GameStop

The Challenge

GameStop needed to dramatically increase online revenues and capitalize on the launch of new gaming consoles in late 2020—while also planning to compete in a world where streaming and social gaming are over 80% of the market share and growing. Not only was GameStop already way behind on basic e-commerce best practices, but then COVID struck. We quickly had to change our strategy to deliver a solution that could also help them weather this new retail crisis. And we had to instantly pivot to a remote collaboration strategy.

our VIsion

My team and I conceptualized a future vision for them that engages gamers with a universal leaderboard app that provides a way to compete across any platform or game. This was a pitch, but no ordinary one... we had to quickly pivot when the world turned to remote working. Our vision for the future of retail game sales won us a $1.5M account in April 2020, a time that seemed virtually impossible for Retail. We won the account and immediately starting working with the client to realize the vision by training them in Design Thinking approaches and using remote collaboration tools.

Our analysis of the current experience found some key areas of friction in the current experience like complex user flows, heavy reliance on in-person transactions, lack of status transparency, and an absence of personalization. And most importantly, there is not enough focus on digital fulfillment which is of increasing urgency as physical games are being phased out and game developers are owning a growing market share through direct downloads.

We envisioned five key opportunities…

Seamlessness: Create a frictionless digital ecosystem everywhere

We introduced content-led product launch pages to excite and engage customers and showcase the latest trends and most popular games. Personalized content focuses the customer on products of interest, all fulfillment options are available in one place, customers can easily trade online, purchase directly from a digital wallet, and seamlessly track transactions online.

In addition to BOPIS and ROPIS, we updated the e-comm experience so that customers can trade-in at check out and receive instant credit to a digital wallet. They are also incentivized to create an account and sign up for Pro membership at checkout.

Content: Harness gaming culture with content-driven commerce

We harnessed the gaming culture with a sensorial, content-driven approach to product launches. These pages showcase original and user-generated content and community activations. Users are oriented by content that is personalized to their journey and merchandise is embedded within the context of the story.

Cross-platform & Community: Build the first cross-platform gaming community & ecosystem

We designed a community-centered GameStop app leveraging linked game platform APIs. It serves as a leaderboard for gamers to see how they rank across all platforms and games, a place to chat within game communities, join recommended events like live-stream gaming and coding workshops, and get recommendations on products that they can purchase using reward points.

Merchandise is promoted via live-streaming, Pro player profiles, and user-generated and social content.

Loyalty: Participate and Earn

Customers are rewarded for more than just purchases. They can earn for participating in the community, in-store check-ins, transacting, achievements, or even just playing games.

Our rewards make customers feel more valued by providing easier access to fulfillment and content, and translating digital currency into the products they want.

Members can set up appointments on the app for console data uploads, as well as in-store events and classes.

Personalization: Meet Gamers Where They Already Are

The store of the future will welcome gamers with personalized on-screen content and recommendations in both an employee app and an "endless aisle.” Customer data empowers employees to give highly personalized attention to customers and help them feel welcome with a seamless experience across channels.

Since gamers are already purchasing on their gaming console, GameStop will be there too. A console app provides instant downloads and offers added value through promotions, rewards, and the digital wallet.