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Last week, subscribers of Microsofts Game Pass were in an uproar over plans to hike the price from $19.99 per month to $29.99. One of the most surprising reactions, however, came not from gamers, but from retail partner GameStop. While you’ll pay $30 per month if you sign up for Game Pass Ultimate directly with Microsoft, youll get the same old price — for some indefinite period — if you stick with GameStop. “Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is still $19.99 a month with us. You’re welcome,” the retailer wrote in a social media post. Gamers can subscribe to GamePass directly from their XBox, via their PC, and on the web. Those who plan to take advantage of the lower price GameStop is offering GameStop will redeem the code on their gift card via the Web. Game Pass Ultimate is the preferred subscription plan for core gamers. It offers day-one access to new first-party games like Call of Duty, as well as the entirety of an older game catalog, access to Ubisoft+ classics, and a subscription to Fortnite Crew. While $30-per-month isn’t so bad, the price increase will saddle Microsofts biggest fans with the bulk of the cost, essentially penalizing them for supporting the platform. By appealing squarely to those customers, GameStop could regain some of its relevancy with gamers. It could also lose some goodwill with Microsoft. Microsoft’s gaming division is putting all of its eggs in the GamePass basket. By undercutting the subscription price, GameStop could be cutting into the company’s bottom line. Alternatively, GameStop could be cutting into its own profit margin on GamePass gift cards. The pas de deux between retailers and publishers is a complex, constantly evolving one. Microsoft, after all, could stop issuing the cards with the $19.99 price tag on them at any time, but so far has not. While a favorite of the meme stock crowd, GameStop has squandered much of its reputation with players. For years, it was the go-to place for new releases and made millions on the sale of used games, which at one point accounted for roughly half of its gross profits. But as digital distribution became the norm in the video game world, there was less reason for gamers to visit GameStop. Midnight releases of highly anticipated games became rare events. As gamers shifted to digital, there were fewer physical versions of games to trade in, cutting into used-game revenues. Beyond thumbing its nose at Microsoft with the continued $20 gift cards for Game Pass, GameStop took another swing at the concept of virtual ownership, underlining that when you have a physical copy of the game, it’s yours for as long as you have the disc. “Game Pass: $29.99 every month. Own nothing. GameStop: Buy once. Own forever. Math isnt that hard,” it wrote. GameStop, it’s worth noting, isn’t alone in towing the line on the previous Game Pass Ultimate price. Both Amazon and Target are still selling one- and three-month subscription gift cards at the older rate. Neither of those retailers is quite so publicly poking the bear, however. Then again, neither faces the extinction-level threat that GameStop is. A year ago, Michael Pachter of Wedbush, sent a note to investors saying he expected the company to be gone entirely by 2030. GameStop has a likely runway of no more than five years, he wrote. The demise of GameStop is outside the 12-month window we use for our price target, but we expect the companys demise at some point later this decade. GameStop shares were flat Monday, closing at around $25.05. Year to date, the company’s stock is down 18%. It is, however, still considerably higher than the $3-$4 range it traded at before the meme stock traders began to focus on it.
Category:
E-Commerce
Some good news on the weight-loss front: Customers can now go to Costco to get Ozempic and Wegovy, brand-name injectable prescription drugs manufactured by drug maker Novo Nordisk, which contain the same active ingredient: semaglutide. The Danish pharmaceutical firm announced Friday that both are available at the big-box retailer’s pharmacies nationwide, for $499 for a month’s supplythe same price as sold in CVS, Walmart, and the company’s direct-to-consumer website. You’ll still need a prescription to buy the drugs. Fast Company has reached out to both Costco and Novo Nordisk for comment. AlsoCostco is offering a 2% discount for both Costco executive members and Costco Citibank Visa card holders, according to CBS News. Both drugs are similar, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved them for two different reasons. Wegovy is approved for chronic weight management, while Ozempic is approved for treating type 2 diabetes, to reduce the risk of cardiovascular health issues including heart attack, stroke, and death. Ozempic is prescribed “off-label” for weight loss. The main difference is that they have different side effects and dosagesand because Wegovy is administered at higher doses, a maximum of 2.4 mg a week, it leads to both greater weight loss and more gastrointestinal side effects. Ozempic is typically administered at 2 mg per week. Each are injected once a week. Costco financials Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) stock was down less than one percent on Monday in afternoon trading. The company reported fourth quarter earnings for the period ending August 31, 2025, with net sales for the quarter up 8%, to $84.4 billion from $78.2 billion last year. Net sales for the fiscal year increased 8.1%, to $269.9 billion from $249.6 billion last year. Costco currently has a market capitalization of $402.6 billion.
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E-Commerce
According to the companys annual analysis, this years shopping season wont just break recordsitll rewrite the playbook. AI assistants are set to steer how people search, shop, and spend, while buy-now-pay-later plans help stretched consumers keep the holiday magic alive. Each year, Adobe uses data from its Adobe Analytics platform to predict what the shopping landscape and consumer behavior will look like between November 1 and December 31. According to Adobes description, the data includes inputs from many of the top 100 retailers in the U.S., covering over 1 trillion visits to retail sites, 100 million SKUs, and 18 product categories. In 2025, Adobe says that the holiday shopping season will be bigger than everand AI will play a key role in guiding how shoppers fill their carts. Here are three main takeaways from the analysis: Holiday shopping will reach a record high, but its growing sluggishly Holiday shopping is expected to reach a record high this year: Adobe predicts that shoppers will spend a total of $253.4 billion, up 5.3% from last year. Thats a head-turning sum, but its actually a slower rate of growth compared to 2024, when Adobe Analytics predicted that the total would increase by 8.7%. The slowdown comes as inflation persists and consumer spending remains dampened. In a survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers and released in early September, shoppers reported that, for the upcoming holiday season, they expected to spend 5.3% less than in 2024 (about $1,552 per person). Its the first notable drop since 2020, when average spending fell 7.6% to $1,187. “You have consumers dealing with a lot in the broader economy,” Vivek Pandya, director at Adobe Digital Insights, told Reuters. “We anticipate them taking advantage of these major sales moments, and we still see them leaning on the online sector as an area to get better deals.” Buy your Christmas gifts now; pay for them later Given that consumers wallets are tighter this year, Adobe predicts that a good chunk of holiday shoppers will turn to buy-now-pay-later (BPNL) services to help spread out the costs. BPNL spend is expected to drive $20.2 billion in online spendroughly $2 billion more than the 2024 holiday season. These numbers dont come as a surprise, as BPNL usage has become increasingly common over the past several months. An April LendingTree survey found that consumers are increasingly relying on BNPL services for quotidian purchases like groceries and food delivery, while Grand View Research predicted earlier this year that the BNPL market will see a 26.1% annual compound growth rate between 2023 and 2030. AI-assisted shopping is in Over the past several months, brands including Ralph Lauren and Pinterest have invested in their own AI tools to drive online shopping. The AI-powered app Daydream is purpose-built to help users find the perfect outfits. AI features are becomingly increasingly intertwined in the overall shopping process, from how users find gift inspiration to the search engines they query and the sites they shop on. Last year was the first time that Adobe noticed a measurable surge in AI traffic to U.S. retail sites pre-holidays, but it wont be the last. Generative AI-powered chat services and browsers are changing how consumers act online, becoming a helpful assistant for compiling research before making a purchase, the brands report reads. Adobe observed the first material surge in AI traffic to U.S. retail sites (measured by shoppers clicking on a link) during the 2024 season, with traffic increasing 1,300% YoY. For the 2025 season, Adobe expects AI traffic to rise by 520% YoY, peaking in the 10 days leading up to Thanksgiving. In an Adobe survey of 5,000 consumers, more than one third reported having used an AI-powered service for online shopping, with top use cases including research, product recommendations, and gift inspiration.
Category:
E-Commerce
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