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Jannie Cahill
Marketing Director, Hitwise
020 7378 3619 Tel
jannie.cahill@hitwise.com Email
RETRO TOYS DOMINATE AS SEARCHES FOR TOYS DOUBLE IN THE RUN UP TO CHRISTMAS
London, UK, 17 December – Hitwise, the leading online competitive intelligence service and an Experian company, today reveals that searches for toys doubled during November as the gift buying season began in earnest. Guess Who Extra, an updated electronic version of the classic 1980’s game, was the most searched-for game during November, accounting for one in every 40 toy searches.
Lego, popular since the 1940’s, was the most searched-for toy brand. Four of the ten most searched-for toys during November were produced by Lego, which were helped by the toy company’s big film tie-ups with Star Wars and Batman. Continuing the retro theme, Meccano, a model construction kit most of our grandparents would remember, was the fastest growing toy brand in November, with the Meccano Spykee WiFi Robot its fastest growing product.
“Established toy brands, many of which have been around for decades, dominate the list of most searched-for toys this Christmas,” comments Robin Goad, Director of Research for Hitwise in the UK. “However, these brands have not remained popular by standing still. The most successful ones have re-invented their well-loved toys by integrating new technology. Great examples of this include Lego, now a major video games publisher; Meccano, which has integrated the latest WiFi Internet technology into its products; and Fisher Price, with its Kid Tough digital camera for children.”
|
Rank |
Toy |
Share of UK Toy searches sending traffic to the Hitwise Hot Consumer Electronics Custom Category |
|
1 |
Guess Who Extra |
2.4% |
|
2 |
Lego Star Wars |
1.9% |
|
3 |
Lego Batman |
1.3% |
|
4 |
Thomas the Tank Engine |
1.2% |
|
5 |
Go Go Crazy Bones |
1.1% |
|
6 |
Lego 7744 City Police Headquarters |
1.1% |
|
7 |
Fisher Price Kid Tough Digital Camera |
1.1% |
|
8 |
Ben 10 Monster In Line Scooter |
1.0% |
|
9 |
Lego Advent Calendar |
1.0% |
|
10 |
Rubik's Cube |
0.8% |
Nintendo stays in front in the console wars
Nintendo’s Wii Console, which accounted for more than one in three games console searches, overtook Nintendo’s Wii Fit to become the UK’s most searched-for product in November. The company’s DS Lite was also the fastest growing console online, with six times more searches in November than October. The popular handheld is now the second most searched-for console in the UK, accounting for more than one in every four games consoles searches.
Robin Goad adds: “Following its success last Christmas, Nintendo has again won the battle of the consoles this Christmas on all fronts. The Wii and DS Lite were the two most searched-for games consoles in the UK during November, together accounting for almost two thirds of all console searches. There were over twice as many searches for the Wii as for Microsoft’s Xbox 360, and almost three times as many as for Sony’s Playstation 3.”
In addition, Nintendo’s Wii Fit was the most searched-for video game in November. Searches for games console accessories also increased by 114% between October and November, as searches for Nintendo Wii Controllers increased threefold over this period. This increase in interest was also driven by the Nintendo Wii balance board, which accounted for one in six console accessory searches. Combined, Nintendo Wii Accessories made up 52% of all game console accessory searches in November.
|
Rank |
Games Consoles |
Share of Games Consoles searches sending traffic to the Hitwise Hot Consumer Electronics Custom Category |
|
1 |
Nintendo Wii |
36.7% |
|
2 |
Nintendo DS Lite |
26.4% |
|
3 |
Microsoft Xbox 360 |
15.6% |
|
4 |
Sony Playstation 3 |
12.9% |
|
5 |
Sony PSP |
3.0% |
|
6 |
Sony PSP 3000 |
1.4% |
|
7 |
Sony Playstation 2 |
1.1% |
|
8 |
Microsoft Xbox |
0.7% |
|
9 |
Nintendo DSi |
0.5% |
|
10 |
Sony Playstation |
0.5% |
|
Rank |
Product |
Share of searches sending traffic to the Hitwise Hot Consumer Electronics Custom Category |
|
1 |
Mobile Phones |
23.3% |
|
2 |
Video Games |
14.3% |
|
3 |
Games Consoles |
9.3% |
|
4 |
Computers |
8.5% |
|
5 |
Televisions |
6.7% |
|
6 |
Toys/Hobbies |
6.3% |
|
7 |
Mp3 Players |
5.3% |
|
8 |
Cameras |
4.5% |
|
9 |
Sat Navs |
3.1% |
|
10 |
Set Top Boxes |
1.3% |
Apple iPhone pulls away from its closest competitors
While mobile phones continue to be the most searched-for product in the UK, they have seen a 23% decrease in searches since October as consumers turn their attention to Christmas gifts such as toys, video games and games consoles. Despite this switch in behaviour, the gap between the most searched-for phone, the Apple iPhone, and its nearest rival grew considerably in November. “Apple has been marketing the iPhone as a gift in the run up to Christmas, and consumers appear to have bought into this messaging much more than for other mobile phones” Robin Goad comments.
The Blackberry Storm, LG Cookie, Samsung Pixon, and LG Renoir, all new entries into the top 10 most searched-for mobile phones, were unable to chip away at the Apple iPhone’s lead. Sony Ericsson moved above Nokia to become the most searched-for mobile phone brand in November, helped by the Sony Ericsson C905 leapfrogging the Nokia N96.
About Hitwise:
Hitwise is the leading online competitive intelligence service. Only Hitwise provides its 1,500 clients around the world with daily insights on how their customers interact with a broad range of competitive websites, and how their competitors use different tactics to attract online customers.
Since 1997, Hitwise has pioneered a unique, network-based approach to Internet measurement. Through relationships with ISPs around the world, Hitwise's patented methodology anonymously captures the online usage, search and conversion behaviour of 25 million Internet users. This unprecedented volume of Internet usage data is seamlessly integrated into an easy to use, web-based service, designed to help marketers better plan, implement and report on a range of online marketing programs.
Hitwise, a subsidiary of Experian (FTS: EXPN) www.experiangroup.com operates in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore. More information about Hitwise is available at www.hitwise.com.
For up-to-date-analysis of online trends, please visit the Hitwise Intelligence-Analyst Weblogs at http://weblogs.hitwise.com and the Hitwise Data Center at www.hitwise.com/datacenter.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Jannie Cahill
+44 20 7378 3600