National survey finds holiday shoppers will put in the time for the
gifts they want
GRAPEVINE, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 12, 2015--
Just days away from Black Friday, bargain-hunters are ready for the
annual “on your mark - get set - shop” when retailers’ doors fly
open and the shopping frenzy begins. GameStop,
a family of specialty retail brands that make the most popular
technologies affordable and simple, today released the results of a
national survey of more than 400 holiday shoppers – revealing that
respondents are not looking forward to losing valuable personal and
family time this holiday season, but are willing to put in the time for
the gifts they want most.
Overcome the Shopping Blues
According to survey respondents, approximately 35 percent indicated that
if given the option they would prefer spending time with family or
friends instead of shopping. For these dispirited holiday shoppers who
routinely view the entire shopping experience to the likes of having
teeth pulled, GameStop suggests leveraging its pick-up-at-store service,
which allows customers to shop for any video game and collectible
product from the comfort of their home and pick up their purchase at a
local store when it’s convenient. The service can help customers avoid
the holiday shopping blues by making holiday gift hunting more efficient
and less stressful.
“It’s clear from the results of our holiday survey, customers want to
have more time for family and themselves during the holidays instead of
spending hours searching for gifts,” said Jason Allen, vice president
Multichannel Strategy at GameStop. “At GameStop, we recognize the
importance of family and actively work to protect that precious time
with policies like remaining closed on Thanksgiving Day. We also offer
our customers a range of services to help make the shopping experience
easier and more enjoyable.”
The GameStop holiday survey also indicates that the “Holi-daze” derives
from anticipation of the time wasted in traffic driving from
store-to-store, navigating through large crowds to discover gifts
out-of-stock and waiting in never-ending checkout lines. However, this
overwhelmed and dazed condition can be easily averted by leveraging
GameStop’s mobile app to shop smarter and faster while on the go. With
five million users leveraging the app on a regular basis, the mobile
platform is open for business 24 x 7 and offers unique features,
functionalities and a detailed product trade value center.
Time’s A-Wasting
When it comes to holiday shopping, patience is an important quality
among merrymakers. Almost three-fourths (73 percent) of those surveyed
expect to waste significant time driving to stores and standing in lines
to find the perfect gifts for their loved ones. A full 80 percent of
female respondents reported they will wait in line at least 10 minutes
and up to “as long as it takes” to get the perfect gift for their loved
ones. Representing the other end of the spectrum, male respondents were
almost three times more likely to get antsy after just a couple minutes
of waiting in line. Altogether, nearly half (48 percent) prefer to
spread their shopping sprees in incremental outings of approximately an
hour or less each time.
Meanwhile, other shoppers will do whatever it takes to avoid long lines
at all costs, including:
-
Risking potential shipping delays and mishaps by completing all
holiday purchases online (36 percent).
-
Stocking closets, attics and cubbyholes with bundles of gifts bought
months in advance of the holidays (29 percent).
According to Allen, customers can shop faster and smarter by mapping out
in advance where to find video gaming gift items and calling ahead or
checking online to ensure the product is still in stock. To help with
that, GameStop offers its signature “web-in-store” shopping service as a
convenient way to help guarantee every video game or collectible product
is in stock by giving customers the choice to order any product online
while in a store and having those orders shipped directly to them. For
those customers who want a little extra help when shopping for that
hard-to-find video game, Allen recommends stopping by a store to tap
into the knowledgeable GameStop store associates for one-on-one help.
‘Master’ Shopping Faster
Understanding that waiting in long lines can be the fuse for a
tinsel-filled, temper time bomb, GameStop offers a variety of services
to help ease the burden of the holiday shopping rush. This holiday, for
the first time, the retailer is allowing customers to purchase items
using Apple Pay and Android Pay to speed up check out. Those looking to
avoid crowds, long lines, or lighten the load altogether can leverage
GameStop’s in-store online channel. The service allows customers to shop
through a catalog of more than 12,000 hard-to-find video game products
within a single store and have them shipped free of charge directly to
their homes.
Finally, to make shopping easier, GameStop has outfitted every store
with hand-held tablets to enable GameStop associates to research
products and help check out customers more quickly from anywhere in the
store.
For all holiday gift inspirations, visit a local GameStop store, or the
Holiday Hub at www.GameStop.com/Holiday-Hub.
The GameStop Holiday Hub brings all the very best products, a host of
deals, and interactive tools together in one spot to make shopping
easier.
Methodology
This survey was commissioned and conducted by GameStop and research
partner Survata.
It was fielded between Sept. 29 and Oct. 15 and more than 400 responders
ages 25 to 54 participated in the online survey with a 4.79% margin of
error. The complete holiday shopping survey results can be found at GameStop
2015 Holiday Survey.
About GameStop
GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company
headquartered in Grapevine, Texas, is a global, multichannel video game,
consumer electronics and wireless services retailer. GameStop operates
more than 6,600 stores across 14 countries. The company’s consumer
product network also includes www.gamestop.com;
www.Kongregate.com,
a leading browser-based game site; and Game Informer® magazine, the
world’s leading print and digital video game publication. In addition,
our Technology Brands segment includes our Simply Mac and Spring Mobile
businesses. Simply Mac, www.simplymac.com,
operates 71 stores, selling the full line of Apple products, including
laptops, tablets, and smartphones and offering Apple certified warranty
and repair services. Spring Mobile, http://springmobile.com,
sells post-paid AT&T services and wireless products through its 410 AT&T
branded stores and offers pre-paid wireless services, devices and
related accessories through its 68 Cricket branded stores in select
markets throughout the United States.
General information about GameStop Corp. can be obtained at the
company's corporate website. Follow GameStop on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/GameStop
and find GameStop on Facebook @ www.facebook.com/GameStop.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151112006178/en/
Source: GameStop Corp.
Jackie Smith
GameStop – Public Relations
817- 722-7520
jackiesmith@gamestop.com
