-inch single format in July, which offered both the track and a code giving access to its official ringtone. But stand alone products have only previously been sold over the internet or through ads.

"HMV has dabbled with the idea but they have never physically done it yet," says Ringtones Online marketing and content director Tony Ragan, who adds that the Woolworths products have been more than a year in development.

"The product is the simple part," he says. "[What is complicated] is the integration into every till, making sure those products can be activated at any point in any store."

At the point of sale, an Eposs machine prints ...