A sharp fall in sales of physical entertainment products in the second quarter highlights the ongoing shift in UK consumer media consumption habits towards streaming products, while the growing preference for Amazon as the source of those items that are bought further exacerbates high street pain.

According to data from market research firm Kantar, sales of DVDs, CDs and video games fell by 19% in the three months to the end of June.

DVD sales were most affected, with sales down 28%, compared to a 14% fall for video games and 11% for CDs.

The share of sales taken by supermarkets and specialist retailers declined as that of online retailers and marketplaces grew: Amazon now claims 25% (up from 22% for the same period last year) while eBay is on 5.8% (up from 4%).

“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,” said Claire McClelland, consumer specialist at Kantar, in remarks reported by the Guardian.

“There’s a lot of competition out there for DVD retailers, particularly in the form of online streaming services,” she added.

“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.”

A report from media regulator Ofcom last week showed that a record 47% of British homes now subscribe to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Now TV or Disney Life – a full 13.3 million homes.

And new ONS data indicates how older consumers’ shopping habits are changing: in 2019, 82% of UK adults had bought goods or services online in the last 12 months, as had 54% of over 65s – the first time that over half of this age group could be defined as online shoppers.

Sourced from Guardian, ONS; additional content by WARC staff