Game takes pre-lockdown hit as virus shuts down high street
Game was among the last of the non-essential high street brands to shut down during the coronavirus crisis. As with other Fraser Group brands, the retailer didn’t close its doors to customers until the government announced that it would enforce a UK-wide lockdown — against existing official advice and amidst sharply declining purchase intention.
YouGov BrandIndex data shows that the retailer’s scores across this metric fell from 3.0 to 0.8 since the beginning of March. Over the same period, consideration rose to a month-high of 16.5 on 6 March and fell to a low of 8.5 on 21 March, before rebounding to 13.8 on 23 March.
Lockdown comes at an inconvenient time for Game. There has been speculation that the government’s Covid-19 restrictions — which will see people forced to entertain themselves indoors — could drive an increase in physical sales. March was also set to be a major sales month, and alongside a possible coronavirus bump, console brands may have benefited from some recent high-profile computer game releases.
Our data shows an upswing for the Nintendo Switch across key metrics. Since Animal Crossing: New Horizons was released for the console on 20 March, consideration has already risen from 11.6 to 16.2, while purchase intent almost doubled (3.2 to 6.2).
But if consoles are riding high, the benefits aren’t necessarily translating for physical retailers such as Game — and with coronavirus keeping people inside, they may need to either develop their online offering or lose out. Parts of the sector have already pivoted largely to online, and with shops shut for the future, the rest may follow.
Stephan Shakespeare is chief executive at YouGov