The UK’s Top Online-Only Indies: More Play

As our Indie Retail Month continues, this week we reveal the UK’s top online-only indies in the UK.

Online game code store More Play kicks us off.

Online store More Play primarily sells game codes. MD Alex Connolly explains to MCV how this has helped it stand out.

How has the site developed since it started?
Since we first started selling games back in December we have grown a huge amount, and our site especially has had very impressive growth. What looks good can change quite rapidly with ecommerce and so we always have to ensure our site stays fresh. Very gradually we have increased our product range by testing new products and keeping those that work. Starting with Xbox Live, we moved into PlayStation Network, Xbox 360 game codes, PC game keys and recently physical Xbox and PS3 games. In the past couple of years we have moved into wholesale, which has proved very successful for us.

What is the biggest challenge facing you in the online space?
Our biggest challenge is that the market is a saturated one. There is a lot of competition out there but we very much believe that we deliver the lowest prices with the best customer service. What customers want most with service is a quick answer and being able to talk to someone when they need them, not just the standard nine-to-five. This along with the promotions and prices we offer seperates us from the online competition. So as the market becomes more saturated, we always have to make sure we distinguish ourselves from the competition and that we can keep customers coming to our site.

Do you stock products aside from video games and are there areas you are looking to go into?
Not at the moment. We are very much game code specialists. Xbox Live is our biggest seller but we sell a lot of PSN, PC keys and other codes as well. Asides from video games, electronics would be a natural move for us, especially electronics that can be used with gaming. In the past we have tested moves into the mobile phone and electronics industry so we have knowlegde on both markets and how hard they can be. So when we do make our moves this year we will know what we would be getting ourselves involved with. It is very competitive and so we realise that to stand a chance we need to offer a good product at a good price.

What plans do you have for expansion?
We’ll be putting a lot of focus into our website whether that will be promotions, new products or rewarding our customers. With the games market changing all the time you can never have all of your eggs in one basket, so we are always looking at new opportunities. Currently we are game code specialists but we are looking at the physical side to gaming as well with accessories, games and hardware. Going further afield from that, we are also looking into the electronics industry and hope to make a move later this year. Our wholesale division is something that we will be putting a lot of time and effort into this year to ensure the continued growth it has experienced. International markets will be part of our expansion as while most of our revenues through our site come from the UK, we will be attempting to take advantage as much as possible of outside UK markets.

How has 2013 been for the site?
The re-launch of the More Play site back in December went very well and we have seen our customer numbers rise month-on-month. We put this down to a constant freshening up of the site, new promotions and new products. Our great customer service keeps our customers are coming back but it also means we get a good number of new customers through word of mouth. Now we are almost half way through the year we feel very much settled into the market and have a good customer base. We are now looking at the second half of the year to expand, take advantage of international markets and to diversify our product range.