Another batch of articles say Gamestop is continuing a steady decline to business death. What’s going to keep it going in 2019 and beyond?

You can’t predict what’s going to work, but in hindsight, some of the past decisions from the company seem silly. Travel back to 2013, and you’ll remember Gamestop filling its checkout cases with smartphones, tablets, and more. Some still sell them but, for the most part, this project was abandoned after the retailer couldn’t move smart hardware. In 2019, it seems silly that they ever tried, but back then, a looming threat was posturing up against the store: digital games.

We’ve seen digital games move more players away from physical software, but there are still plenty of collectors. However, it’s disingenuous to say Gamestop started slipping when digital games popped up more and more. The industry itself just proved to be lucrative enough for non-video game retailers to step up their game.

To this day, Best Buy and Target run competitive sales and deals on video games. They also stock a decent selection in their stores, despite not being a traditional video games retailer. The money is there, so they’ll sell what sells. Gamestop can’t suddenly start stocking baby formula and Aspirin. They did try something different though post-2015 though.

The entrance of most Gamestop stores nowadays is all video game and pop culture merch. Between shirts, mugs, and Funko figures, Gamestop is certainly trying things to stay relevant. The problem still persists, however, as it fails to recover its loss of the video game retailer market. Rewards programs and selling digital codes is not going to make up what they’ve lost. So, what saves Gamestop in 2019 and beyond?

I’m no marketing genius, but I can say this: the reputation of Gamestop is not strong. They’re seen as thieves, buying back used games for a slim percentage of what they flip them for. It’s absurd to complain about, seeing that they run a business, and they’re looking to make a profit. The issue plagues message boards everywhere. Despite logical margins in their buyback and sell used games model, fans see it as shady. Huge potential lies in a method that has worked for other retailers, but it’s not one that Gamestop may want to adopt.

Best Buy ran its Gamers Club Unlocked program for years until canceling it last year. The subscription was $20 for two years of 20% discounts on brand new games. That means the day that a game came out, you could go in with your subscription and purchase that game for $47.99, instead of the original $59.99. It got me to buy solely from Best Buy for years. Amazon did a similar deal for a while as well, and now Walmart is selling brand new games for $49.99. Discounts work.

The concept of saving a business by cutting prices on brand new games seems ridiculous, but it’s about market share. If others are seen as a more compelling place to pick up video games, the goal has to be taking back those customers. Gamestop can’t sell the same things as Walmart, but it can match those discounts for in-store pickup or purchase. Hopefully, when they’re in the store they look around, and you can sell more stuff you’ve stocked your shelves with. The video game industry is booming, and right now, there are no other options for Gamestop.

Will they do something along the lines of a Gamers Club Unlocked or Amazon Prime discount? Probably not. However, if you want to take back a market from which you literally base your name, it’s not a bad idea to do things to get people to spend their money with you, rather than a store that sells thousands of other things. Whether or not Gamestop survives is not a concern to me. What does alarm me is the lack of innovative ideas to rebrand and market. A pint glass with Zelda is cool, but a discount is cooler. Businesses don’t like cutting prices, but when everyone else is, you either keep up or call it a day.

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