SELL-THROUGH

noun Also written sell through or sellthrough (Business World) (Lifestyle and Leisure) In marketing jargon, retail sale; especially, retail sale of pre-recorded videos (as opposed to rental through video clubs etc.). Also, the market in sell-through video or (as a countable noun) a video marketed for retail sale. Etymology: Formed by turning the verbal phrase sell through into a compound noun: the principle of selling right through to the end user, rather than to a rental outlet. History and Usage: Sell-through was already in use in marketing in the more abstract sense of the level of retail sale (turnover) in the late seventies. The more specific sense in the video market developed as a direct result of the video boom of the first half of the eighties, followed by a slackening of interest in the second half: video manufacturers were forced to put greater effort into marketing their product through retail outlets once interest in video rental started to fall off. From about 1985 onwards, sell-through was frequently used attributively in relation to video, in sell-through market, sell-through video, etc. By about 1987 sell-through video was being further abbreviated to sell-through alone, resulting eventually in the use of sell-through as a countable noun. Gregory is convinced that many less obvious outlets could be stocking sell through video profitably. 'Hi-fi shops which sell hardware should have a lot of potential for stocking sell through', he says. Music Week 20 June 1987, p. 36 Slackening sales of pre-recorded video cassettes for rental purposes have forced many small video publishing companies to sharpen their focus on 'sell-throughs'. Sun (Brisbane) 11 May 1988, p. 39 Some of the best are currently available on sell-through video...Doubtless others will appear on sell-through before long. Empire Sept. 1989, p. 93