Harry Potter is grabbing the top spot on Brits’ Christmas lists according to research by Hawkins Bazaar. Harry is ahead of Fortnite, which comes in third. Drones, Retro Consoles, and Stocking Fillers complete the top 5.
Hawkin’s Bazaar analysed search queries on their website, Hawkin.com, to find the product categories Brits are searching for the most this Christmas. Rank Product category:
1 Harry Potter
2 Drones
3 Fortnite
4 Retro consoles
5 Stocking fillers
Analysing UK-wide Google Search trends, Hawkin’s Bazaar also found the UK’s most festive cities – according to the proportion of total Google searches that were specifically about Christmas and Christmas shopping.
Swindon came out on top as the UK’s most Christmassy city, closely followed by Hull, Derby, Liverpool and Cardiff. Plymouth, Portsmouth, Belfast, Newcastle, Sheffield.
CEO of Hawkin’s Bazaar David Mordecai talked about the results with GGR. We first wanted to know how important licenced products are to the toy trade? “Very important! Brands like Harry Potter are always great sellers in gifts and toys as millions of parents and kids love them. However, the brands require good and exciting toys to attach to like the Heliball mini drone, which is popular on its own, but as a HP branded Golden Snitch Heliball has flown off the shelves”.
What’s the difference from last year? “The Harry Potter brand is even bigger than last year thanks to the popularity of the Fantastic Beasts movies. We’ve also seen a huge rise of interest in Fortnite branded products thanks to the videogame phenomenon, so it’s very exciting times to see which brand will make it big next”.
Any toy craze predictions? “Pocket money toys and mixed animals continue to be loved by all. We’ve got a great range of lovely Llamacorn (a mix of llama and unicorn) toys coming out as we predict llamas will be big in 2019. Tactile toys such as squishies will continue to be big in 2019 too.
How has Toys R Us affected the sector? “Toys R Us struggled because it didn’t adapt to the changing ways that Brits like to shop. Toy shops must be fun, almost magical, places to visit so you can see and play with the toys yourself – something online-only stores can’t offer”.
