New Partnerships with Shelfbucks, BestFit Mobile and Dynamic Signal
to Help GameStop Address the Needs of Today’s Empowered and Informed
Consumer
GRAPEVINE, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul. 30, 2014--
GameStop (NYSE: GME), a family of specialty retail brands that makes
consumers' favorite technologies affordable and simple, announced today
that its GameStop Technology Institute (GTI) business unit has entered
into strategic partnerships with Shelfbucks, BestFit Mobile and Dynamic
Signal to further extend its focus on driving technological innovation
and change within its store environments.
Dedicated to harnessing the power of new and emerging technologies to
better address the needs of today’s empowered and informed consumer, GTI
was launched by GameStop to pursue an open innovation strategy whereby
the Company partners with leading organizations and institutions to
explore and build best-in-class research and development capabilities.
GTI was created to understand the drivers surrounding the evolution of
the retail industry and advance the pace of change – always keeping the
customer experience in mind. With these new partnerships the company is
further executing against this overarching goal to create and implement,
within its global retail locations, the next generation of business
applications for the sector as a whole.
Ongoing Commitment to Innovation to Meet Evolving Needs of
Consumers
Working to develop retail solutions that create a positive in-store
experience is a key priority for GTI. With this focus in mind, GameStop
is partnering to bring Shelfbucks’ iBeacon Platform and BestFit Mobile’s
ProxDK solution, into to its brick and mortar retail locations. Through
the deployment of these new communication capabilities, the retailer is
launching a big differentiator in consumer engagement technology –
putting the customer in control of the shopping experience. While
today’s customers are traditionally bombarded with promotional offers
the minute they enter a retail location, GameStop shoppers will need to
take proactive steps, moving smartphones close to beacons installed on
store shelving to instantly receive real-time, customized offers via the
retailer's app. As a result, customers will be able to receive digital
content that is specifically tailored to their areas of interest when
they need it most – shopping inside a physical GameStop store.
Under the terms of the agreement with GTI, the Shelfbucks iBeacon
Platform will provide the configuration, deployment and ongoing
operation/support for the in-store beacons, as well as the platform to
integrate with GameStop’s promotions; while BestFit’s Mobile ProxDK
solution will enable for seamless consumer engagement based on a user’s
proximity to beacons. Moving forward the collaboration between the three
technology providers will also serve as a basis for future retail
innovations related to enhancing customer experiences in physical stores.
“Digitization of the physical retail space has always been a top
priority of GTI as we look to further GameStop’s evolution as a
technology provider,” said Charlie Larkin, senior director, technology
innovation at GameStop. “Through our partnership with Shelfbucks and our
initial deployment of their iBeacon Platform, there are numerous ways to
leverage the emerging technology to deliver a next-generation shopping
experience.”
Beginning this September, GTI will formally deploy the iBeacon Platform
in approximately 36 locations in its Austin and College Station, Texas
test markets. Following the initial test period, GameStop will assess
the customer adoption and business value of the promotional capabilities
with the potential for the possibility of an additional roll-out in
another 60 stores by the end of the year.
Amplifying the Employees’ Voice Via Social Media Initiatives
Since the first GameStop opened twenty years ago, store employees have
always played a critical role as informal ambassadors for the retailer’s
brand. Today, recognizing the need for a more sophisticated approach to
managing the GameStop conversation externally, GTI is partnering with
Dynamic Signal to deploy a cloud-based solution designed to amplify the
voice of employees online while taking into account the unique nature of
content management at GameStop.
Leveraging Dynamic Signal’s VoiceStream technology, GameStop is able to
unite with interested employees to drive awareness, reach and engagement
in an easy-to-use, brand-safe environment. Moving forward, GTI will now
rely upon the VoiceStream platform to facilitate every aspect of this
process – helping to identify, recruit and engage advocates and
providing them with the tools to share GameStop approved content via web
and mobile devices.
“The development and deployment of traffic driving technology is a
critical component of GTI’s focus on innovation and interaction at the
store level,” said Jeff Donaldson, senior vice president of GameStop
Technology Institute. “Recognizing that the interaction between our
employees and the customers in the local community is the most valuable
type of relationship, we committed to working with Dynamic Solutions to
put a technology platform in place that amplifies those conversations
beyond the brick and mortar location to create lasting value for all
parties involved.”
For more information about Shelfbucks’ leading iBeacon promotion
platform, visit http://www.shelfbucks.com.
For information about the Dynamic Signal’s VoiceStream technology
platform, please visit http://dynamicsignal.com.
About GameStop Corp.
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 15 countries. The company’s consumer
product network also includes www.gamestop.com;
www.Kongregate.com,
a leading browser-based game site; Game Informer® magazine, the world’s
leading print and digital video game publication; and www.buymytronics.com,
an online consumer electronics trade-in platform. In addition, our
Technology Brands segment includes our Simply Mac, Spring Mobile and
Cricket stores. Simply Mac, www.simplymac.com,
operates 23 stores, selling the full line of Apple products, including
laptops, tablets, 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 210 AT&T
branded stores. Cricket Wireless, www.cricketwireless.com,
is a new AT&T brand offering pre-paid wireless services, devices and
related accessories. We operate 37 Cricket 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.
Source: GameStop Corp.
GameStop Corp.
Jackie Smith
817-722-7520
jackiesmith@gamestop.com
