Dive Brief:

• Grapevine, TX-based video game retailer GameStop is testing geo-fencing and beacons in 36 stores in central Texas and the Austin area in Q2. 

• The retailer’s 40 million PowerUp loyalty members with the PowerUp app on their phones can opt in to get messages when they’re nearby the store. Inside a store, beacons work with the app to send greetings and messages.

• GameStop saw healthy holiday sales despite somewhat soft demand for consoles. Sales of software including games grew 5.8% over the holidays, and hardware sales fell 32%, the retailer reported Wednesday.

Dive Insight:

Even in the face of the kind of push of digital sales that helped bring down music CD sales, GameStop has been surviving nicely so far. The retailer has taken several steps to protect sales, boosting its offerings of used games and playing tough with its digital competition. Now, GameStop is employing the kind of in-store technology that will keep the lines of communication open when their best customers are in the neighborhood or come through the door.