Buy from GameStop? Nah, Buy from the Source!

Leave it to Nintendo to create an email that makes me want to pull out my wallet and say, “Take my money”.

Gamestop is, primarily, where I buy all of my physical games from. However, year over year, to my utter detriment, physical games are being phased out of existence to make room for digital games. Yet, despite physical games sales on the decline, there’s one time of the year where everyone dusts off their email account to see what deals are coming to retail stores: November.

This year, on November 1st, retail stores produced a mass influx of emails and blasted them across the internet. The question for all of us is: which ones do we open?

Nintendo, this year, went the unconventional route as there were a ton of new releases at the tail end of October and, instead of sending an email on November 1st to compete with all the other emails, they sent it a day before with this as the center of their page:

Tons of white space, bold lettering, short and sweet copy, and links that are obvious to anyone reading the email what is clickable and what is only meant to be read. And this format goes down the entire email:

Take, for example, this small insert promoting the new Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection. It masterfully shows everything that the game entails with a clear call to action at the bottom and the ESRB rating above it because they know that this email isn’t meant for the kids, but for the adults who will be buying the game.

Now, take this example and contrast it with Gamestop’s email on November 1st:

When you read the header, what do you think this ad is trying to do?

Personally, I’m not sure because, when I think of a system update, I’m thinking that the website is going to experience an update soon, not that they want me to buy something. Honestly, this ads looks as if they copied and pasted it onto an email and just sent it out to everyone subscribed to their email list, which is also probably the reason why a good majority of the beginning of the ad is entirely clickable.

Why have a “Pre-Order Now” button if the entire ad is clickable? Rookie mistake from a well-known company.

Gamestop, there are a lot of us gamers who still want to go to retail stores this holiday season and buy physical games, but we won’t be able to do that if even your emails aren’t up to the expectations of your customers and entice us to leave our houses to buy these games.

Take some notes from your competitors and make some email ads that are worth our time.