M+E Daily

GameStop isn’t the only U.S. retail chain jumping on the virtual reality (VR) bandwagon early. Best Buy and Microsoft Store locations are among other retailers who are selling the new VR headsets and have set up demo stations at stores to provide a hands-on experience designed to familiarize consumers with the technology.

“We aim to be the home for the latest in virtual reality — from Oculus Rift to PlayStation VR to Samsung Gear VR and more,” Best Buy spokesman Shane Kitzman said July 6. In May, Best Buy became the first U.S. retailer to offer Oculus Rift demos, hosting demos in 48 stores nationwide, and additional Best Buy stores will be added throughout this year to demonstrate that product, he said.

In June, Best Buy started offering PlayStation (PS) VR demos at about 200 stores each weekend across the U.S., and PS VR demos will run through the launch of the product by Sony in October, he said.

Best Buy customers are “excited” about VR, he said. But Best Buy didn’t say how many consumers attended its demo events or bought the first VR headsets. “As you know, we don’t comment on sales,” Kitzman said.

Select Microsoft Store locations in U.S. and Canada, meanwhile, are demonstrating and selling the HTC Vive headset, which runs on Windows 10. There’s been “a lot of customer excitement around” HTC Vive and Oculus Rift at Microsoft Stores, but “we don’t share specific sales information,” a Microsoft spokesperson said July 6.

Microsoft Stores started rolling out the demo stations in April and are continuing to add new demo locations for HTC Vive, she said, without specifying how many stores had Vive already and how many would be receiving them in all. The in-store demos are “powered by Windows 10” and provide customers with a “fully immersive experience that features four interactive scenarios from space to the deep blue sea with stunning graphics, haptic feedback and 360 degree motion tracking,” she said.

Oculus Ready PCs and Rift bundles, on the other hand, are available for purchase at microsoftstore.com and started shipping in June. Oculus is also available at Microsoft’s Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York City.

Supplies of the $599 Oculus Rift, however, have been hard to come by since the device’s launch in April, with sellouts seen at even the Oculus website. The Microsoft Store website was sold out of the Rift July 8 and it listed the HTC Vive as “coming soon.” BestBuy.com listed Rift as sold out online also and didn’t list HTC Vive at all. GameStop.com didn’t have either device in stock the same day.

As previously reported, GameStop saw promising consumer demand for the HTC Vive VR headset that it’s been demonstrating and selling, and expanded its availability from 10 stores to 100 stores, COO Tony Bartel said on GameStop’s May 26 first-quarter earnings call. The retail chain also sold out of its second allotment of PS VR just four minutes after it started taking orders as part of its continued pre-order program for the product, it said July 1.