Streaming services continued to decimate CD, DVD and physical video game sales over the last quarter, according to new figures.
CD, DVD and video game sales fell 19 per cent to £214 million over the 12 weeks to the end of June, as streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video ate away at physical entertainment’s market share.
High street stores were hit hardest by the slump, according to the latest data published by Kantar, with a drop in footfall and lack of triple-A releases further hindering physical sales.
READ MORE: UK entertainment retail spend hits £100m a week
Bricks-and-mortar stores are also losing out on CD, DVD and video game sales to online rivals like Ebay and Amazon, with the former increasing its market share from four per cent to 5.8 per cent.
Meanwhile Amazon now accounts for one in every four pounds spent on physical entertainment products in the UK.
Though Argos managed to hold on to its market share thanks to a successful online offering, HMV saw market share fall 3.3 per cent to 14.4 per cent, while Game fell from 8.1 per cent to 7.6 per cent.
Supermarkets also saw a decline in market share, with the UK’s largest Tesco seeing its share dip two per cent to 8.3 per cent of the market, while Asda and Sainsbury’s also saw a drop of one per cent.
| ENTERTAINMENT RETAIL CONSUMER SPEND H1 2019 | ||||
| CONSUMER SPEND £ (m) | H1 2018 | H1 2019 | % change | |
| Music | Physical | £160.9 | £138.8 | -13.8% |
| Downloads | £65.0 | £48.1 | -26.1% | |
| Streaming | £386.1 | £485.9 | 25.8% | |
| Total Music | £612.1 | £672.7 | 9.9% | |
| Video | Physical | £281.3 | £215.8 | -23.3% |
| Digital | £724.4 | £854.5 | 18.0% | |
| Total Video | £1,005.7 | £1,070.3 | 6.4% | |
| Games | Physical | £202.2 | £184.9 | -8.5% |
| Digital | £1,343.4 | £1,376.3 | 2.4% | |
| Total Games | £1,545.6 | £1,561.2 | 1.0% | |
| Total Entertainment | Physical | £644.4 | £539.5 | -16.3% |
| Digital (inc streaming) | £2,519.0 | £2,764.7 | 9.8% | |
| Total Entertainment | £3,163.4 | £3,304.2 | 4.5% | |
(Separate figures from the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) were published last week)
“Amazon and Ebay are increasingly popular with shoppers wanting to get the latest release without leaving their homes, particularly if a traditional retailer has disappeared from their local high street,” Kantar consumer specialist Claire McClelland said.
“There’s a lot of competition out there for DVD retailers, particularly in the form of online streaming services.No longer just for young people, older generations are becoming increasingly tech-savvy and more confident at using these platforms and they are buying DVDs less often as a result.”
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