GameStop Sales Down, But Digital Skyrockets

[Andy Chalk]

GameStop Sales Down, But Digital Skyrockets

GameStop's [http://www.gamestop.com] total sales and profits are down slightly for the second quarter of 2011, but preowned sales are up and digital sales are through the roof.

Total sales at GameStop for the second quarter of 2011 were $1.74 billion, a serious truckload of money but still a slip of 3.1 percent from the $1.8 billion in sales over the same quarter in the previous year. Net earnings were also down, dropping to $30.9 million from $40.3 million the previous year, as the company continues to sink money into its ongoing strategic initiatives.

And those strategic initiatives have gone a long way toward softening the blow of a soft quarter. While new hardware and software sales "underperformed," in large part because of the lack of any "must-buy" releases [the top-selling games for the quarter were L.A. Noire, NCAA Football 12, inFAMOUS, Brink and Mortal Kombat], preowned sales climbed 12 percent and digital sales were up by a stunning 69 percent. That was enough for a 31.2 percent gross margin, the company's highest in five years.

Preowned sales have always been important to GameStop's bottom line but the ability to compete in the digital marketplace is what will prevent [or not] the company from becoming another 2010 fiscal year [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/107959-Blockbuster-Wants-to-Put-Itself-Up-for-Auction], it would seem that GameStop is doing a pretty good job of lining itself up for the future.


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[Lilani]

Okay, this is good, but the developers need to address this and follow through. Now that they're getting more people into digital sales, which makes sure they get money in their pocket, they need to show a little customer appreciation to keep people from defecting back to used games. If they utilize this opportunity properly, they can take back an even larger portion of their market that's been lost to used game sales.

 

[GonzoGamer]

Great. So we can look forward to them ripping off our grandkids too. I'm sure they'll really appreciate that.

 

[-Dragmire-]

And those strategic initiatives have gone a long way toward softening the blow of a soft quarter. While new hardware and software sales "underperformed," in large part because of the lack of any "must-buy" releases [the top-selling games for the quarter were L.A. Noire, NCAA Football 12, inFAMOUS, Brink and Mortal Kombat], preowned sales climbed 12 percent and digital sales were up by a stunning 69 percent. That was enough for a 31.2 percent gross margin, the company's highest in five years.

You mean the 2nd one right? Infamous was potentially free if you were affected by the psn outage.

OT: The last few games I bought were digital sales and I only buy older gen used games at Gamestop/EB Games so they haven't got much out of me this year.

 

[YouEatLard]

Really? You mean stores that don't carry much in the way of PC games are not making as much money on PC games as the alternative that just requires a click of a button to get what a consumer wants when they want it from home? Wow. Learn something new every day.

 

[Sartan0]

Really? You mean stores that don't carry much in the way of PC games are not making as much money on PC games as the alternative that just requires a click of a button to get what a consumer wants when they want it from home? Wow. Learn something new every day.

Haha, you noticed as well? There is almost no reason for me to go to a store for a game anymore. I love it.

 

[Aristabulus]

Gamestop purchases Impulse from Stardock, digital sales numbers improve markedly.

In other related news, water is wet.

 

[blarghblarghhhhh]

I know gamestop owns impulse. if they were smart they would market the hell out of it in there stores. Gamestop has a huge amount of weight to throw around and they could get alot of people into pc gaming through digital distribution and special offers.

also I dont get the whole gamestop ripping people off thing. Ive personally never been ripped off there. Sure they sell used games for five dollars less than new copies and they make money off of that. if your not the particular breed of idiot that thinks thats a good deal then dont pay any mind to it.

I traded in roughly 400 dollars worth of ds games there and received 203 dollars in store credit. that's far better than selling them on ebay/craigslist and half of them were bought used from them so in reality I payed fifteen dollars to rent a game for a year only to return it and get half of my money back (on average). how is that a bad deal?

 

[Dalek Caan]

Great. So we can look forward to them ripping off our grandkids too. I'm sure they'll really appreciate that.

There not all that bad. I'm sure some are but not all. Probably depends on where you live. I think its nice to here at least one buisness doing good in these times.

 

[A.Balthazor]

I'm glad their digital sales are doing well. They'd do a little better if they would LET ME BUY FROM THEM DAMMIT.

They will not let me purchase online, unless I create a new userid, and they won't explain why. Amazon and other online retailers have no trouble taking my money, so until Gamestop improves their communication with customers regarding issues like mine then I'll just take my business elsewhere.

After numerous unresolved calls to GameStop, and an unanswered letter, I've decided to stop trying on my end to spend my money with them.