Big interview with M.Video. How to buy PlayStation 5 today, what’s happening with Xbox and Nintendo Switch, quarantine, laptop shortage

The start of new generation consoles around the world and in the Russian Federation in particular made so much noise that they will remember it for many years to come. Missing consoles, missing pre-orders, delivery delays, crazy outbid prices – all of this will remain in the history of both Microsoft and Sony. We talked with Nikita Tikhvinsky, director of the Digital Technology department at M.Video-Eldorado Group, and found out what really happened then, how many consoles arrived in our country and what is happening now. We also did not forget to ask about the sales of boxed versions of games, found out how FIFA is sold in Russia, and discussed the quarantine year 2023.

Tell us how it all happened with the PlayStation 5. How does the launch of the console differ from the start of a conventional phone?

Nikita Tikhvinsky: The procedure was standard. We discussed with Sony the quota of consoles for our networks (“M.Video “,” Eldorado “- approx. ed.), drove the received number into pre-orders and began to wait for deliveries. At the same time, the total number of consoles for the entire network was 20,000 copies. By the way, it was the same with the PS4, the start of which I remember very well: a huge excitement, a huge deficit, but the processes were the same.

Moreover, in the case of PS5, we succeeded get some preferences. As the largest retailer in the Russian Federation, selling almost every second console in the country, we, as we did with the PS4, agreed on an early start in the face of a pandemic. It was an exclusive delivery of the console a day before the official start of sales. That is, some of our clients, about three hundred, received the prefix not in the morning of November 19, but in the evening of the 18th. We selected them at random, without reference to geography: we delivered them to both Kaliningrad and Vladivostok.

Didn’t it happen that you took more orders than it was planned to supply consoles?

The whole leapfrog, in fact, was associated with the lack of goods: one batch did not arrive on time, and by the time of the start we did not have the goods in full. Interestingly, this batch was the last, and it was intended for Moscow gamers. The fact is that our central warehouse is located in Chekhov near Moscow, and we assumed that it was from the last delivery that we would take the consoles to the shops of the capital, so as not to detain the regions. But what happened happened.

Interestingly, by the way, the first deliveries appeared later than we expected, and we had to use a lot of resources and investments in order to be in time. Both planes and taxis were paid. As a result, it turned out that our regional gamers received consoles earlier than Moscow ones. Of course, in distant regions we were a little late, but it is literally one or two days. By the way, we often connect urgent deliveries, especially when it comes to pre-orders for the start of sales.

What exactly happened? Where are the consoles stuck: at the factory, at the border, at customs? Have there been any fines or penalties against Sony?

It is better to ask Sony about the path of consoles: we get their products already at a warehouse in the Moscow region, and from there we deliver the goods directly to all stores in the country. There, in Chekhov, is the warehouse of the online store.

There were no sanctions in this case, we are trying to build equal partnerships with everyone. And we must admit that the case is more the exception than the rule. I think that if Sony themselves knew that this would happen, they would have warned us: for the local Sony office it was as much a surprise as it was for us (From the Editor: in the month of the start of sales, we also did not manage to get Sony comments).

How hard were your first days, this onslaught from clients? How did you solve customer problems? Has Sony helped you?

From the outside, everything probably looked closed, and we very much understand and share the anger of clients. We tried as quickly as possible and openly shares the information that we had at a particular point in time. The main problem was that we did not receive these data in full and not always accurate.

We also accrued bonus rubles to each client, which in total amounted to quite large investments for us. But this is an investment in a client, which is very important and priceless. In my opinion, the clients did not harbor a grudge against us. Thanks to our openness, in the end there was some kind of understanding on their part and, in principle, most of our clients had an absolutely adequate reaction.

As for Sony, for the most part it was not generous with communication. However, from them, in fact, we needed only one thing: information about the timing of goods arrival. All communication fell on us.

Information periodically pops up on the Web that there was a product during the crisis, and it could be obtained through “connections”. Please comment.

In the absence of goods, this issue simply could not be physically resolved. As soon as the goods arrived, we simply sent them out according to the list, we did not give any separate preferences. And there was no need for that, because the whole question rested on the stock. As soon as it appeared – and it appeared exactly in the amount that we needed to close the issue with pre-orders – we solved all the questions literally in a matter of hours.

One friend of mine, for example, complained that he received his console only at the end of November. To which I replied: “Do you know when we got this console? That’s literally eight hours before it was delivered to you. Just imagine, our warehouse received these consoles for these eight hours, issued them, stuffed the whole thing into trucks, they drove to the stores, and the stores have already called you and sent you. ” And so it was with everyone. There were no delays on our part, let alone preferences.

How are things today and how can you buy a PlayStation 5 now?

To begin with, until now, almost all volumes that come to us on consoles – both PlayStation and Xbox – immediately fly away. Now we get the goods quite regularly, but little by little. In total, if you take this month, we will receive about several thousand consoles. And I am almost sure that we will sell them right away. There are a lot of people willing.

As for “how to buy”, at the end of last year we stopped collecting prepayments, began to track customers much more closely and cut off those who take STBs for resale. Today we do not give more than one console to our hands. The goal here is simple: to make the maximum number of players happy, who will take the console from us at the minimum market price without overpayments.

Therefore, if you need a console, then on the product page you need to fill out a feedback form. When the goods arrive at the warehouse, they will contact you from the call center, offer you to buy it and agree on delivery. A situation is also possible when consoles arrive in stores, but so far this is a rarity: we still have thousands of people who have left orders for purchase.

Note that since our goal is not the maximum number of applications, but the maximum number of satisfied players, we open the “inquire about receipt” form on a regular basis in anticipation of the goods arrival. For example, it is now planned to open the form on the 20th of March.

Do you support loyal customers? We know of cases where some stores picked up their customers in line and gave them consoles early.

Of course. We have regular customers who bought both PS3 and PS4, and, of course, games for them. This, by the way, is about seven games per console. And if they have not yet received their console, we call them first when sorting.

We also have a very serious loyalty program. Buying something above the average check – for example, a washing machine – the client receives bonus rubles, which he can use to pay for games and consoles. We have actively promoted this program, and gamers are now using it with might and main. And they use it even more often than the average customer.

Was your PS5 literally stolen from you – well, whole trucks?

We certainly didn’t have this with the PlayStation 5. But, I think, no one is insured against such cases, so we personally insure all transportation just in case.

How was it with the Xbox?

But it is still impossible to reliably talk about the success of this or sometimes product. Neither Xbox nor PS is available in sufficient volume. Of course, there is more noise around PS, since it has a banally higher penetration into the household: the number of families in which there is any PS is much higher than with the Xbox. And, of course, the delivery delay also created a certain excitement and added noise.

But, again, talking about the real ratio of demand for the Xbox and PlayStation consoles is very difficult, because we did not have a calm picture when we could simply estimate the demand. Everything that comes in is immediately sold and taken by customers.

Why was it easier to get the Xbox? For example, our employee calmly went on the day of the start and bought a set-top box in the store.

This is due to the fact that when planning those very minimum quotas, the vendor and I acted more cautiously and stopped the pre-order at a smaller quantity than Microsoft promised us. As a result, we received a little more consoles than we collected pre-orders, and in top stores we were able to put several consoles on the shelves. However, this was not enough for long: one or two days, and everything was sold out.

What is better to take: older or younger versions of consoles?

For starters, if you look at all trim levels, Series X came in about twice as many as Series S. And although it is too early to compare anything, by dry numbers we see that sales of more expensive versions are several times better. But, again, everything is for sale.

Well, on demand, I can just share a personal observation: among my friends, most of them bought disk versions anyway. The logic here is simple: the new console is taken seven years ahead, and you can overpay a little to get everything at once.

Have sales of other consoles – like the Nintendo Switch – grown amid a total shortage of new consoles?

Switch has been coming in quite briskly in the last couple of years thanks to its titles, name and brand power in the Russian Federation. But directly during the release of new consoles – November, December – I would take all the other models out of the brackets. When the new generation started, the share of other consoles was minimal.

In general, if we evaluate the share of Nintendo in the general console market, then before the start of the new generation, it competed with the Xbox. At the best of times, they managed to occupy 15-20% of sales, but on average it is 10% of the market.

How is the boxed game market doing? Have digital stores overwhelmed demand?

No. Oddly enough, boxed games, especially console games, show a slight increase year-on-year. Now the box market is about 4.5 billion rubles. They sell about two million units a year.

And what about the computer “boxes”? It was then that “digital” won?

Here a lot depends on suppliers, but they have clearly abandoned this market. At some point, demand there quickly dropped, while the console market was working as it is. And this, by the way, applies not only to the Russian Federation: the format of console boxes lives in both Europe and the United States. True, I do not presume to say what their dynamics are.

Where are the discs for the Russian Federation printed and what way do they go to the store shelf?

Differently. There are cases when covers and discs are printed directly in Russia. There are cases when only a printing house is made in the Russian Federation. And it so happens that the whole process takes place entirely abroad: in the countries of Eastern or Western Europe. But how the disks are already getting to the Russian Federation, it is better to ask the publishers.

Tell us how the discount for boxed games is formed. Is it, as with “digital”, is it controlled by the publishers, or can you yourself, too, take and cut the price by half?

Suppliers themselves determine the amount that they consider optimal for the shelf price tag. And this is the base from which we start in the further life cycle of each product.

All negotiations with suppliers are conducted after the release of the product. This can be, firstly, large-scale federal-wide discount periods like Black Friday, when the same PlayStation cuts prices for games in both digital and boxed versions. And secondly, there are also local agreements: we, for example, see that the product’s sales are lower than expected, and then we can agree on some kind of action, discuss and agree on investments for this or that promo. Sometimes a promo is a vendor’s offer, sometimes it’s our own marketing.

Tell us about the story of Cyberpunk 2077. How did you react when you announced that the game could be returned? What happened to the boxed versions?

We immediately announced that we were ready to accept the game back if it did not suit the client in terms of quality. But, oddly enough, very few people actually returned the boxes. That is, it is literally a few. Most, in my opinion, did the right thing: they decided to wait for the update from the publisher.

Many analysts constantly point out that FIFA almost always leads the sales charts. It is even customary to laugh at this in the comments. And what about this with us? What are the locations of the soccer simulator?

How are things going with collector’s editions? Do they buy well, how much do you import?

Buy. Collector’s Editions are usually pre-orders and are usually top AAA games. The publisher, however, brings in a very limited number of boxes, and this is always a story when all the goods appear exactly at the start of sales and leave in full. A dangling product in this category is the rarest exception.

Сейчас ходят неутихающие слухи о том, что вся техника в РФ подорожает процентов на десять в ближайшие месяц-полтора. Верно ли это, и с чем это связано?

Здесь очень тесная взаимосвязь между ценами на полке и себестоимостью данных товаров для розничного продавца. Если у производителей случается подорожание из-за дефицита комплектующих или из-за того, что они производятся не в РФ и на них влияет курс валют, то понятно, что это отразится и на рыночных ценах. Но, как показывает наш опыт, не в полном объёме. Все-таки мы ритейлер, и для нас главное — спрос, желание людей приобретать новую технику и возможности для этого.

Как курс доллара влияет на финальные цены?

У всех по-разному. Какие-то поставщики фиксируют курс доллара на год вперёд, кто-то работает поквартально, кто-то действует из текущей ситуации и может менять цены раз в месяц.

Бытует мнение, что если цены подняли один раз, то больше их не опустят. Так ли это? Что будет, если завтра случится чудо и доллар упадёт до 60 рублей?

По моему опыту, цены идут вниз. Если себестоимость товара для производителя или поставщика становится ниже, то он прекрасно понимает, что он просто больше продаст, если снизит цену. А опустить цену ему позволяет экономика. Для магазинов же в таких случаях производится защита снижения цены: продавцу компенсируется разница в стоимости. И так было каждый раз, когда экономическая ситуация как-то улучшалась. Конечно, если речь идёт о каких-то краткосрочных падениях, то мы договариваемся с поставщиками о промоакциях, инвестируя разницу в цене в продвижение.

Расскажите, как вам дался 2023 год.

Как говорят на Востоке, кризис — это время возможностей. С одной стороны, было крайне сложно, поскольку больше месяца у нас магазины работали в сильно ограниченном режиме. И это, безусловно, сказалось на выручке. Но одновременно ситуация с пандемией заставила нас за несколько месяцев сделать то, что планировалось сделать за несколько лет.

Были заключены многие партнёрства, нацеленные на то, чтобы сделать товар ближе к клиенту, чтобы ему было удобнее его получать. Мы заключали договоры с «Пятёрочкой», «Почтой России», агрегаторами такси. С последними мы вообще ввели сервис «доставка за два часа»: в период пандемии, до конца лета, услуга стоила 100 рублей. Сейчас, правда, чуть больше.

Так же мы запустили сервис видеоконсультаций: продавцы, которые находились в магазинах, получали тысячи звонков по видео и буквально показывали товар через камеру со всех углов. И это оказалась крайне популярная услуга: она позволяла не ехать в магазин, что в то время было очень важно. Ну и, конечно, мы предприняли множество мер для обеспечения безопасности: как доставок, так и обслуживания клиентов в магазинах.

В итоге мы существенно вырастили онлайн-продажи и в целом превратились в интернет-компанию: доля покупок онлайн перевалила за половину, а до пандемии она составляла 30%. Конечно, магазины до сих являются неким фундаментом нашего бизнеса, но онлайн — это растущий сегмент, практически безграничный.

А заодно мы работаем как маркетплейс: наши партнёры могут выставлять на наших ресурсах свои товары. Правда, тут у нас есть жесткие требования: товар обязательно должен быть в наличии, а цены должны быть не выше, чем у конкурентов.

Как сейчас у вас обстоят дела с карантином и защитой своих сотрудников? Вы всё так же соблюдаете удалённый режим?

Что касается офиса, то у нас сейчас на рабочих местах около 10% сотрудников, все остальные сидят дома. Уже понятно, что той жизни, которая была, не будет: стопроцентного заполнения офисов точно не будет. Да и вообще этот формат меняется. Мы планируем гибридный формат и уже сейчас обеспечиваем коворкинговые пространства: рабочие места, которые не зафиксированы за одним сотрудником, а могут свободно использоваться кем угодно. Также меняется и график: кто-то работает 5/2, кто всего два-три раза в неделю приходит в офис, кто-то вообще сидит дома.

Конечно, тут очень помогает, что мы перемещаемся в онлайн. Естественно, если бы мы ограничивались «каменными» магазинами, то и ментальность бы была другая. Но с «оцифровкой» бизнеса людям проще перестраиваться на новые форматы работы, в том числе на проведение совещаний, организацию каких-то проектов, мероприятий по Сети. Даже если сотрудники в офисе, встречи проводятся онлайн: так значительно безопаснее.

Как шли продажи во время пандемии?

Взрывообразно. Первый скачок был в марте, хотя это была ещё не пандемия. Тут больше повлияла информация о приближающемся росте цен: тогда как раз резко подскочил курс доллара, да ещё и пошли новости о том, что вирус начал активно распространяться, а в Китае закрывают целые города.

Но реально всё началось в апреле 2023-го. Для начала рванули консоли: в апреле продажи выросли на 150%. Следующей взрывной категорией стали ноутбуки — они росли с марта, когда многие стали переходить на работу из дома, а резкий скачок случился в июле-августе, когда начали готовиться к новому учебному году. В ноутбуках мы видели спрос не только на учебные модели, но и на бизнес-класс и игровые модели.

Тогда же начали расти планшеты. И это при том, что с начала пандемии планшеты шли очень ровно. В июле же продажи просто удвоились: планшеты стали покупать для работы из дома на замену ноутбуку. Вверх ушли и другие категории. Примерно на 40% поднялись продажи игровых мониторов, офисной и даже бытовой техники: холодильники и стиральные машины покупали не менее активно.

Кстати, а какой сейчас самый популярный бренд ноутбуков в РФ?

Есть как минимум четыре крупных бренда: HP, Lenovo, ASUS and Acer… Они, в принципе, примерно в равных долях соотносятся друг с другом. Естественно, на длинной дистанции какие-то перекосы бывают, но это, как правило, связано с определёнными моделями ноутбуков, привезённых под конкретное промо. Например, в сезон перед началом учебного года у нас выстрелил бренд Huawei: мы подготовили отличное предложение для клиентов, но в большую чётверку на длинной дистанции он всё же не вошел.

На ваш взгляд, в чём основная причина дефицита товара?

Понятно, что связано это было с пандемией. Перейдя на удалёнку, люди стали задумываться о том, как провести время дома, начали больше думать о том, чтобы окружить себя новой техникой. И с того самого момента — первого и особенного второго квартала прошлого года — мы начали испытывать дефицит.

С теми же ноутбуками, к примеру, нам приходилось прибегать к срочным авиадоставкам, чтобы не задерживать товар на складах и сразу развозить его по магазинам. Конечно, не допускали такого, чтобы ноутбуков вообще не было на полках. Но были такие моменты, когда появлялись пробелы. Сейчас уже всё более-менее выровнялось: мы представляем хороший ассортимент с достаточной глубиной.

Впрочем, некоторый дефицит всё же остаётся, но это общемировой тренд. Спрос значительно вырос повсюду, и сейчас в мире в целом есть дефицит по чипам: это касается не только игровых консолей, но и другой техники. 2023 год, правда, в этом плане должен быть более позитивным, но общее отставание предложения от спроса вряд ли быстро исправится — на это понадобится время. Однако с точки зрения продаж мы на это смотрим с оптимизмом: был бы товар.