New Walmart service pushes digital movies

NEW YORK -- A new Walmart (WMT) service, InstaWatch, is giving customers who buy physical DVDs and Blu-Ray discs another way to watch some of them online.

Most physical copies of movies already include free digital versions. To watch them, you need to find a code included with the disc, go online and redeem it.

InstaWatch, which launched in a test version on Wednesday and works with Walmart's digital entertainment service, Vudu, lets customers scan a receipt to automatically download a digital copy of the movie. Customers will receive a text or email within a few minutes that the video is ready to view. They must watch it in a Vudu account.

Consumer tastes are shifting more to accessing streaming or digital content rather than buying physical media, and Walmart is trying to drive more customers to Vudu.

To begin, about 800 movies in stores and 1,100 movies online are part of the program, including "X-Men: Days of Future Past" and "Mr. Peabody & Sherman."