Amazon gains share from HMV and Game to take top spot

The latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel for the 12 weeks to June 10 show that Amazon has grown its market share by 3.2% which now means it accounts for over a fifth of the entertainment market.

Amazon’s growth has largely been at the expense of specialists, including second-place HMV which has lost 0.8%of its market share since last year – opening up the gulf between the retailers to 4.8 percentage points.

Tesco and Asda lost share in the last quarter but Sainsbury’s increased its share to 5.3% spurred by a strong video offer.

Game Group has lost almost half of its market share over the past year, dropping from 10% to 5.2% – with both Game and Gamestation sales dropping by 3.6% and 1.2% in the last twelve weeks after the company went into administration in March.

Kantar Worldpanel consumer insight director Fiona Keenan said: “Amazon has grown its market share considerably since last year and now has a convincing lead over HMV, which has again seen year-on-year losses. The retailer will undoubtedly have been affected by its store closures; however, the trend of consumers switching spend online has also had an impact. 

“However, HMV is not alone – supermarkets too are feeling the squeeze as Tesco dropped 1.7 percentage points and Asda 0.2 percentage points in the past year. Sainsbury’s is the notable exception to this rule, increasing its share of the market to 5.3% as a result of a strong focus on its video offer.”

iTunes has also been able to capitalise on the growth of digital music sales, increasing its market share by 2.8 percentage points.