Vinyl records are topping ParcelHero's chart as the gift enjoying the fastest growth this year.

9th December 2019

Christmas 2019 winners and losers: Which gift is breaking records and which is out of the picture?

The home delivery specialist ParcelHero has revealed which gift has soared to the top of its charts, and which present is no longer being snapped up - and the results may surprise you.

Some Christmas gifts, from candles to festive jumpers, stay perennially popular; but others suddenly disappear from everyone's wish lists. The international delivery expert ParcelHero delivers almost as many presents as Santa at this time of year, and it's revealed one particular gift has soared in popularity, while another, once highly-popular, present has almost disappeared.

ParcelHero's Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks MILT, reveals: ‘Vinyl records are topping ParcelHero’s chart as the gift enjoying the fastest growth this year. As recently as 2017 our customers shipped only a very small number of LPs over Christmas. So far this Christmas season there’s been a rise of 240% in the amount of vinyls we’ve booked: traditional albums are certainly breaking records.’

Says David: ‘Christmas is always a little nostalgic, and there’s probably an element of that surrounding the fall and rise of vinyl. It looks like classic vinyl albums such as Rumours and Dark Side of the Moon have been a popular gift to people not just in the UK, but also Europe, the US and around the world.’

But David also reveals there is a clear loser this year compared to 2017: ‘The gift that has most declined in popularity is the camera. This year, compared to 2017, there’s been a 45% fall in the number of cameras being sent at Christmas. When it comes to the biggest decline in gifts, it’s not hard to get the picture.’

Adds David: ‘The downfall of the traditional camera, both film and digital, is doubtless due to the increasingly capable lenses we have built into our smart phones. Today only the most focused of snappers feels the need to carry around a dedicated piece of technology just to take pictures.’

Concludes David: ‘ParcelHero’s own figures on the rise and fall of LPs and cameras are seemingly reflected on the High Street. Against the odds, and all the predictions of retail analysts, HMV is still with us and looks to be having a successful Christmas; due in no small part to the increased prominence it has given to vinyl sales this year. Meanwhile even Dragon’s Den investor Peter Jones has his work cut out ensuring the future of the camera chain Jessops, which last week called in the administrators for its property arm.

‘There is, however, one ray of hope for camera fans: 20 years ago, vinyl records looked dead and buried, yet today they are topping our growth charts. Perhaps in years to come people will decide that film cameras offer the same level of non-digital purity that is now drawing people back to vinyls. Who knows, in 40 years’ time, the traditional camera may be ParcelHero customers' fastest growing Christmas mailing.’

Whether you are ordering or mailing vinyls, cameras or any other gift, don’t miss ParcelHero’s live Christmas list of all the major stores’ final order dates, and the last parcel mailing dates for the UK and overseas, at https://www.parcelhero.com/events/christmas-gifts-delivery