Amazon hits record entertainment share as online bounces back
New data on the physical entertainment market has revealed that over a third of shoppers in the market made a purchase at Amazon in the 12 weeks ending 3 July thereby helping the retailer to achieve its highest ever share outside the Christmas period.
The figures from Kantar Worldpanel also show that HMV improved its year-on-year performance once again in the period, although it was unable to maintain the market share high of 16.9% which it achieved last quarter.
Meanwhile, performance among the supermarkets was mixed. Sainsbury’s became the fourth biggest retailer in entertainment for the first time, with its share of 9.7% higher than at any point in the past five years. The supermarket added over £2 million in the entertainment category by enticing an additional 100,000 shoppers and improving purchase frequency.
During the quarter both Sainsbury’s and GAME overtook Asda, which has seen share of physical entertainment halve since 2014.
Fiona Keenan, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel, explained: “Some 700,000 fewer people shopped Asda’s entertainment offer this quarter and it’s been detrimental to the whole sector – only 15% of Asda’s lost spend switched to other retailers. Impulse purchasing remains a key lever in determining the success of a retailer – it accounts for £180 million in the grocers alone, so these retailers need to ensure they’re attracting shoppers into their entertainment aisles to stop the flow of cash away from the market.”
Star Wars: The Force Awakens was the biggest title across the whole physical entertainment market, with 1.8 million shoppers picking up a physical copy. Tesco was the big winner, taking nearly a third of all spend. Kantar said the retailer has consistently performed well with new releases, averaging around 30% share over the past year. Its overall share of the market was 15.2%.
Looking at online sales, Keenan added: “Online spend across the industry has bounced back from declines over the past year and now accounts for over a third of spend – the highest it’s been since this time in 2015. Having the availability of a wide back catalogue means online retailers are extremely well-placed to cater to changes in consumer demand, as exemplified by the recent surge in sales of Bowie and Prince albums following the death of both iconic artists earlier this year.”
