Sun, smartphones and lightsabers for Christmas

Sun, smartphones and lightsabers for Christmas

Kiwis will spend their Christmas enjoying the summer sun with a smartphone and a lightsaber at their side, according to Trade Me’s annual list of top Christmas searches.

Trade Me spokesperson Logan Mudge said there are some notable exceptions but by and large, Trade Me members have been searching for Christmas presents they can enjoy outside this summer including trampolines, BBQs and kayaks.

“Many Kiwis look forward to spending their summer outdoors, and what better way to enjoy the warm days than with a bounce on the tramp, a paddle and a sizzling barbie for dinner?

“If the weather turns to custard, their bases are covered with PlayStation, Lego and Star Wars merchandise all proving very popular searches.”

Mr Mudge said the resurgence of searches and sales for Star Wars on Trade Me was completely unsurprising. “With the release of the new Star Wars flick this month, our members are getting suitably excited for such a cinematic occasion. Everything Star Wars is massively popular at the moment – we’re seeing a lift of searches and sales for everything from toys, models, DVDs and costumes.”

Other popular Kiwi Christmas wish list items gaining popularity include Fitbit, adult colouring books, and drones.

“While our top 10 has solid Kiwi favourites these are definitely the ‘it’ gifts of 2015. Last year selfie sticks were top of the pops but it looks like Kiwis are more interested in some quiet colouring and hitting that 10,000 steps per day goal in the new year.”

Apple reigns supreme again
For the fifth year running Apple has dominated Trade Me’s top searches, with iPhones generating hundreds of thousands of searches over the last month.

“Trade Me members have loved Apple products for years, but interestingly the iPhone 6s didn’t crack the top 50 Christmas searches this year. The 5s and 6 models are the frontrunners right now,” said Mr Mudge.

Kids’ toys
Mr Mudge said that like adults, Kiwi kids will be keen on getting outdoors this year with searches for a gifts including ride-on cars and swing sets proving popular.

“You also can’t deny the power of Lego – we’ve seen the little bricks go from strength to strength every year. December Lego sales have increased 175% from 2008 to 2014 and we expect to see another jump this year.

“Cleverly Lego has combined with popular brands like Star Wars to widen their appeal even further. These two will be a force to be reckoned with this Christmas.”

Familiar favourites like trampolines and wooden train sets are in kids’ top 10 Christmas presents this year alongside new challengers like Kinetic Sand, Quadcopters and battery-powered ride-on cars. Frozen merchandise is still popular, but couldn’t quite match its burgeoning levels from last year.

Christmas searches on Trade Me: 1 – 30 November
Below are the most popular Christmas related searches of November this year. There were well over 1.3 million searches for these items alone.

1. iPhones
2. Outdoor furniture
3. Trampolines
4. BBQs
5. Lego
6. PlayStation 4
7. Kayak
8. Spa pool
9. Star Wars
10. Jet boat

New this year: Star Wars, Play Station 4, spa pool, jet boat
Gone from last year: Frozen, dogs and puppies, go-karts, Minecraft toys and clothing,
Bubbling under: Drones/Quadcopters, adult colouring in books, Fitbit

Top kids’ gifts - 2015
1. Lego – ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Friends’
2. Trampolines
3. Battery powered ride on cars
4. Swing sets
5. Disney Frozen costumes and dolls
6. Kinetic sand
7. Quadcopters/mini drones
8. Wooden Train tables
9. Sand and water play tables
10. Pop up tents

Trade Me numbers

Mr Mudge said Trade Me always experiences a jump in activity in the lead-in to Christmas:

Listings

o In the pre-Christmas lead-in last year the high tide mark for listings was on 2 December with just under 530,000 listings were started by Trade Me sellers.
o In 2013 the most listings were on 9 December when over 480,000 items found their way onto the site.
o We expect December 2015 to beat these numbers with many days in November already exceeding these figures.

Selling

o Our busiest day each year always falls in December.
o In 2013 that was December 8 with approximately 49,000 items sold that day.
o Last year was December 14 with just over 50,000 items. We expect to exceed these numbers this year too.

Traffic

There was an average of 803,000 visits per day* to Trade Me over the first two weeks of December last year, up 15 per cent on 2013. This includes activity across the Trade Me desktop site, and official apps and mobile websites (i.e. visits via tablets and smartphones). Tablet and mobile devices combined made up 39 per cent of visits, compared to 21 per cent of 2013. We expect to exceed these figures in 2015.

*Unique browsers. Nielsen Online Trend Report, 1-15 December

ENDS

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