The retailer that needed to prove its relevance in a changing landscape may have done just that.
It seems as though GameStop’s bold move to begin offering Android tablets alongside its traditional packed shelves of traditional console and handheld video games may be working out in its favor.
The retailer has gone from a bunch of test stores to now selling Android devices in no fewer than 1,600 locations.
Among the tablets that the #1 US games retailer sells are those from Acer, Asus, Samsung, and Toshiba. To tailor the offerings to its gamer constituency, GameStop pre-loads each Android tablet it sells with the Sonic CD and Riptide downloadable games, as well as the Kongregate Arcade app.
Kongregate is a cloud-based game service that GameStop acquires in its effort to expand its horizons beyond the traditional gaming model.
GameStop has also begun selling iPads and iPod Touch devices throughout the country. It’s part of the retailer’s growing realization that the gaming industry is changing, and in order for it to remain profitable it has to adapt its business model as well.
For example, the retailer sells downloadable content (DLC) in stores, even though gamers can just as easily purchase the content directly through their console. But this allows consumers to use cash, trade-in credit, or gift cards as opposed to a credit card, giving GameStop a unique position in the digital content market.
The company has certainly done all it can to weather this storm of change and uncertainty in the gaming market. We’ll see if it’s enough.
