94 per cent growth since 2000
New research issued revealed sales of entertainment products and clothing in supermarkets have nearly doubled over the past five years.

The latest figures from TNS Worldpanel show sales of entertainment products, footwear and clothing in UK supermarkets have grown by 94 per cent since 2000, compared with the overall market growth of just 11 per cent.

A quarter of all CDs and DVDs are now purchased through supermarkets along with nearly a fifth of all clothes and footwear.

Supermarkets' share of computer games has more than doubled in the past five years and 12 per cent of all books now come from supermarket shelves.

TNS consumer insight director Fiona Bell said: 'The supermarkets are really focusing on non-food. They want to be seen as department stores rather than food stores.'

Tesco is planning to meet its non-food targets by poaching 150 non-food buyers from rival retailers (Retail Week, February 17).

Meanwhile Asda is accelerating its roll-out of its general merchandising Asda Living stores, with a possible 15 opening by the end of the year.