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Harry hits 2.6 million

23.07.07 Graeme Neill

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sold 2.65 million copies in the UK on Saturday. The figure shatters all sales records, and is 40% higher than the first-day sales of the previous instalment of J K Rowling’s series in July 2005.

According to Nielsen BookScan, the Deathly Hallows hardback shifted 2,610,349 copies through its Total Consumer Market (TCM) on 21st July.

BookScan has also collected figures from three retailers outside the TCM panel: book club group BCA, Wilkinsons and Bloomsbury’s own website, taking the official audited total to 2,652,656 copies. This includes 783,151 copies of the adult edition—a much higher proportion than previously—and 7,500 copies of the gift edition.

The release saw fevered launch events across the country. Tens of thousands of fans flocked to the thousands of bookshops that opened at midnight on Friday to be among the first to get their hands on the book.

Nearly 280 Waterstone’s branches held midnight openings, with the flagship Piccadilly event attracting more than 2,000 people. A spokesperson for the retailer said that it had sold 350,000 copies of the book within the first 24 hours. Shortly after midnight Waterstone’s staff across the chain were serving 20 per second.

WH Smith opened more than 400 stores across the UK. It unveiled a new offer late on Friday and is now selling the book for £6.99 if more than £15 is spent instore. A spokeswoman for the retailer said that the offer would be in place for the forseeable future. At one point WHS was selling 15 copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows per second.

Borders would not disclose how many copies it sold across its UK and Ireland stores. However across the entire Borders Group chain it sold 1.2 million copies worldwide within the first 24 hours of trading. This is up from 800,000 first day sales for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

By publication, Amazon had received 2.25 million preorders for the book worldwide, a 50% increase on the previous novel. Tesco said that it sold 440,000 copies of the book in its supermarkets during the first day of trading, an increase of 27% on the previous novel. An additional 10,000 preorders were placed on its website.

Retail Todays Picks Joel Rickett harry potter Bloomsbury children's Graeme Neill

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