SA pre-order exclusives add retailer “differentiation”

The topic of pre-order exclusivity in South Africa is a popular one, and a number of the country’s retailers and gaming distributors have chimed in on why pre-order exclusives exist, and if they’re hurting the industry.

Why pre-order exclusives are offered

“Being able to provide exclusive pre-order versions of certain titles to local retailers helps make the offer to the consumer more appealing,” explained a Ster Kinekor Entertainment (SKE) representative, regarding why pre-order exclusives are offered.

Another local distributor, Apex Interactive, said that pre-order exclusivity is not a priority for them, but does sometimes happen with DLCs.

“We do not offer retailers exclusive titles, only a select set of DLC. [It happens rarely] that Apex offers DLCs as an exclusive to certain retailers,” said a spokesperson for Apex.

Why those retailers?

When asked how certain retailers are chosen, SA distributors gave some insight into why and how the specific stores are chosen.

“We specifically look at the retailer’s consumer audience and base what we negotiate with them on who they would be selling to and how best they intend taking the product to market,” said SKE.

“The offers proposed to retailers are based on what publishers are able to commit to and SKE endeavour to offer these exclusive deals to different retailers depending on audience, key differentiators, and go to market strategies.”

Apex Interactive explained that it has to do with stock and availability, as opposed to preference. “This is not because we favour one retailer over another, it is more to do with quantities. DLC is uses as a pre order incentive,” said Apex.

“Retailer exclusivity is not something we plan on from day 1,” added Apex.

Do they limit choice?

There is a concern that one retailer carrying a perceived “better” version of a game will mean that other retailers cannot compete on even terms, and SKE explained that the goal is not to give an advantage to one retailer over another.

“We aim to work our exclusive pre-order offers to act as a point of differentiation for retailers and their consumer audiences rather than ‘competing’”, said SKE.

SKE were asked if it would “rotate the strike”, offering the better exclusive pre-order to varying retailers.

“This would depend on what we are provided by the publishers and what the individual retailers are planning with specific titles and how best the retailer can take the product to market,” said SKE.

With regards to the future, MyGaming asked SKE if pre-order exclusives are something we’ll be seeing more of, as with the US and EU markets.

“We are unable to comment on behalf of other publishers, but we will continue to provide added value to our retailers that can better assist sales volumes,” said SKE.

EA South Africa declined to comment, and Megarom did not respond in time of publication.