Amazon ahead of HMV in home entertainment sales

Amazon overtook HMV in the run-up to Christmas to become the UK's top home entertainment retailer.

The online giant captured 22.4 per cent of the CD, DVD and computer games market in the 12 weeks to 25 December, pushing the troubled HMV into second place with 17.5 per cent of the market, according to figures from Kantar Worldpanel.

Fiona Keenan, Kantar's consumer insight director, said: "Amazon's strong performance is down to a number of factors: it is typically really competitive on price, has a wide range of products with no restriction on display space, and is known for its very good customer service."

HMV's falling market share came almost entirely from its high street shops, with online sales holding up well.

All four big supermarket chains appeared in the top ten entertainment sellers, with many of them, as Ms Keenan pointed out, deeply discounting top sellers such as Harry Potter DVDs if customers spent elsewhere in the store.