In response to the news that Sainsbury’s is withdrawing from the video category, Liz Bales, CEO of BASE, said: “The physical home entertainment market has shown amazing resilience over the last 12 months with consumers seeking out TV, catalogue content and premium formats, but there is no doubt that the opportunity to own new film releases excites consumers and drives significant DVD and Blu-ray sales.
We were so happy to see the amazing and impactful in-store set-up for Godzilla vs. Kong in June and the second half of 2021 is bursting with new content, and with it, the opportunity for distributors to creatively collaborate with our retail partners on family films such as Peter Rabbit 2, superhero instalments like Marvels Studios’ Black Widow and thrillers like A Quiet Place Part II.
In 2020, 7 million disc-buyers continued their love affair with the category, with high value and premium formats performing particularly well, a trend we are sure to see continue with the inclusion of 4K disc players in the newest games consoles providing the potential for millions more to discover the ultimate viewing experience.
While our colleagues will miss working with the Sainsbury’s team in the imminent future, UK consumers still have plentiful opportunities with UK grocers, entertainment specialist retailers, online retailers and non-traditional retail locations to continue to enjoy an experience we all know and love – excitedly grabbing a copy of a film you’ve been desperate to see and heading home for a spontaneous movie night in.”
