GAME ups entertainment market share

Retailer GAME increased its share of the UK entertainment market by 2.3 per cent year-on-year for the 12 weeks ending December 22nd.

Kantar Worldpanel numbers claim that Amazon was the only retailer to see more growth in the sector, increasing its share by 5.9 per cent.

It says that GAME generated an additional 9m more this Christmas than it did last year. It also claimed 30 per cent of the UK’s PS4 and Xbox One sales and won in the region of 10m total spend from rival retailers – 4m of which was taken from supermarkets, which underperformed in the next-gen space.

This is a clear sign that consumers still require advice and support when shopping for technical products and retailers should try to make the most of this opportunity,” Kantar’s strategic insight director Fiona Keenan stated.

The release of new consoles in the games market has really boosted software sales in a period where music and video are suffering; the video games market is relatively stable, down by only two per cent year-on-year, while video and music have suffered heavy annual declines of 22 per cent and 16 per cent respectively.”

Amazon remains the outright market leader, claiming a 26.3 per cent entertainment share and enjoying 5.9 per cent growth year-on-year.

Amazon traditionally performs strongly in gifting at Christmas and this year was no exception,” Keenan added. Almost a third of all entertainment gifts purchased in the final quarter of 2013 were bought from the retailer and this drove its market share to increase across all categories.”

Analysts last week said that GAME enjoyed more growth than any other UK retailer over Christmas.