With the changing landscape of how people purchase their gaming and entertainment content (with the trend moving towards 100% digital), what is a store like GameStop’s next move?
GameStop’s Investor Day 2014 was a somber reminder that the once unstoppable retail powerhouse has a very uncertain road ahead of them. In what CEO Paul Raines described as “GameStop 3.0,” some type of evolution is their next logical step. While he remains confident that the retail market will continue to support revenue from the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Wii, non-gaming tech items is where they will turn some of their focus. The Apple ecosystem and mobile fronts were two singled out specifically.
GameStop already has their fingers in other pies so to speak, like owning the Simply Mac sales and service operation along with a number of cell phone kiosks. Regarding the combined efforts of both the Mac support and mobile, Rains had this to say regarding GameStop’s possible new face moving forward, “We have spent a lot of time in Cupertino with Apple leadership and we have their support to grow Simply Mac…connected devices are forecast to go from $8 billion today to $50 billion in five years…the wireless growth opportunity for GameStop is only beginning.”
But can a store with the word “game” in the title survive without a strong video game presence? Check back Monday as I explore that possibility and what the future for the retailer might look like.