2 Become 1 third chart-topper and their first Christmas number-one single in the UK. It sold 209,000 copies in the first three days of release and 462,000 in the first week, becoming the tenth best-selling single of the year. "2 Become 1" sold 1.14 million copies in total, giving the Spice Girls their second and final million-selling single in the UK.Despite being released during the final two weeks of 1996, "2 Become 1" was the 5th best seller of the year. In Ireland, "2 Become 1" was the group's second number-one single, and their first to debut at the top of the Irish
British Hit Singles & Albums the "Record Retailer" chart was little known until it was adopted by the BBC in 1969 and that by adopting this chart as its standard, the editors had a non-consensual view. An example often given is the case of The Beatles' second single "Please Please Me" which was recognised as a number one hit by every other publicly available chart of the time, but not by "Record Retailer" and therefore not by "British Hit Singles". Other records to which this applies include "19th Nervous Breakdown" by The Rolling Stones, "Stranger on the Shore" by Acker Bilk and the Eurovision Song