The physical entertainment market continues to decline in UK declining 19% in the 12 weeks to 30th June 2019 according to the retail analyst, Kantar, in a blog posting. This was put down to ‘falling shopper numbers and a lack of big-name release in the music, film and gaming sections. With Amazon Prime Day sales still to be accounted for and new consoles due later this year, the market continues to depend on gift-hunting shoppers and benefited from the £24 million worth of sales generated by Father’s Day this period.’
Claire McClelland, consumer specialist at Kantar, said “A new DVD, CD or game remains a fail-safe present for those dads who have everything. Physical video did particularly well from the Father’s Day this year – children picking up a favourite boxset or film for their fathers totalled £8.5 million worth of sales.”
Online retailers performed well again this quarter, with Amazon accounting for 25% of all spend and growing share in each category. Expectations were that Amazon Prime Day would see a third of shoppers buying physical entertainment and 42% considering electronics purchases.
“However, if last year is anything to go by, success for Amazon doesn’t inevitably mean bad news for the high street. People that bought something from the online giant during the week of Amazon Prime Day in 2018 spent 40% more on the high street than the average shopper during those days – demonstrating the value of those shoppers to bricks-and-mortar retailers as well.”
Amazon continues to dominate the physical music market, accounting for 24% of sales, but there are signs of a resurgence among independent stores which have increased sales by 14% in the quarter. Vinyl is increasingly popular with nostalgic shoppers and performed particularly well within these independent outlets with sales rising 9% compared with 5% across the category.
Claire McClelland said: “It’s been another tough quarter for the physical music market, with HMV store closures contributing to a 11% fall in sales. However, the summer festival season is now in full swing and retailers will be hoping the music events translate into spend at the tills in the coming weeks. In the past year, half of all festival or concert goers reported an instant impact on their listening habits while a third said the occasion re-ignited their love for an album or artist. Crucially, 13% went out to pick up a physical CD of the artist.”
To read the full posting which contains information about retail games and video sales go here.
