Sainsbury's to stop sales of CDs and DVDs as customers go online for entertainment

Sainsbury's has announced plans to stop selling CDs and DVDs in its stores. 

The supermarket chain say the decision came from a noticed uptake in customers deciding to buy and stream music and films online instead.

While sales of physical CDs and DVDs will be phased out, select stores will still stock vinyl records.

A spokesperson for Sainsbury's told the BBC: "Our customers increasingly go online for entertainment, so earlier this year we took the decision to gradually phase out the sale of DVDs and CDs, so that we can dedicate extra space to food and popular products like clothing and homewares."

While Sainsbury's has announced its decision to stop selling CDs and DVDs, other supermarkets such as Tesco and Asda show no signs of stopping to stock the items. 

Sainbury's decision points to a wider move in consumers to prioritise streaming over physical sales. Olivia Rodrigo's Number 1 LP Sour, which is currently the UK's biggest album of 2021, has achieved such chart dominance thanks in large part to its streaming, which accounts for 79% of its total figure. The record's CD and cassette sales account for 18%, while the record is yet to be released on vinyl.

When it comes to vinyl, revenues of vinyl records are set to overtake CDs for the first time in 2021. Utilising Official Charts Company data, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) revealed vinyl revenues increased 30.5% year-on-year to £86.5 million (the highest total since 1989), helping offset an 18.5% decline in CD sales, which still amounted to a lofty £115 million.

Sales of vinyl jumped by over a tenth (11.5%) year-on-year to almost 5 million (4.8m) in 2020, marking the 13th consecutive year of growth, despite store physical retail closures across the country.

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