Some retailers, like Wal-Mart Stores, have already started taking images of customers' checks at the cash register, handing back the cancelled item, and processing the purchase electronically.
The solution, termed e-Market for Returned Deposit, begins with a deposit paid by consumers to sellers at the time of purchase, electronically registered and tracked via a radio-frequency identification device (RFID) placed on the product.
Many retailers already do much of their purchasing electronically, using so-called electronic data interchange networks.
Unlike the Internet, which enables customers to pay for products purchased electronically using credit cards, Minitel allows customers to be charged on their monthly phone bill.
As shopping swings into gear for the holidays, a new service called Slice aims to help consumers organize and track their purchases electronically.
Once purchased electronically, the bonds are held in an online "gift box," because they can't be given to the recipient until he or she is 18 and has an online account, Ms. Braden said.
For certificates or cards purchased electronically, disclosures made to the consumer after a consumer has initiated an online purchase of a certificate or card, but prior to completing the purchase of the certificate or card, would satisfy the prior-to-purchase requirement.
Since it was launched last January, a Web site designed and run by GE's Information Services division has logged $350 million worth of industrial products purchased electronically by GE divisions.
Griffith said the buy and keep service would target families with Sky subscriptions who previously purchased DVDs but found it increasingly convenient to purchase films electronically.
You can purchase bonds electronically in any dollar amount, however.
"In the past, the most common concern for consumers when purchasing movies electronically has been the inability to guarantee long-term ownership and portability of the files," said Mark Ely, executive vice president of Strategy, Sonic Solutions.
