Ch.14 - Marketing Channels and Retailing

Nintendo uses the Retailer Channel type of Marketing Channels for selling and distributing its wares. They also use Direct Channel marketing by way of it's e-shop and Nintendo World stores with one being located here in NYC, near 34th street. I however didn't visit this store but visited a Gamestop store around my way. Gamestop is by far the largest video game specialty chains still in existence in this country. Other big chains such as Best Buy, Target and Walmart may sell video games in their respective electronics sections, but Gamestop's main focus has always been video games(although within recent years they've been selling other electronic devices such as iPads and Beats by Dre headphones).

Being a video game specialty store, Gamestop of course sells Nintendo games and consoles as well as Nintendo's competitor's wares. From my observations over the many(MANY) years of shopping at various Gamestop chains I noticed something now that I''m actively researching Nintendo that I failed to notice before: the Nintendo section is almost always located in the front of the store and if not in the front, within close proximity to the cash register.

A photo from my visit to the Gamestop on Flatbush Junction, Brooklyn

I feel really dumb for noticing this now(I've been shopping for games at Gamestop since I was a preteen) but now that I see it, I can understand why it's always in those locations. I think it's like this to easily catch the eye(or quickly distract) younger gamers before they notice the more mature content Microsoft and Sony tend to produce. Im not a reeeaaal big Nintendo gamer( I just own a 3DS for gaming on the go) so I usually have to weave through a crowd of small children in order to reach the Xbox and Playstation sections all the way in the back of the stores. Its crazy. Now everytime I'm in a Gamestop I'm going to be conscious of this.

Anyways, as a retailer, Gamestop is good for general society looking to find games or consoles conveniently. They sell new and used games at fair prices and often have promotional sales in store and/or online. If you want to sell anything however, I STRONGLY suggest you look elsewhere. Gamestop's selling and trading in policies are hilariously unfair. Seriously. Its such common knowledge within the gaming community, its an internet meme. Sell on amazon.com, ebay.com or a "mom and pop" game store if you want a good return for selling games. With that said, Gamestop is pretty decent otherwise, always well stocked and scarcely having shortages(especially in the case of Nintendo). I've been a customer for years and have several games on reserve as I'm writing this. I shop there for the convenience factor mostly, but for REAL gamers, Gamestop really isn't all that hot.

Alot of these Gamestop memes are hilarious