There are many doomsayers out there who have proclaimed the death of DVD. Their logic seems fairly sound: after all, a subscription to Netflix costs less than £10 a month and gets you access to hundreds of films and television shows which you can stream on demand.
But is it really true that DVD is on the verge of disappearing from the market? Absolutely not.
Introduced to Britain back in 1999, DVD overtook VHS sales faster than most experts had predicted, leading to the death of VHS in under seven years. (The final major film to be released on VHS in the United Kingdom was A History of Violence back in 2006; there’s still a niche of new slasher films being released on VHS in parts of the United States, though!) By 2006, the market for DVDs and DVD players hovered around the £1 billion mark.
While those figures aren’t quite as high as today, the market for DVDs and DVD players still exceed half a billion pounds every year, with the market retaining its strength despite those who proclaimed its impending death after online film streaming began to take hold a few years ago. It’s been about a decade since streaming media was introduced on a large scale in Britain, much longer than the length of time in which DVD forced VHS out of the market.
The fact is that people still like to own physical copies of things; it’s the same thing that helps physical music sales stay strong. But it’s about more than that. Actually owning a DVD means that you don’t have to rely on an Internet connection. If your Internet connection goes down - as one is wont to do - you can still access your favourite films when you own them on DVD. Besides, you also have to consider the fact that access to the Internet is nowhere near as widespread as many people make out - a lot of people still rely on DVD in order to get their entertainment fix!
There’s also the matter of choice you need to consider. Sure, Netflix may have hundreds of titles ready to stream. But, in the grand scheme of things, they’ve not even started scratching the surface of the epic back catalogues to which good DVD wholesalers have access. You’re also likely to wait months before you can see a new release on such a service.
There are a plethora of great DVD and music stores in Middlesex. If you’re an existing Middlesex retailer, or if you’re planning on opening up a new store, then you need to ensure you’re working with a good supplier. The fact is that DVD sales have remained strong in Middlesex and many other places in the United Kingdom because retailers have been good at meeting people’s desires. People want DVD copies of mainstream blockbusters, obscure indie titles, and boxsets of their favourite television shows. You need to ensure you can meet that demand.
ECD Direct work with the likes of the BBC and Warner Home Video in order to ensure a good supply of DVDs in the likes of Middlesex.
