We can’t ignore the fact that Christmas is looming on the horizon and this is an important time for sellers.
Phuong Nguyen on Christmas shopping trends for games sellers
So, we’re understandably interested in what eBay’s UK head of advertising, Phuong Nguyen has to say. He looks at eBay’s data and he’s got plenty of valuable information regarding festive shopping trends and opportunities for sellers – particularly those in the video games sector.
It’s not just the gamers who’ll be buying games during the run up to Christmas. This is present buying time! So, this means parents, relatives and people’s partners will be busily snapping up games too.
Who’s searching for what?
Last year (2012), we saw a whopping 30% increase in searches for Xbox 360s during this time. In fact, this increase was driven by gifting, but the demographics that drove this 30% increase were rather interesting.
· Searches for Xbox 360s among women in the 45 to 54 age bracket went up by 35%.
· The biggest increase in searches was among people aged 60 to 64, amounting to a massive 143% rise for this group.
Make the most of gifters this year
So, people searching for gifts represents a golden opportunity for eBay games retailers. Nevertheless, as you can imagine, many of these buyers aren’t exactly games savvy. So, Phuong Nguyen says it’s a matter of brands needing to target these gift buyers and tweaking their marketing campaigns effectively for them.
He also advised that a little bit of knowledge about gifters’ shopping habits can go a long way. Millions start their Christmas shopping without a set idea of what they’ll end up buying. Some will even leave their Christmas shopping as late as December.
Turn generic searches to your advantage
In 2012, eBay saw over 170,000 searches for ‘stocking fillers’ and over a quarter of a million of searches for ‘Christmas presents’. As you can see, these are rather generic. This is relevant to games sellers, because there were also a huge number of searches for ‘consoles’.
So, we’ve got some top tips for sellers in the games sector this year.
Seize the day and start early
Although a lot of people start their Christmas shopping in December, an increasing number are starting earlier. In fact, trends show that people are starting their gift buying earlier each year. May and June (2013) saw over 150,000 eBay searches for ‘Christmas’! So, start your Christmas marketing now.
However, the expansion of next day delivery means that consumers feel as though they have more time to shop around for that perfect gift.
This is good news, because it creates a large window of opportunity when it comes to influencing purchasing decisions. If retailers take action early on and keep the momentum going until Christmas, they stand to gain big time.
2. Know your buyer: get on their level
If someone is buying a present for their beloved gamer, they won’t necessarily know about the merits of each console, or what constitutes a good game. So, if you want to appeal to these gifters, you need to understand what they need.
In fact, brands can gather a lot of highly useful information by observing what people are browsing. This can actually show a lot about motivations for buying and levels of interest in certain products.
Let’s have a look at the following example:
If a 38 year old mum is browsing for FIFA in the run up to Christmas and she’s never bought a game before, she’s most likely looking for a gift. So, an effective marketing campaign should serve her differently than if she was buying the game for herself.
3. Help dithering buyers decide what to buy!
Most of us have experienced the trials and tribulations of shopping for Christmas presents. Millions of your buyers are in a quandary. They start out with literally no idea of what they’re going to purchase. This explains the 170,000 searches for ‘stocking fillers’ and over a quarter of a million of searches for ‘Christmas presents’!
Don’t forget all those generic searches for ‘consoles’. Brands have an opportunity to influence and inspire these Christmas shoppers. There’s also the scope for cross selling add-ons. Offer items such as controllers as stocking fillers. This is something that may not have crossed the mind of the non-gamer, but it has now!
Don’t forget the gamers themselves; all the Q4 releases will prompt many a gamer to sell on old games to raise cash for new ones. There’ll also be Christmas presents in the form of money. So, as you can imagine, thousands of avid gamers are going to log on during Christmas day to spend their Christmas cash.
Gamers vs. gifters
Admittedly, this is a fragmented target audience. So, make the most of the run up to Christmas by gaining an understanding the differing browsing and searching habits of gamers vs. gifters. You need to understand the two separate mindsets and follow through with this over the entire festive period. The brands and sellers who ‘get this’ are going to be the ones who earn the most and it really is as simple as that.
