"Home Entertainment" is movie industry jargon for the various forms films take as they come into a consumer's home. Originally just VHS, now it encompasses Blu-ray, DVD and an ever increasing number of digital solutions, streaming services and more.

The massive growth in home theaters and media rooms as families seek high-quality and impact entertainment at home holds significant sales potential for Christian retailers. Even churches are following this trend. The Barna Group reports that 88% of U.S. churches with greater than 250 members now have large screens used for playing multimedia and film for services.

And for the shoppers in your store, what's being played on many of those home entertainment and church systems? Faith and family films.

Unfortunately, far too many Christian retail stores are still squeezing DVDs into old music fixtures or sticking them spine-out on shelves in the back of stores at a time when the DVD category in the Christian retail market is experiencing sales 60% greater than 2008 (based on Nielsen SoundScan overall year-to-date top video unit sales Jan. 1-Oct. 15, 2009, versus the same period the prior year).

It's time to grab this category by both horns. Here are a few simple ideas to help grow and further develop your store's home entertainment sales:

1. Make a statement. While some stores may not have huge selections of home entertainment products, try pulling them together with music and software, creating a "Recorded Media" or "Enrichment, Education and Entertainment" section. A buyer or department manager focused on this new "department" will become more efficient, and highly specialized and responsive to new products and customer needs.

2. Expand offerings. If your selection in these recorded media product lines is lacking, expand the selection—now. They're out there. One important goal for any retailer is to be relevant, and shoppers want a wide selection of movies, music and other recorded media content.

3. Shout it out. Now that you're ready to grow your sales, tell your customers about the incredible new selection by including in local advertising, mailers/catalogs, out-of-store and in-store signage and on your Web site.

4. Provide value. It's next to impossible to compete with big box retailers on price. The only real weapons against them are selection and service. The competition is hit- and new release-driven, and finding even the most family-friendly movies requires navigating offensive and inappropriate content in the stores. A dedicated faith and family recorded media section in a Christian store will be able to offer the best content, in stock and in a trusted and safe environment. Try experimenting with things like "movie of the week," selling a selected film at or below cost, encouraging multiple purchases and leaving a "low price" message in the minds of your customers.

5. Grow with your customers. Don't stand still. Consider adding high definition DVD products (Blu-ray), more software formats (PSP, Apple, Nintendo DS), expand the audiobook footprint and add a wider selection of family-friendly or even challenging and thought-provoking films for parents/adults.

Rich Peluso is vice president of Affirm Films, the faith-based label of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

• Prev