eBay.co.uk saw Scrabble sales soar this week following Kate and Wills’ admission that the traditional game is their favourite way to unwind together, with sales up 65%* since it was revealed last weekend.
Encouraged by the royals, it seems traditional Brits are increasingly relying on old school competitive fun when it comes to unwinding after a hard day’s work. More people have been searching eBay.co.uk for board games as the cold weather continues to take its toll this month, with sales of Scrabble (up by 154%*) and Monopoly (up by 120%*) rising on the site over the last six months to take their place as the nation’s board games of choice.
It seems that it’s not only the Royals who are inspiring the nation’s board game choices this year. Since the last film in the Twilight series was released on DVD earlier this month, sales of Twilight games have rising by 400%* on eBay.co.uk. However it appears Harry Potter still remains our favourite fictional character if game sales are anything to go by, with the wizard board game sales soaring ahead of Lord of the Rings by 80%* last month.
eBay spokesman Steven Heywood commented: ‘Board games have always been a hit amongst British families, and it seems the Royal family is no exception. Now more than ever the nation is opting for traditional ways to have fun and unwind, and Scrabble is top of the list of the nations game of choice, with sales of the game 17%* higher than Monopoly, which takes second place.’
ENDS
Notes to editors
- *eBay internal data
- Scrabble sales compared to Saturday 16th March
- Scrabble and Monopoly sales compared to September 2012
- Twilight sales compared to 11th March 2013
- Harry Potter and Lord of the Ring sales in February 2013
eBay in the UK
- Founded in 1999, eBay.co.uk is the UK’s largest online marketplace, providing a platform for over 17 million unique visitors per month[1] to buy and sell new, unique and used items.
- There are around 60 million live listings on the UK site, which has tripled from 20 million in 2009.[2]
- One in two online buyers in the UK visits eBay.co.uk every month.[3]
- eBay.co.uk receives around as many visitors per month as London’s Oxford Street.[4]
- Nearly twice as many people visit eBay.co.uk every month than visit the UK’s four leading shopping centres in the same period.[5]
- eBay is consistently one of the most visited UK retail sites, with around a 15% share of total UK online shopping visits.[6]
- 190,000 registered businesses are currently trading on the site – up from 120,000 in 2009.
eBay mobile
- eBay mobile applications are available in more than 190 countries and eight languages.
- Globally, eBay is predicting $10 billion of transactions taking place via a mobile device in 2012.
- eBay mobile apps have been downloaded over 90 million times globally.
- In the UK an item is purchased every second on eBay via a mobile device.
- The most expensive items recently bought on eBay mobile in the UK were a Porsche 911 Carrera and Land Rover Evoque both being purchased for around £40,000.
eBay for Charity
- The eBay for Charity programme has raised over £41 million for over 7,000 Charities since 2006
[1] Nielsen Netview March 2012
[2] eBay internal data (Daily Live Listing Count)
[3] Six out ten adults shop online (OECD report, The Future of the Internet Economy, 2012)
[4] London Oxford Street has on average 18.49 million visitors a month (Westminster City Council).
[5] Bluewater, 2.3 million average visitors a month; Lakeside, 2 million average visitors a month; Westfield Stratford, 3.87 million average visitors a month; Westfield London, 2.25 million average visitors a month. (Data from their own websites).
[6] Experian Hitwise August 11, 2012