Move follows sales success for supermarket in the vinyl revival.
Hot on the heels of the news from Kantar Worldpanel earlier this week that physical entertainment sales are in growth, Sainsbury’s has become the first supermarket to launch its own range of exclusive records.
Following Sainsbury’s huge success in the vinyl revival, with one in every 20 vinyl records sold in the UK now purchased in a Sainsbury’s store, from Friday November 3, the retailer will launch two vinyl compilation albums from its new Own Label imprint, via Universal and Warner Music.
The records will be available in over 160 Sainsbury’s superstores around the country.
The exclusive records have been tailored specifically to the tastes of Sainsbury’s shoppers.
The two 20 track double albums – Hi Fidelity – A Taste Of Stereo Sound’ and ‘Coming into Los Angeles – A Taste of West Coast – capture the classic sounds of the 60s and 70s, lining up iconic vinyl favourites such as Fleetwood Mac, Cat Stevens and Elton John alongside some lesser discovered artists.
Despite the rise of online music streaming services, the UK vinyl revival has seen sales of the format jump 37.6% in the first half of 2017 to £37.3m.
Sainsbury’s began stocking vinyl in March 2016 for the first time since the 1980s and already accounts for almost 70% of the total grocery vinyl market.
Sainsbury’s head of music and books, Pete Selby, said: “Our customers’ love of vinyl shows no sign of abating, so alongside the classics albums, we want to offer our shoppers something they won’t find anywhere else.
“Our exclusive Own Label records have been carefully tailored towards the inquisitive, cultured tastes of our customers so we’re confident that they’ll love the sound of our new releases and our ever increasing vinyl range.”
Sainsbury’s has sold almost 300,000 vinyl albums to date. Its best-selling album to date is Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, with over 12,000 units sold.
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