GameStop holiday sales are down in 2020

Image: Lyonstock/Shutterstock.

Retailer GameStop has reported their holiday sales results for 2020. The data shows that sales were down by 3.1 percent year-on-year, with $1.77 billion generated. It seems as though sales still dropped despite the high demand for both the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Unfortunately, stock for both consoles was bought up on their respective launch days, leaving none left to fulfil any further sales over the holiday period.

GameStop attributes their sales drop to the lack of next-gen console stock, as well as government-mandated store closures throughout the US. These mandates were put in place because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The company has also been going through a de-densification process. So far this has led to the closure of 462 store locations over the course of 2019 and 2020.

Overall this is yet another consecutive year of sales decreasing for the retailer. However, the drop for 2020 is much less than 2019, which saw sales fall by 27.5 percent.

However, GameStop reports that comparable store sales were actually up by 4.8 percent year-on-year. This number grows even more taking into account ecommerce sales, which were up by 309 percent, making up 34 percent of all the company’s sales.

In Australia and New Zealand specifically, GameStop saw sales rise by 31 percent over the holiday period. Clearly in these regions business hasn’t been hit as hard as it has been in the US and Europe.

George Sherman, GameStop’s CEO, explained that he is positive about the company’s future in 2021. The strategy that they’ve been working through, plus the demand for new consoles and games, should serve them well for this year and more to come.

Throughout 2021, the company will look to double down on their offerings to customers, and further increase what they can bring to them in a desirable area of the market.

A shift to the company’s Board of Directors has also been announced. Ryan Cohen, Manager of RC Venture, is joining the board alongside Alan Attal, Former Chief of Marketing for Chewy, and Jim Grube, the former Chief Financial Officer for Vacasa. This brings the number of people on the board from 10 to 13.

The board will shrink to 9 later in the year though, since some members won’t be standing for re-election. This leaner Board of Directors, coupled with GameStop’s shift to fewer stores, should serve them well moving forward in a market where there is now more room for them to grow.