GameStop’s director of retail distribution says it’s easier to sell DLC than accessories or game guides.
The digital future would seem incompatible with conventional retail, as people have no need to put on clothes and wander through your aisles if they can get all they want from the undressed comfort of their couches. GameStop is feeling the crunch as much as anyone, with a 4.6 percent year-over-year sales decrease during the holidays, the first such slip since 2005.
But the company is also enjoying some success with its efforts to integrate into the digital market. A focused marketing effort brought the Gears of War 3 DLC attach rate to ten percent, a huge increase over the two percent attach rates seen on prior releases, and the rates have continued to climb since: Call of Duty Elite had a 17 percent attach rate, while the From Ashes DLC for Mass Effect 3 attached at 30 percent.
“Downloadable content is easier for us to sell compared to strategy guides or accessories,” Schliesser told Destructoid. “They’re games, and our sales associates are gamers.”
He also clarified that preorder bonuses and day-one DLC like From Ashes, while obviously beneficial to GameStop, are not GameStop’s idea; the company just “organizes and markets” the ideas for bonuses and other content that publishers come up with. And the availability of DLC at the retail level is also beneficial to customers, who can trade in old games, use their PowerUp Rewards points toward DLC and pay with cash rather than having to use a credit card.
Source: Destructoid
