Game plots further omnichannel investment after reporting 16% digital sales rise

Game today reported a 16% rise in digital sales in the second half of its financial year, and said it would now invest further in its omnichannel and digital infrastructure.

Focusing on multichannel customer engagement, Game said 550,000 customers had so far registered with its e-payment platform Game Wallet, while a million new customers signed up to its reward programmes over the last year, taking total membership to 18m.

“Current capital expenditure programmes for 2015/16 are fully funded and will see further development of Game’s omnichannel and digital infrastructure whilst supporting the rapid development of multiplay and the group’s eSports and events division,” it said.

Gross transaction value across the business grew by 1% in the second half, the company said in an end-of-year trading statement today, reaching about £960m in the full year, 2.3% ahead of the previous year. The multichannel video gaming retailer said was well ahead of the video games market in the UK and Spain, down by 6% and 1.3% respectively. But its full-year statutory revenue was flat at 0.4%.

In the UK, gross transaction value (GTV) grew by 3.6% over the year, with full-year revenues up by 0.5%. GTV was down by 3.7% in the second half alone. The company said it had maintained its market share of at least 33% of the UK market.

In Spain, the market grew by 7% and Game took 42% of the market during the year. Second-half revenues were up by 12.2% but down by 3.1% over the full year.

Chief executive Martyn Gibbs said: “We have made good progress on our customer and community engagement and strategic priorities over the year. Our ambition to broaden our offer beyond purely retail, to the places and ways in which our customers play games is moving forward at pace, with continued support from our supplier partners. Combined with a clear focus on retail growth opportunities and further investment into strategically important areas, the business is positioned well for the future.”