Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Amazon.co.uk takes 21% of UK entertainment market



E-book sales have helped Amazon to gain a 21.1% share of the entertainment market in the UK, which is more than Asda and Tesco combined, figures from consumer insight company Kantar Worldpanel have shown.
The online retailer has upped its market share by 3.2% in the 12 weeks to 10th June in comparison to last year, which analysts have attributed to strong sales of Kindle e-readers.
iTunes and Sainsbury’s were the only other companies to win market share in the entertainment field besides Amazon, with the supermarket growing its share by 0.4% to 5.3% of the market year-on-year and iTunes upping its portion by 2.8% to 8.8%.
Tesco dropped its portion by 1.7% to 10.7%, while Asda has sunk its share by 0.2% to 8.3% of the entertainment market. Game was the hardest hit in the last quarter, sinking its portion of the market by 3.6% to 3.7%. Play.com dropped its share by 0.3% to 4%.
Richard Broughton, senior analyst with HIS Screen Digest, said it was “absolutely essential” for retailers to have a compelling online offer to customers in the age where more people than ever were taking up broadband in their homes.
He told The Bookseller: “In these tough economic times, Amazon still manages to maintain some of the lowest prices on the market, which customers may find more appealing than those on the high street. Prices have been driving Amazon’s sales over the last year. In terms of uptake of broadband we have seen a very strong year to date, which is extending the market for online retail.
“In terms of the book side of things, that is obviously going to be driven by the Kindle and the uptake of e-readers, which has definitely helped Amazon’s position.”

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