{"id":56979,"date":"2013-08-12T10:31:39","date_gmt":"2013-08-12T08:31:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/?p=56979"},"modified":"2013-08-12T10:35:04","modified_gmt":"2013-08-12T08:35:04","slug":"sa-retailers-talk-competitiveness-of-pre-order-exclusivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/business\/56979-sa-retailers-talk-competitiveness-of-pre-order-exclusivity","title":{"rendered":"SA pre-order exclusives harm retail competition?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The topic of\u00a0pre-order exclusivity in South Africa<\/a>\u00a0is a popular one, and a number of the country\u2019s retailers and gaming distributors have weighed in on why pre-order exclusives exist, and if they\u2019re hurting the industry.<\/p>\n

Takealot declined to comment; BT Games did not respond at time of publication.<\/p>\n

Local retailers were asked how pre-order exclusives may affect the industry, with SA outlets giving some insight into the impact of the practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis practice does not add any significant growth to the industry as the customer would ultimately have bought the game in some form or another, so the size of the pie on a title remains the same, just the share of retailer varies based on who offers what pre-order deal, exclusive or DLC,\u201d said CNA.<\/p>\n

Online retailer Kalahari said that the exclusive pre-order deals do have a strong impact on the industry as a whole in South Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cExclusive versions allocated to specific retailers do harm the potential growth of the industry. Day 1 exclusive incentives don\u2019t, as the customer is still getting the full product with something extra on top. It also allows each retailer to have a differentiator in the market, and gives the customer choice,\u201d said Kalahari<\/p>\n

The retailers were asked what lengths they would go to in order to secure exclusive versions of games.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have recently started discussions with key publishers with a view on securing exclusives on selected titles in line with our pre-order strategy,\u201d said CNA, \u201cBut still our biggest exclusivity and asset remains our store credit card for use on-line and in-store, and ‘Thank U’ loyalty program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kalahari added to its original point on Day 1 incentives, saying that exclusive versions would minimise the choice of the consumer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t try and obtain exclusive versions of games, as we only look at obtaining exclusive day 1 incentives (DLC, Physical items, etc). We always want to ensure that we can offer our customers the best day 1 offering. We would never try and obtain exclusive versions of a game, as this will create unfair competition in our territory,\u201d said Kalahari.<\/p>\n

\"Battlefield<\/a>

Battlefield 4 Deluxe Exclusive to BT Games<\/p><\/div>\n

When asked regarding the notion that a retailer would have an \u201cadvantage\u201d with a pre-order exclusive, the retailers gave their opinions on how it may create an imbalance in the market.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is always a constant problem, as more and more retailers are beginning to stock games. That said, competition isn\u2019t always a bad thing, as it grows the industry,\u201d explained Kalahari.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem comes in when a competitor is given a distinct advantage, by either the publisher or supplier, and gets allocated a high demand exclusive version of a title. Customers should always have the power to choose which retailer they would like to buy their games from, and this practise (by the publisher or supplier) forces their hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

CNA also acknowledged the element of competitiveness between local retailers, saying that it has to keep delivering good deals in order to keep customers loyal.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs with any industry, competitiveness is the name of the game as we fight for share of the customers wallet. Therefore \u00a0we endeavour to always keep our customers in mind by securing the best and\/or most relevant offers\/deals combined with the added value of our store credit and loyalty program,\u201d said CNA.<\/p>\n

More SA gaming news:<\/h3>\n

We’re not trying to rip gamers off: Megarom manager<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cNo cost is too high\u201d for SA gamers<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

SA game System Crash combines\u00a0Magic, cyberpunk elements<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

PS4 pre-order at CNA Online: R500 secures your console<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The truth behind SA game prices<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

SA dev\u2019s Ouya game RED \u201creasonably profitable\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Retailers answer questions regarding the implementation and impact of pre-order exclusives<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":48202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_enabled":true,"_sma_x_custom_text":"","_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2480,6935,21,1623,2232,10784,2752,5793,5794,9659,2079],"class_list":["post-56979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-bt-games","tag-cna","tag-headline","tag-kalahari","tag-pre-order","tag-pre-orders","tag-sa-gaming-market","tag-sa-gaming-news","tag-sa-news","tag-ske","tag-takealot"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/196"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56979"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57149,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56979\/revisions\/57149"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}