Is the Harry Potter Fandom Waning?
Consumer Demand Dwindles YoY for Harry Potter Products
Despite its status as an internationally beloved story, demand for Harry Potter merchandise declined by 25% from 2023 – 2024 and has been steadily declining for the last four years. This, according to new data from ecommerce accelerator, Pattern.
Why it matters: With Harry Potter Day on the horizon and a new HBO series slated for release in 2026, our team was curious to see how the annual holiday and buzz around the upcoming TV show impacted consumer demand for franchise products. Similar to what we found in our Star Wars Day analysis, fans have grown weary of the wizarding world despite its undeniable popularity.
What we’re seeing: Our team analyzed consumer demand data on Amazon for every day of 2019 – 2024 so far to better understand how demand for Harry Potter products is shifting. Not only has consumer interest in Harry Potter merchandise declined year over year, but not even Harry Potter Day (May 2) is immune to the dwindling interest in franchise products. Here’s how demand for merchandise on Harry Potter Day has compared to the annual average over the past four years:
- Demand for Harry Potter products on Harry Potter Day was down 16% in 2020 compared to the annual average
- 2021, -21%
- 2022, -15%
- 2023, -33%
What’s more: Demand overall has been on the decline year over year as well, with a 25% decrease in consumer demand for Harry Potter products from 2023 – 2024. Here’s how demand has decreased year over year since 2019:
- Demand for Harry Potter products decreased by 34% from 2019 – 2020
- 2020 – 2021, -1%
- 2021 – 2022, -12%
- 2022 – 2023, -15%
Yes, but: Even though Harry Potter Day is not a major demand driver for the franchise, there are some product anomalies keeping the fandom afloat year-round:
- Harry Potter Illustrated Books saw an increase in demand of 1,004% from 2022 – 2023
- Harry Potter Squishmallows +542%
- Harry Potter LEGO Set +40%
- Harry Potter Books +6%
The takeaway: While the story of Harry Potter continues to be engrained in popular culture, interest in franchise products has steadily declined over the years. However, as interest in books, LEGO, and plush products continues to soar, it may be in online retailers’ best interest to continue stocking these items to keep fans of the wizarding world satisfied.
Pattern’s data science team analyzed consumer demand (or the number of people searching for a given product during a given period) on Amazon to understand how consumer demand for Harry Potter products has changed. If you’d like to use magical insights like these to propel your ecommerce strategy forward, don’t hesitate to contact our team for more information.