Amazon.co.uk Christmas bestsellers list dominated by Hollywood Blockbusters as UK Christmas sales exceed previous records

December 26, 2007, London: Big movie sequels dominate Amazon.co.uk’s Christmas 2007 bestseller list with ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ the biggest selling of six DVDs that feature in the top ten from another record breaking festive period for the UK online retailer.

Amazon.co.uk received orders for over 950,000 items on its busiest day in the run up to Christmas this year – at a rate of 11 orders per second – exceeding all previous sales records. At its busiest, Amazon.co.uk shipped over 700,000 units in one 24 hour period, which represents 375 tonnes of goods. That means that on average, a delivery truck was leaving an Amazon.co.uk distribution centre once every seven minutes.

Amazon.co.uk received the highest amount of orders this year on Monday 10th December, a whole week later than the previous year’s biggest day.

‘I think a later peak order day illustrates the increased confidence that consumers have in Amazon.co.uk,’ said Amazon.co.uk Managing Director Brian McBride. ‘Customers are now happy to order much closer to Christmas as they trust the fact that we will deliver on time. Indeed, we saw a huge take up of our premium ‘Express Delivery’ and ‘Evening Delivery‘ services once the last order dates for our regular delivery options had passed.’

THE UK CHRISTMAS BESTSELLERS

Amazon.co.uk’s Christmas bestsellers list is dominated by big Hollywood sequels with Bourne, Shrek and Pirates of the Caribbean all on a third outing and Harry Potter now on his fifth. The Apple iPod Nano breaks up the DVD domination and there is a high placing for the debut album of 2006 X Factor winner Leona Lewis.

The Top Ten Christmas Bestsellers in full were:

1. The Bourne Ultimatum DVD 2. The Simpsons Movie DVD 3. Shrek the Third DVD 4. Apple iPod Nano Consumer Electronics 5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix DVD 6. High School Musical 2 – Extended Edition DVD 7. Spirit – Leona Lewis Music 8. Pirates of the Caribbean 3 – At World’s End DVD 9. Nigella Express – Nigella Lawson Books 10. Now 68 - Various Artists Music

Brian McBride stated: ‘It has been the Christmas of the Hollywood Blockbuster in the UK. There have been some huge releases in the movie world in 2007 and that is represented by their domination of the top ten bestsellers list. Leona Lewis has very much lived up to the hype with some really strong sales in the music charts, by far eclipsing the success of The Spice Girls and Kylie Minogue this Christmas.’

THE UK’S TOP SELLING CHRISTMAS TOYS

This year’s top ten Christmas toys bestseller list features a mixture of new technology and tried and tested favourites. The new trend for Christmas 2007 was flying toys with the ‘Picoo Z Helicopter’ and ‘Flytech Dragonfly’ both flying high in the bestsellers list whilst seasoned veterans of Christmas time including the ‘Original Rubik’s Cube’ and ‘Twister’ made their festive foray to the top of the charts.

1. 20Q Version 2 2. Silverlit Radio Control Picoo Z Helicopter 3. Top Trumps – High School Musical 4. Bop It Extreme 2 5. Original Rubik’s Cube 6. Twister 7. Articulate 8. Dr Who Sonic Screwdriver LED Torch 9. Transformers – Beatmix Bumblebee 10. FlyTech Dragonfly

THE SURPRISE BESTSELLER

This year’s surprise Christmas bestseller was ‘Do Ants Have Arseholes? And 101 Other Bloody Ridiculous Questions’ by Jon Butler and Bruno Vincent. The spoof book which no-one had heard of in September ended up being the 12th bestseller of the Christmas period on Amazon.co.uk, only a handful of sales behind ‘Nigella Express’ as the best selling Christmas book.

THE EX-PAT FACTOR: WHAT ARE PEOPLE BUYING ON AMAZON.CO.UK FROM ABROAD

‘We have seen a high number of traditionally British products being ordered from customers in the US,’ said Brian McBride. ‘The most exported CDs have included ‘Spirit of the Glen’ by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and ‘Outside In’ by Russell Watson. Meanwhile, ‘All the Greatest Hits’ by McFly and ‘Spaced – The Definitive Collector’s Edition’ have been the highly demanded DVDs.’

‘Australian Amazon.co.uk customers have been ordering the ‘Sex in the City: Series 1-6 Box Set’ and most interestingly ‘Shameless Series 1-4’, whilst the best selling product being shipped to Czechoslovakia in the run up to Christmas was the 2007 Kelly Brook Calendar.’

For further information please contact the Amazon.co.uk press office on 020 8636 9280.

About Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.co.uk opened its virtual doors in October 1998, and strives to be the world's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online. Amazon.co.uk and sellers list millions of new and used items in categories such as Books, Music, Video, DVD, Software, PC & Video Games, Electronics & Photo, Home & Garden, and Toys & Games!. Through Amazon Marketplace, zShops and Auctions any business or individual can sell virtually anything to Amazon.co.uk's millions of customers. Amazon.co.uk customers enjoy the benefits of industry-leading online-shopping technology, such as secure credit-card payment, personalised recommendations, streamlined, 1-Click® ordering and hassle-free Bid-Click® auction bidding. Through Amazon Anywhere, Amazon.co.uk is also available on mobile phones with WAP technology--see www.amazon.co.uk/anywhere for details.

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