Growth of 8.5 percent achieved for the 2011 holiday season
TORONTO, Jan. 25, 2012 /CNW/ - HMV Canada reports its best holiday season performance in over 5 years, attributing its success to sales of DVDs and CDs - with unit growth on comparable stores of 24.7 percent on DVDs and 0.5 percent on CDs, as compared to the same 13-week period in 2010.
"We have achieved record market share during Boxing Week with CD sales at 47 percent," says Nick Williams, President of HMV Canada. "With one in every two CDs sold in this country, this reinforces the fact that our customers still love to buy physical music along with movies, and that hmv Canada is still their personal and gift-giving destination."
"The market for physical music in Canada remains strong, with more than 74 percent of all albums sold as CDs this past year," says Williams. "For many, the physical format provides more value and features - superior sound quality, artist liner notes and bonus content, to name a few - all important factors when building one's own music collection."
For example, Williams continues, "Adele's 21 was the most successful release of 2011 with sales of 970,000 units in Canada alone. CD sales of that release represented more than 77 percent of the total number - proving that the physical CD is still by far and away the largest proportion of sales made in this country. For DVDs, HMV Canada doubled market share for the week following Christmas and still remains the retailer that can meet the needs of all film and TV enthusiasts."
HMV Canada's successful holiday sales results build on the growth from its recent summer campaign, which offered single price points for CDs and DVDs. Customers responded enthusiastically to the simple and attractive price points.
Williams adds, "Despite double digit growth in retail traffic and increased consumer spending, we understand we must continue to look for ways to develop and enhance our offering to customers. Although we are pleased with our holiday season sales results, we are not complacent in our success and will continue to evolve the brand to meet consumers' needs."
HMV Canada continues to anticipate its customers' consumption habits along with industry trends. To complement its existing sales model, HMV Canada will launch a new digital streaming service in May 2012. The streaming service is designed to augment the existing retail store portfolio, as HMV Canada is committed to continued support of CDs and DVDs in the marketplace.
About HMV Canada
HMV Canada's first store opened in 1986, from which it has grown to become a Canadian entertainment market leader with 114 stores from Newfoundland to British Columbia, as well as the hmv.ca website. HMV Canada is an innovator in its market, launching in 2009 hmvdigital.ca, a digital music store offering over 10 million MP3 tracks for download, and in 2010 the HMV pure customer rewards program, which has attracted over 800,000 paid cardholders. HMV has been named Canadian Music Retailer of the Year for the past 20 years, and has also been recognized as the Canadian Entertainment Network DVD Retailer of the Year.
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