29th November 2016, London: A rock 'n' roll legend, a lost fish with memory problems and a battle for the solar system will dominate UK Christmas stockings this year, according to entertainment retailers.
Elvis Presley, Finding Dory and Call of Duty are expected to be the number one sellers in the music, video and games categories this festive seaon, they say.
The Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), the trade body representing more than 7,000 physical and digital entertainment outlets, surveyed its members to compile a list of the biggest titles expected to be gifted this festive season. And here are the results for each category:
Music
‘The Wonder of You: Elvis Presley with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’ will undoubtedly be a CD festive favourite as well as ‘Now That’s What I Call Music 95’ and ‘24k Magic by Bruno Mars’. CD sales are expected to surpass 14m units in the Q4 trading period demonstrating the resilience of physical product in a year when the popularity of music streaming services soared.
Vinyl sales also continue unabated, as independent record store retailers anticipate big sales for David Bowie’s ‘Black Star’ and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds ‘Skeleton Tree’. It is expected that vinyl sales will surpass 3m units by the end of 2016; reaching a 30 year high in sales of the format.
Video
ERA members unanimously predict that ‘Finding Dory’ will be the best-selling DVD/ Blu-ray this year. Family titles dominate retailer picks in video as Secret Life of Pets and The BFG also feature at the top of the polls. Over 23m DVDs and Blu-ray are expected to make their way into Christmas stockings, meaning nearly every household will unwrap at least one DVD or Blu-ray this Christmas.
Game
It’s no surprise that Call of Duty: Intimate Warfare will dominate the gaming charts series after its release this month. Physical games are expected to reach nearly 7m sales, as Q4 releases of Fifa 17 and Battlefield drive excitement in the gaming world.
ERA CEO, Kim Bayley, said of this year’s releases “With such a huge variety of titles to suit all tastes and ages, entertainment products remain a failsafe Christmas gifting option for all.
Ends
For more information and visuals please contact ERA on +44 (0) 20 7440 1595
Lynn Li lynn@eraltd.org or Megan Page, Megan@eraltd.org
For hi-res images please contact ERA on the above
About ERA
ERA is the trade association representing the vast majority of retailers and digital services offering music, video and games. Its members range from independent record shops (Reflex, Sister Ray) to digital services (Spotify, Sky, Deezer, 7digital) to internet retailers (Amazon) to specialist High Street operators (HMV, Game) and supermarkets (Tesco, Sainsburys, Asda, Morrisons)
ERA members supply the sales data which powers the Official Charts Company (music and video charts) and GfK Chart-Track (videogames). Together with record companies trade association the BPI, it owns the Official Charts Company.
ERA provides the organisational force behind Record Store Day, the annual celebration of independent record stores which has become the most successful new music industry promotion of the past two decades.
ERA works closely with its sister organisations in music, video and games and is a strong proponent of open markets, open standards and consumer choice.