UK Market Research: Too High Risk to Stock PS3 Titles
by Patrick Steen on December 19, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Let me preface this with the sentiment that I find this following retailer comment interesting, but not indicative of the whole of the United Kingdom gaming market. This is from one small independent retailer, and not from a main retailer such as HMV or Woolworths. I would still like to share my findings with you.
On my trip to a local town I thought I’d have a wee gander in the gaming store for a Playstation 3 game to treat myself for Christmas. Maybe a little bit of Assassin’s Creed or Ratchet and Clank, and to check whether they had my current favorite PS3 title, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.
Wandering into the store I can hardly find any Playstation 3 titles at all. To my delight I do discover a corner plastered with Heavenly Sword posters and a small selection of titles. Firstly, most of the PS3 games appeared to be used and not new.
This isn’t to say that people are returning PS3 games more than other platforms, as there were also many used Xbox360 titles, but the amount of new PS3 games were few.
So I asked the shop owner whether these were all the PS3 games he had.
Yes, that’s all.
In asking why, I get the reply.
People only started buying the system 6 weeks ago, so we just don’t get the trade.
Really? But there are lots of great games out now and the system is more affordable. How about Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune?
Oh we get the new titles in and they sell out very quickly, but it’s high risk having Playstation 3 games in stock, as we aren’t guaranteed a sale. So we just let them go.
O.K. thank you. (Not).
What does this mean? Well firstly it means that he lost a sale, as I was very willing to fork out £50 for a game. Thus, he could just be a foolish store owner who isn’t pushing the Playstation 3 and its games enough, especially when he says the exclusive titles sell out straight away. Perhaps he just knows his buying public very intimately.
Is this even a sign of the whole UK market? Playstation 3 exclusives aren’t selling at a huge rate, but Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty 4 have done quite respectably - both of which weren’t in this store. Their Xbox360 counterparts were. Is this retailer just out of the loop?
The UK is one of the few European countries where Xbox360’s outsell the Playstation 3, so this store may well be a sign of the other gaming stores around the country. This retailer suggests that the PS3 only really kicked off 6 weeks ago after the price cut, hence stocking PS3 titles just isn’t worth it.
This is a shame, because it could turn into a vicious circle. Low PS3 sales mean small retailers don’t stock PS3 titles, meaning gamers don’t know what titles the PS3 has, meaning they don’t get to see great games like Uncharted, and thus the PS3 doesn’t seem like a worthwhile buy.
So is this retailer’s understanding of the market correct? Is it still high risk for small retailers to stock Playstation 3 titles in the United Kingdom? Isn’t the PS3 now selling well enough to justify trying to push the console and its games?
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on December 20, 2007 12:59 am
I can walk into any retailer in town & get whatever game i want & I’m in Tasmania the smallest state in Australia & traditionaly Australia gets shafted more than anyone.
on December 20, 2007 5:34 am
In my local East Anglian town, we have the same story. Independant retailers just won’t give up the shelf space for a system with a low install base. My local shop even claimed to have lost money on the 10 PS3’s he bought to sell when they were first released. Still, i just turn to the net and get from there. Perhaps retailers should learn to take the risk. If we can’t buy them in retail then an internet store of as download will be the way to go. If that take off, it could damage retailers dramatically.
on December 20, 2007 5:54 am
In the Uk the major problem is that larger retailers and on-line taders are offered better wholesale deals than the local indy stores or they offer certain titles as ‘loss leaders’. It’s no help to the indy trader if you can buy a game while shopping for sprouts or in between surfing-working on the pc. If indy store are to survive they must work 200% on strategies to build costomer relations and loyalty and then back this up with a website so local shoppers can spread the word. I always pay a quid or so extra and buy local because I can walk the dog there and have a coffee and pass the time chatting about current gaming news.
on January 10, 2008 9:04 pm
i can go into town in loughborough and get any ps3 title i want, pretty much ,from the big stores like game, and the small private ones like voodoo consoles. but i do know what you mean, places that suck are for examplke tesco which have 3 times the amount of 360 games stocked as ps3 games.. besides i hate tesco. they can suck my balls.. i should know.. i work there. :(