Although streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video are incredibly popular among British consumers, physical formats still rule the roost in terms of overall spending, according to new figures from Strategy Analytics.

In the first half of 2016, people across the UK spent £905 million on DVDs and Blu-Rays, which is still significantly ahead of the £742 million generated by subscription-based streaming services.

However, physical disc sales were down by 16 per cent in this period, while streaming revenues rose by 36 per cent. And if this trend continues, it will only be a matter of time before streaming becomes dominant, as it already is in the US.

Digital distribution of movies and TV shows is bigger than the DVD market when streaming is combined with download-based services, where consumers can either rent or buy titles outright and store them on the device of their choice. So while people may still be buying discs via safe shopping online and in high street stores, this type of activity is very much in decline.

DVD rental accounts for the smallest slice of the market, generating just £51 million so far this year, with major chains like Blockbuster having been wiped off the map in recent years by changing trends and evolving technologies.

There are still some advantages which buying a physical disc have over streaming and downloads, both from the point of view of collectability and in terms of gift-giving potential. But people are also choosing to buy friends and loved ones e-commerce gift cards so that they can enjoy shopping online to purchase physical or digital media of their choosing.

While e-commerce is not the enemy of physical products, the rise of broadband internet access has made streaming far more convenient and varied than the traditional alternatives of broadcast television and DVDs.