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Harry sales hit hallowed heights

26.07.07 Graeme Neill

Retailers have hailed first-day sales of 2,640,146 for Harry Potter as the most successful launch in the history of bookselling. HP6 sold 1.87 million copies in its first 24 hours.

This year, Asda sold more than a quarter of a million copies within the first eight hours at just £5 each. Its initial 500,000 allocation sold out by 5 p.m. on Saturday. Bookbuyer Steph Bateson said: "Our sales show how much customers wanted our offer, and it was a great deal for shoppers." The £5 price point will be continued for the foreseeable future and a limited reorder is currently in stock in store.

Waterstone's children's category manager Wayne Winstone said more than 250,000 people visited more than 270 Waterstone's branches for Friday's midnight opening. It sold 350,000 copies of the book for £8.99 within the first 24 hours. "Pre-orders were building at an extraordinary rate in the weeks coming up to the launch," he said. "It will be bigger than anything we have ever encountered."

Some stores have sold out of their allocations but regional hubs are operating to take stock from those branches with excess copies to the stores that needed, he said. "We are happy with what we ordered."

Amazon.co.uk sent more than 500,000 copies of the book out over the weekend. "This is the best-selling product Amazon.co.uk has ever sold," said Chris North, vice-president for books. "It is pretty hard to see anything in the near future that will challenge that record." Amazon set up a special secure warehouse for the distribution of the book. "Logistically it was a challenge because it was the largest operation we have ever mounted," said North.

Tesco sold 440,000 copies within the first day. "We are absolutely delighted with how it went," said category manager David Cooke. "The figures reflected what we had forecast for sales and we are very pleased." Around 500 stores sold the book from 12 a.m.; it sold 27% more copies than the previous novel.

Borders announced worldwide sales of 1.2m, up from 800,000 for the last Potter novel, with its UK and Ireland branches selling 41% more copies than previously. "We are extraordinarily pleased with how sales went," said children's buyer Becky Stradwick. "It's been the biggest Harry we have ever seen."

Mick Moore, trading controller of children's books at W H Smith, said he was "delighted" with the sales of the book, which saw it changing hands at a rate of 15 books per second shortly after midnight on Friday. "It's too early to say but it's my expectation that this will be the biggest Harry Potter book ever," he said.

Despite concerns over aggressive pricing from the chains and supermarkets, independent booksellers across the country held a huge range of events and enjoyed strong sales of the title. Newham Bookshop in London had fire-eaters and stilt walkers as part of its midnight opening. "It was a fantastic event," said co-owner Vivian Archer. "We were delighted more than 200 people came to support an independent." Alex Milne-White, owner of the Hungerford Bookshop in Berkshire, sold 74 -copies of the book at £17.99. "We have had so much support from people who are pleased they have a bookshop of their own and want to support us," he said. "Most of them didn't even bat an eyelid when they saw we weren't selling it at a discount."

Chris Conway, m.d. of independent bookshops portal localbookshops.co.uk, said the price wars actually benefited the independent sector. "There was definitely a bit of a bounce," he said. "The independents who opened and threw events did very well." While some stores discounted the book, many opted to sell it at full price and experienced no drop off in sales, he said. "A lot of people seemed to accept that the price was partly paying for the events they attended and were prepared to pay more for it than they could have with other retailers."

Retail harry potter Bloomsbury children's Graeme Neill

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