The total revenues of the gaming industry are expected to top $100 billion in 2017. The industry is becoming exponentially lucrative with each year that passes. It’s no longer a fantasy to imagine that some e-sports leagues could become as popular as major sports leagues like
the NFL are today.
The Trend Towards Kitting
The gaming industry has diversified in the last few decades. While the market share used to be controlled by a few major gaming companies (Nintendo, Sega, PlayStation, and eventually Microsoft), it has since expanded especially with the addition of mobile games. To stay relevant in an extremely competitive field, gaming companies have turned to kitting or bundling models. Let’s look deeper at five components that have made kitting a successful addition to their sales strategies.
(1) Less Returns
Video games are an unusual market because consumers need many different items in order to play: a gaming console, multiple controllers, memory cards, and game discs/cartridges. Historically, companies sold these components individually. Now, they realize a major benefit of kitting is offering customers the opportunity to buy a single package containing everything they need. This greatly reduces the likelihood of a return due to a subpar gaming experience.
(2) Increase Customer Loyalty
The larger a customer’s collection is for any one gaming console, the less likely they are to switch to another brand. By the time a gamer has 20 games for a console they are probably locked in. Bundling items together means that customers will reach this point of no return faster.
(3) Create Unique Offers for Different Retailers
In an increasingly diverse and competitive sales landscape, many retailers are looking for advantages. Kitting allows different stores to offer unique deals to stand out from the crowd. GameStop might offer one combination of games and accessories, while Amazon offers another. The differentiation of offerings helps retailers compete for customer attention.
(4) Better Customer Experience
There are a lot of gamers who don’t want to think about every individual item they buy. It’s easier to purchase a bundle that gives them a lot of value all at once, especially if they can plug it in and play it immediately. This allows them to focus on the experience of gaming.
(5) Introduce New Brands to Customers
The act of kitting gives gaming companies and retailers the opportunity to get new brands in front of consumers’ eyes. For example, if there’s a brand-new Mario Bros game coming out, it can be bundled with another game franchise that less people are familiar with. The new franchise gains awareness and trust with a built-in fan base by being packaged with the already famous Mario game.
How to Use Kitting
Specialty Fulfillment Center offers kitting services for a variety of industries including video game companies. We do the heavy lifting of packaging and shipping the bundles to customers. Using kitting is a great way to sell more games, keep customers happy and build loyalty.
