Cost-Conscious Grocery and Home Improvement Shoppers Drive ShopLocal Index up 30% in April as Retailers Pump up Promotions CHICAGO, May 15
CHICAGO, May 15 /PRNewswire/ -- ShopLocal, the leader in multi-channel
shopping and marketing services, today announced that the ShopLocal Retail
Index (http://www.aboutshoplocal.com/research_shoplocal_index.html) was up 30
percent for the month of April compared with the same period last year. The
Index registered 188 for the month* (benchmarked at 100 for January 2006), and
is based on 265 million page views from 21 million consumer visits to retailer
sites.
According to a recent ShopLocal survey, shoppers are becoming increasingly
discriminating about what they buy. The number of shoppers purchasing an
additional item with the specific product they searched for is down nine
percent from last year. Shoppers who do visit online weekly circulars,
however, remain motivated buyers. Eighty-three percent of those who visit
online retailer circulars purchase within three weeks, according to the
survey. Of these purchases, eighty-six percent occur in-store and fourteen
percent online.
"In aggregate, shoppers visit ShopLocal's network of retailer sites in
excess of 20 million times each month so we have good insight into shopper
behavior," said Vikram Sharma, CEO of ShopLocal. "It's clear that saving money
on 'everyday needs' such as groceries is top of mind with today's shoppers.
However, they continue to be receptive to good deals in more 'nice to have'
categories such as consumer electronics."
April 2008 ShopLocal Index highlights include:
o The ShopLocal Index is up 30 percent in April year-over-year, with 265
million page views, versus 204 million last year.
o Consumer page views per visit on a per retailer basis averaged 12.8 for
the month of April (adjusted)*, at a non-holiday high for the second
straight month, representing strong growth of 10 percent from last year.
This further highlights the increased level of diligence on the part of
shoppers looking for deals.
o The food and drug category increased by 44 percent as shoppers looked
for deals in the wake of rising food and gas prices.
o Though the department store and mass merchant category in the ShopLocal
Index posted a 29 percent increase in April 2008, this was significantly
lower than last month's 80 percent growth.
o Consumer electronics and office supplies grew 22 percent in April versus
last year, but this was much lower than last month's 42 percent growth.
o The home and garden category finally rebounded with a 41 percent growth,
after a long and harsh winter in many parts of the country.
The ShopLocal Index is the advertising industry's first market indicator
designed to track the influence of the Internet on in-store shopping. Updated
monthly, the Index is based on the online activity of an average of 20 million
monthly consumer visits to store promotions that are presented on the sites of
50 major U.S. retailers, including such notable retailers as JCPenney, Best
Buy, Walgreens and Home Depot. These retailers cover all major retail segments
including computers, consumer electronics, office supplies, home improvement,
department stores, mass merchants, grocery, drug and various specialty stores.
Their online circular sites are powered by ShopLocal's SmartCircular
technology.
* Note: April is adjusted for one less Sunday in 2008 and an early Easter.
About ShopLocal
ShopLocal, the leader in multi-channel shopping and advertising services,
offers a complete suite of innovative solutions that connect advertisers and
consumers -- online and in-store. ShopLocal's industry-leading SmartProduct
business solutions (SmartCircular, SmartMedia, SmartDelivery and SmartCatalog)
enable more than one hundred of the nation's top retailers, including Target,
Best Buy, Home Depot, CVS, Albertsons and Sears, to deliver highly
interactive, targeted and localized promotions to shoppers via the Internet,
mobile phones and any other digital environment.
The Company's consumer shopping site http://www.ShopLocal.com is the Web's
leading multi-channel comparison shopping site, providing consumers with
choice and control in their shopping experience by presenting millions of
timely online and in-store offers on one easy to use site. ShopLocal.com
powers multi-channel shopping for hundreds of major newspapers, online yellow
pages and shopping sites, including Los Angeles Times, Arizona Republic, Miami
Herald, Superpages.com, Switchboard and Local.com. ShopLocal is owned by
Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), Tribune Company and The McClatchy Company
(NYSE: MNI). For more information, visit http://www.aboutshoplocal.com.
ShopLocal, ShopLocal.com, SmartCircular, SmartCatalog, SmartMedia and
SmartDelivery are trademarks of ShopLocal. Other company and product names may
be trademarks of their respective owners.
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Vikram Sharma
https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=55894
SOURCE ShopLocal
