Walmart Q1 Entertainment Sales Down Slightly

19 May, 2015 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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Walmart May 19 announced first-quarter (ended April 30) comparable general merchandise sales at domestic stores saw a low single-digit revenue decline compared with the prior-year period.

Walmart, which doesn’t disclose separate product category sales, said the general merchandise category includes entertainment media, toys, seasonal and hardline.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based retail behemoth is considered to be the largest brick-and-mortar retailer of DVD movies and TV shows. It attributed the revenue drop in part to year-over-year unfavorable comparisons with Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment’s outsized animated hit Frozen, which was released on disc in 2014.

“We continue to feel pressure in media and electronics, resulting from industry contraction, the shift from physical to digital media, and lapping last year’s release of the movie Frozen,” Greg Foran, CEO of Walmart U.S., said on the fiscal call.

Walmart owns and operates digital platform Vudu.com, which features transactional VOD and electronic sellthrough of movies and TV shows, many with cloud-based UltraViolet functionality. Vudu also offers access to Disney Movies Anywhere, which operates its own storage platform.

Separately, Sam’s Club reported a mid-single digit revenue decline in the entertainment, technology and office category. 

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