The arrival of the holiday shopping season has buoyed the hopes of retailers catering to a younger crowd, even as coronavirus cases continue to rise. This is especially the case with video games.
The Entertainment Software Association, in a survey, found that 38% of people age 18 to 34 play video games on a regular basis. It’s also an ideal activity for the lockdown economy, with 70% of men and 55% of women saying that video games help them stay connected with friends and family, according to the survey.
Add in strong consumer sentiment among younger consumers — the University of Michigan survey came in at 86.2 for those 18 to 34 years old in October — and it all points to robust demand for new consoles.
Video game makers are ready. In recent months, Microsoft has released a new Xbox Series X and Sony has come out with PS5. NVIDIA released its Ampere RTX 30-series in September, and AMD released its newest Radeon lineup in recent months, giving a boost to an already strong lineup.
But for retailers, a challenge will be supply. Newegg said in a recent tweet that the NVIDIA GPU had “sold out in five minutes.” It all suggests that established retailers that have a digital presence and supply are poised to gain the biggest market share of an already extended holiday shopping season.
For more information on how the coronavirus is affecting midsize businesses, please visit the RSM Coronavirus Resource Center.
