UK Supermarket Chain Claims One-Third of GTA V Spending

[Terramax]

I'd say it's more that the casual crowd that buys GTA have never been to a Game/Gamestation before, therefore get it at cheapy Tescos, than it having to do with what offer they have on compared to other stores.

Seriously, most people that shop at Tesco would have a heart attack with a '£2.00 Off GTAV' sign. OMG, what a bargain!

I would disagree with you there. I buy my games mostly from an electronics store (we don't have Tesco's here), but from what I can see games are almost always cheaper there than Game and GameStop. I once had a coupon for $17 on GameStop so I decided to buy a game there. With that coupon I ended up paying the same I would have had to pay almost anywhere else.

Used games also often cost the same or more than new games in those stores. Maybe I am part of the casual crowd, or maybe the need for specialized game stores is disappearing. They don't even compete with a bigger library in most cases.

By the sounds of it, you're not in the UK, so I think your points are a bit irrelevant as I'm referring to the British mentality.

Also, I should point out that if people were really THAT savvy about their money, they wouldn't buy from either retail, as online is always bound to be much cheaper. Amazon.co.uk have new games sometimes around £10-15 cheaper than the cheapest retails.

 

[Norithics]

As an American, I've found this thread super-fascinating. It's really interesting to see how different the economics are in a place where things like fuel prices are so vastly different- though I don't necessarily know how different they still are, I'd assume they go up in price with our own price increases due to leveraging.

I've seen a little of this happening States-side, but it's far less pronounced... either because there's more profiteering or they're already cutting the margins so thin. Probably a little of both.

 

[putowtin]

Most people I know got it from our local Gamestop which held an awesome midnight release, I tend to not buy games from supermarkets because its usually budget games like Darts or lame party games.

Supermarkets in the UK are becoming the main place to buy physical copies of games. HMV has (mostly) vanished, Gamestation ha gone, Game over price like crazy. And we all love a bargain so getting money off/ Nectar Points/ cheap fuel make supermarkets the obvious place to go.

 

[StANDY1338]

The game stores could start charging a consumer friendly and competitive amount in the first place but I doubt they will, they haven't yet and unless they get desperate I doubt they ever will.

Supermarkets are able to discount the games because they know that you're likely to pick up some other things that have a much larger margin on them. I run a branch of a regional game store chain in the US. If a game's MSRP is $59.99, then we pay between $50 and $52.50 for each copy. On most new games, we make about $6.50 profit. This is why specialized game stores push preorders and used games so hard - there is no way for us to lower prices on new games and still make any money on them.

Games aren't generally a loss leader it's about the economies of scale super markets get when purchasing.

 

[Yopaz]

I'd say it's more that the casual crowd that buys GTA have never been to a Game/Gamestation before, therefore get it at cheapy Tescos, than it having to do with what offer they have on compared to other stores.

Seriously, most people that shop at Tesco would have a heart attack with a '£2.00 Off GTAV' sign. OMG, what a bargain!

I would disagree with you there. I buy my games mostly from an electronics store (we don't have Tesco's here), but from what I can see games are almost always cheaper there than Game and GameStop. I once had a coupon for $17 on GameStop so I decided to buy a game there. With that coupon I ended up paying the same I would have had to pay almost anywhere else.

Used games also often cost the same or more than new games in those stores. Maybe I am part of the casual crowd, or maybe the need for specialized game stores is disappearing. They don't even compete with a bigger library in most cases.

By the sounds of it, you're not in the UK, so I think your points are a bit irrelevant as I'm referring to the British mentality.

Also, I should point out that if people were really THAT savvy about their money, they wouldn't buy from either retail, as online is always bound to be much cheaper. Amazon.co.uk have new games sometimes around £10-15 cheaper than the cheapest retails.

You missed my point there. What I am saying is that casuals aren't the only ones who buy games at the supermarket, but that people like me who has been into games since early childhood also find it beneficial to get games from sources that don't specialize in games. If I can buy my dinner, a DVD to watch while eating and a game to play afterwards then I prefer that because it's convenient and saves me time. If I can knock off some on the price then it's granted that I prefer that over GAME or GameStop.

That said I do prefer simply downloading it directly to my console or through Steam on my PC.

Also if I am concerned about the price then seriously, Amazon.co.uk is my source, but people don't like waiting, they don't have debit or credit cards, they don't trust the mail, I've heard all sorts of reasons not to use online sources and plenty of them from gamers who also complain about prices or policies at their local specialized game stores.

 

[Psychobabble]

Can't wait until Tesco brings out their own "Tesco's Own Brand" video games so I can save a few quid.

 

[Vault Citizen]

On my town Sainsbury's is the only place that sells video games but I. Don't think I have ever bought one from there because there is a GAME in the next town over.

 

[UniversalRonin]

Can't wait until Tesco brings out their own "Tesco's Own Brand" video games so I can save a few quid.

COD 7: TESCO Value. Everything is drawn in blue and white, and all the writing is red. Still, I suppose it's still going to be better than it's LIDL Counterpart. But not quite as good as it's M&S counterpart...

 

[Terramax]

You missed my point there. What I am saying is that casuals aren't the only ones who buy games at the supermarket, but that people like me who has been into games since early childhood also find it beneficial to get games from sources that don't specialize in games.

But surely isn't it more beneficial to simply order online, like I mentioned? Why even bother traveling to buy it with your dinner when you can have it sent to your doorstep, on the day of release, at a cheaper price?

So, again, I'm not really seeing how that many people who are gamers since childhood, and who are remotely savvy, would buy at a Tescos.

Again, this could be because you're presumably in the US, where things are different from the UK.

 

[Yopaz]

You missed my point there. What I am saying is that casuals aren't the only ones who buy games at the supermarket, but that people like me who has been into games since early childhood also find it beneficial to get games from sources that don't specialize in games.

But surely isn't it more beneficial to simply order online, like I mentioned? Why even bother traveling to buy it with your dinner when you can have it sent to your doorstep, on the day of release, at a cheaper price?

So, again, I'm not really seeing how that many people who are gamers since childhood, and who are remotely savvy, would buy at a Tescos.

Again, this could be because you're presumably in the US, where things are different from the UK.

Because of the reasons I mentioned and you left out of your quote.

I prefer online stores, that doesn't mean everyone does.

 

[TimeLord]

The Tesco store I work at held a midnight release for GTA V and the amount of people that turned up for it was off the scale.

In other news, my invested shares in Tesco are happy.

 

[toastdieb]

The game stores could start charging a consumer friendly and competitive amount in the first place but I doubt they will, they haven't yet and unless they get desperate I doubt they ever will.

Supermarkets are able to discount the games because they know that you're likely to pick up some other things that have a much larger margin on them. I run a branch of a regional game store chain in the US. If a game's MSRP is $59.99, then we pay between $50 and $52.50 for each copy. On most new games, we make about $6.50 profit. This is why specialized game stores push preorders and used games so hard - there is no way for us to lower prices on new games and still make any money on them.

Games aren't generally a loss leader it's about the economies of scale super markets get when purchasing.

My company's main distributor buys several tens of thousands of copies of major releases, and according to our rep, they are charged upwards of $45/copy. I am sure economy of scale plays a role, but considering the kind of discounts I've seen superstores in the US give new releases, it isn't enough on its own. That said, the point still stands that dedicated game stores can't really lower their prices on new releases without selling them at a loss.

Speaking of "TESCO's Own" games, the US's resident parasite/superstore WalMart releases "WalMart Editions" of some games featuring "bonus" content (usually a making of DVD or something like that).