Rebecca Ferguson pre-orders beat X Factor's Matt Cardle, One Direction

Rebecca Ferguson has been named the most successful act from last year's crop of X Factor contestants by Amazon.

The online retailer revealed that pre-orders of Heaven surpassed those of winner Matt Cardle, One Direction and Cher Lloyd.

The album beat pre-orders of Lloyd's Sticks + Stones by 571%, Cardle's Letters by 181% and One Direction's Up All Night by 11%.

Amazon's Head of Music Buying Paul Firth said: "Rebecca Ferguson's strong pre-order performance is a good indicator that she is set to follow in the footsteps of the very successful X Factor runners-up in previous years by achieving stronger sales than the ultimate winner.

"Over the past three years we've seen Rebecca Ferguson ahead of Matt Cardle, Olly Murs ahead of Joe McElderry and JLS ahead of Alexandra Burke in the charts and with Rebecca Ferguson, Olly Murs, One Direction and JLS all with albums in the top 20 we're sure that this weekend's runners-up will be pleased to know that all's not lost if they miss out on the coveted win."

Ferguson's album is currently on course to chart inside the top three in the UK albums chart on Sunday.

The singer recently revealed that she hopes to pursue an acting career in the future.

> Rebecca Ferguson in talks for US album release

Watch the video for Rebecca Ferguson's 'Nothing's Real But Love' below: