Even with all the growth in ecommerce, GameStop has found that most of its customers are using the company’s online channel to research products before making a purchase in store. And data from its PowerUp rewards program is generating insights that help fuel omnichannel growth.
“We typically look at the first 72 hours after an online visit, but are even more focused on the first 24 hours when much of the activity is occurring,” said Mike Hogan, GameStop’s executive vice president of strategic business and brand development. “By monitoring customer activity between the offline and online channels, we’re better able to understand their purchasing patterns and behaviors.”
Hogan said the data analysis has revealed strong customer demand for cross-channel purchasing services such as ship to store and web order/store pickup.
“More broadly, consumers very much want to engage with our game advisors in our store environment,” he said. “Our cross-channel transaction services are experiencing high double-digit growth, with some triple-digit year-over-year growth.”
Other data points include a finding that 80% of GameStop customers said they plan to research online, then make a purchase in store; and that every dollar of direct sales online that the online channels are influencing lead to $10 in store-based sales.
“This data helps us provide more focus on the in-store opportunities,” Hogan said. “It also helped drive a strategic shift. Instead of asking ‘How can we grow online sales?’ we focus on ‘How can we drive overall sales, regardless of where the transaction occurs?’ Not only has this channel-agnostic approach increased our multichannel influence and overall company revenue, but it has also driven growth in online sales.”
The PowerUp data has also shown GameStop the strength of its mobile channel, particularly its mobile app. They’re able to see customers who are engaging via mobile and where they are transacting after those engagements. And the numbers have been impressive: compared to PowerUp Rewards PRO members, GameStop mobile app users spend 81% more, trade in 53% more and buy 79% more pre-owned product.
“These customers are highly engaged with GameStop, and we are laser focused on delivering relevant and meaningful content to them through their mobile experiences,” Hogan said. “They’re using the app and the mobile experience to research product, find offers and discounts, and locate stores. They behave much like our desktop visitors – research online and purchase in store – just with more frequency and at a higher spend.”
Hogan said GameStop’s buy-sell-trade model fuels new software sales by increasing customer buying power. In 2013, the company gave its worldwide customers $1.2 billion in trade credits for their pre-owned products, about 76% of which were applied toward the purchase of new games.
“In Q1 of 2014, our buy-sell-trade model had a positive impact on our results as 20% of the trade credits we provided customers were applied toward the purchase of new digital transactions,” he said.