Internet retailers Amazon.co.uk and Play.com have both reported strong Christmas trading, led by home entertainment products, particularly sales of DVDs. Both Play.com and Amazon.co.uk reported that the DVD of “Mamma Mia!” was the top selling product.
Play.com said that sales grew 24% over the Christmas period when compared with last year: at its peak trading time on Monday Dec. 8, it said it processed 1,000 orders per minute up from 700 orders per minute at the same stage in 2007.
Amazon.co.uk said it received orders for more than 1.4 million items on its busiest day in the run-up to Christmas, also Dec. 8, a rate of over 16 items ordered per second (or 960 per minute). At its peak, Amazon.co.uk shipped more than 1 million units in one 24-hour period, which represented about 535 tonnes of goods and meant that on average a delivery truck was leaving an Amazon.co.uk distribution centre once every five minutes and 24 seconds.
“Home entertainment products did very well this Christmas with high sales of the top DVDs and strong demand for the top consoles and video games,” said Brian McBride, managing director of Amazon.co.uk, in a statement. “This, coupled with the proliferation of board games among the top-selling toys, would suggest that people are buying products to enjoy within the home over the coming months, perhaps opting for big nights in rather than big nights out.”
Simon Perree, chief executive at Play.com, said: “Despite concerns this year about the credit crunch and holding back on gift spending, Play.com has had a hugely successful Christmas with strong sales across all product categories.”
