So GameStop did a massive overhaul of their website. Is “engaging, easier and faster to use, and tightly integrated with the stores” like they say? Let’s take a look.
I had no idea this update was coming, so I was shocked when I visited GameStop.com on my laptop and saw the new site. My first thought: “It’s so big…and white.” I know simple color schemes are best, but it’s completely dull when browsing items. (More on that in a minute.)
According to threads on Reddit and elsewhere, this redesign has led to problems viewing preorders and loyalty reward points being drained. Items in users’ Wish List may have also been removed. I have no preorders or items in a wish list, so I can’t attest to either of those, but fortunately, my PowerUp Rewards points are unaffected. But otherwise, I’m going to focus on just browsing and shopping GameStop on the site, not the app. But not importing old — and, more importantly, open orders — to view on the website was a huge mistake.
Browsing
So back to the whole “big and white” aspect. It’s not quite as bad on mobile, but on desktop, it is awful. Why? Because if you are browsing a category, you see a whopping 12 items at a time. I tested the site on my phone, tablet, and computer, and it would show 2-4 items per row, then you have to click “load more” to get another 12. That may not be so bad when whatever you’re searching for only has maybe 50 items, but a sale with 200 items or even more? Yeesh. Why couldn’t they have default options to show 12, 24-25, 48-50, maybe more items per page like other sites (including their old one)? Why isn’t there an option to show small (or no) images for faster loading?
The pictures are also huge, taking up 1/3 to 1/2 of each item’s block. I usually use a 17″ laptop, and there just is too much wasted space. Plus, the item blocks have very limited information. On most websites, you may only see 2-4 items at a time like GameStop, but results at a glance on GameStop.com doesn’t show the brand/developer, how many reviews, if it’s available at a local store, etc. Very bare bones.
There are filters to whittle a list down, including the usual category, price range, etc. One that is missing though is the old site’s “ships in 24 hours” or whatever it was. That usually eliminated dozens, perhaps hundreds of results for me during category sales, like clearance or board games. Another major one that is missing is the price drop filter. It was a great way to see recently discounted items to see what’s on sale.
GameStop has a pickup in store checkbox, but there’s no way to select a particular store and browse their selection. This was my most wanted feature, and I can’t believe they didn’t include it. I might make trips to a store more often if I could quickly see that they have items A, B, and C available. I’m not clicking on every item, finding out it’s not available, having to enter my zip again and increase the 15 mile radius in order to browse other locations. I just want a list of the nearest 5 or so stores on the side so that I can filter search results. But the old site’s automatic map was also useful to quickly only show stores in-stock instead of every store in the area was nice.
Speaking of search results, I was impressed that now you can type a game, find it in the list, and then jump to its trade in value. That’s so much nicer than having a separate search engine like before. Finally, something noticeably better than before!
Item Pages
Now, the item pages. You can hit the “quicklink” button in the search results list to get some basic information like price and store availability, and you can add to cart. You are probably going to want to take advantage of this or opening items in new tabs. Remember the whole loading 12 items thing? Well, every time you click on an item and then go back to search results, you have to restart from the original 12. So even though you were browsing items 49-60, you need to click “load more” several more times to get back to where you were. Are you kidding me? Awful.
Again, item pages look big and dull in my opinion. Compare the PS4 version of Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered on GameStop versus Amazon:
It takes longer to get to the bottom of the page on Amazon versus GameStop, but right away, it’s nice to be greeted with a banner and the opportunity to view 10 screenshots and a trailer. As of this writing, less than a month before release, GameStop has nothing but low res box art. Amazon also has more detail on the game; both have the same 108 word summary, but Amazon includes several more highlights for a total of 428 words about the game.
Out of curiosity, I checked other sites as well. Best Buy was also on the poor end with 163 words and only 2 screenshots. Target and Walmart both had the same 272 word summary along with the 10 screenshots that were also on Amazon (no trailer though). Either way, despite its name, GameStop came out the loser in learning about this video game.
Not everything about the item pages is bad though. For example, there is only one listing for a shirt with a dropdown for sizes instead of a separate listing for each size. That eliminates crowding up search results and makes it easy to see what sizes are available. There’s also a trade-in value link right on game/electronics pages. For users that like to buy and then trade in, this is a nice way to check whether it’d be worth doing so or selling it elsewhere.
Miscellaneous
PowerUp Rewards are now hosted right on GameStop, which is something that should have been done ages ago. Great they finally made it more connected to shopping on GameStop.com so customers can see if there are any rewards they want to use or how close they are to the next level.
I did notice that when not logged in, GameStop defaulted to a store in Texas instead of basing it on your IP address for a store at least somewhere closer to home. The site also still has oddities like mismatched images with products and value shipping sometimes being more expensive than the faster edge shipping.
A Modern Design?
So while I do like a couple of features, I’m been mostly negative about GameStop.com. Maybe I’m being too harsh. Here’s the press release for the new website. Let’s see what they say:
“GameStop’s online visual makeover features a rich and modern design with engaging imagery, allowing guests to easily find their favorite videogames, accessories and collectibles with fewer clicks. Customers can also expect faster shopping, improved search capabilities, detailed order status and a seamless checkout experience.
“Some of the upgraded website features include:
- Buy Online Pickup at Store/Reserve Online Pickup at Store streamlined experience that will now be available for multiple items versus just one item.
- Apple Pay from the Web (laptop or smart phone) making transactions easier and seamless.
- Trade Values will now be displayed in more locations such as product pages, search results, etc. The site also provides new visibility to advanced trade credits.
- PowerUp Rewards is integrated with the web allowing customers to enroll online and receive some of the gaming industry’s top discounts and highly-coveted member benefits.
- Discoverability is easy with beautiful and large imagery that helps customers find their favorite videogames, accessories, apparel and toy collectibles — with less clicks.”
They also provide a link to this video about the new site:
In my opinion, bullet point #1 is good, #2 is fine, #3 very nice, #4 finally, and #5…nope. Well, “large imagery” is true, but I want to browse a webstore, not Pinterest. I guess that’s supposed to be the “rich and modern design” the previous paragraph mentioned?
So, in short, I have to disagree with this article titled “GameStop listens to customers with redesigned e-commerce site”. I don’t know anybody who said, “You know, GameStop would be more awesome if you couldn’t browse marked down items and would lose your place when searching after clicking on an item to look at!” I personally gave up browsing the statute and figure sale after like 2 minutes because I’m not spending half my life clicking “load more” until I find something I want…and that’s actually available online or in a nearby store. I have better things to do.
…And even if I don’t, I still don’t wanna. It’s annoying. The site is fine if you want a simple version to run on your tablet and know what you are looking for, but beyond that, it’s too much work to browse comfortably.