The holiday shopping season has been anything but traditional this year, with many retailers offering pre-Black Friday deals in the lead-up to their major Black Friday sale events. Adding to the oddities, retailers have been revamping their already-released Black Friday ads. During the middle of November, we saw Target add Black Friday deals to a leaked Black Friday ad and on Nov. 20, GameStop updated and added pages to their Black Friday ad which released on Nov. 9.
GameStop’s original Black Friday 2020 ad focused on console gaming, with a moderately even distribution of deals for the Nintendo Switch, the Playstation 4 (and PS5), and the Xbox One (and Series line). Deals were relatively balanced between the three consoles, with each receiving dedicated pages of deals.
On Nov. 20, GameStop announced they had made additions to their Black Friday 2020 ad, with a significant overhaul of the deals for the Nintendo Switch. While the original ad was only 13 pages, the new ad is 18 pages and features five new pages added on to the end. Additionally, GameStop has lowered the prices on several Switch titles to directly compete with other retailers’ recently released Black Friday ads.
GameStop’s new ad highlights five Switch titles (“Mario Aces,” “Yoshi’s Crafted World,” “New Super Mario Bros Deluxe,” “Fire Emblem Three Houses,” and “Splatoon 2”) that are now priced for $27 for Black Friday. These games are on sale at many retailers for $40 for Black Friday, but Walmart’s recent Black Friday ad advertised them at $30.
Additionally, whereas GameStop original displayed the holiday Nintendo Switch bundle that all retailers are selling for $299 (includes “Mario Kart 8” digital download and a three-month subscription to Nintendo Online), GameStop has changed their ad to include a collector set of four 16-oz Mario Glasses with their Switch bundle (Mario Kart 8 and membership still included).
On the same page, GameStop also managed to squeeze in a newly discounted “Just Dance 2021” (also $27) alongside the originally advertised Xbox and Playstation games.
Most of the other pages are still the same, with the exception of the page dedicated to Nintendo Switch accessories. That page had previously highlighted the original Switch bundle, but has been altered to now include the bundled glasses on display next to the Switch.
The five added pages focus on GameStop gaming collectibles, Switch titles for $20 to $25, an assortment of Xbox and Playstation discounted titles and a page that highlights two Vizio televisions that include a free $50 GameStop gift card with purchase.
With video game sales booming during the pandemic, GameStop has struggled to dominate the gaming market. The retailer took a lot of internet flak at the start of the pandemic when they tried to claim they were an essential business in hopes of keeping their doors open at the onset of the nationwide lockdowns. Shortly afterwards, GameStop announced they were closing 300 stores this year (after closing 321 stores last year).
You must log in to post a comment.