According to Video Business, sideways buying of DVDs by independent retailers is suspected of being the reason why studios are reporting brisk DVD sales this year while consumer research indicates that consumer sales are down.  With mass merchants heavily discounting newly released DVDs, many independent retailers, including video rental stores, are supplementing their normal sources of DVD supply by buying 'sideways' from other retailers, distorting sales reporting on DVDs. 

 

As pop culture stores have long observed, on products that mass merchants discount heavily, the retail price available from such a store is often lower than the price available from a distributor, not just on DVDs, but on toys and occasionally other merchandise categories as well.