Official Charts and Era support independent retailers through home delivery reporting system

30 March 2020 - Press release

Official Charts and Era partner to support indie record shops

Indies moving to home delivery offered new reporting system

Initiative designed to bolster indendendent retail reporting during COVID-19 crisis

The Official Charts Company and the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), organisers of Record Store day, have joined forces to expand the number of independent retailers reporting home delivery sales to the Official Charts, in the wake of store closures during the COVID-19 crisis.

More than 150 independent retailers report weekly to the Official Charts, including around 40 which have traditionally operated home delivery services. But, in the wake of this week’s COVID-19 lockdown, dozens of indies have been forced to close their doors and are battling to keep afloat by launching new home delivery services for their local clientele.

To support these indies, the Official Charts Company, their research contractor Kantar together with ERA have moved quickly this week to open up their home delivery sale reporting system to integrate indies who were not previously registering these sales. The system is free of charge and simply requires each retailer to have internet access and a web browser. Retailers processing significant numbers of sales can also be supplied with a scanner which makes the system even more user friendly.

Indies who wish to report are being asked to contact Kantar to get set up - by emailing chartstechnical@kantar.com with a store name and contact details, and request access to “Colossus”.

Official Charts Company chief executive Martin Talbot says, “We have already seen the launch this week of the brilliant ‘Love Record Stores’ initiative and it is crucial that the entire industry rallies round to support the independent sector. At the Official Charts, we are proud to have one of the most biggest independent retail panels of any chart systems worldwide – and this is because of the crucial role that independent retail plays in the music and the broader culture in the UK. We are delighted to open up the Colossus system to help stand united with this sector at this incredibly difficult time. We will also be doing everything we can to support independent retailers through the coming weeks, by promoting them via OfficialCharts.com and social mediathrough the coming weeks.”

ERA CEO Kim Bayley said, “Indie record shops have faced the double blow of the postponement due to coronavirus of Record Store Day to June 20 and now the closure of their stores. With their obsessive focus on music and catering to their local audiences, indie record shops are part of the DNA of the music industry. That’s why we have long worked to ensure that as many of them as possible are represented on the chart panel. It is great that we have been able to fast-track this process to support indies through the coronavirus crisis.”