Play.com enjoys "best Christmas ever"

The PlayStation 3 was one of the big winners in the last quarter of 2007 for Play.com as the company reported a 24 per cent jump in sales over the previous year.

Sony's flagship console was the best-selling item in the videogames category, followed by Assassin's Creed and Mario & Sonic at the Olympics - although it's not clear if this was measured by sales volume or total sales value.

The most searched for product on the site was the Nintendo Wii, followed by the terms "games console" and "Transformers" - the DVD of the latter was the site's top-selling item in December.

The company also revealed that on its peak trading day, Monday December 3, it processed an average of 700 orders every minute - up from 422 the previous year.

Jersey-based Play.com sells a variety of goods online, and CEO Simon Perree stated that this blend was one of the company's major assets.

"Despite the worry about tightening of the purse strings and the credit crunch, Christmas on Play.com has been a big success and sales have been outstanding," he said.

"A combination of good prices and availability of must have product across DVD, CDs, books and videogames, gadgets and electronics has proved a winning formula."