Online Retail Sales Spike on Thanksgiving and Black Friday 2011; Mercent eCommerce Performance Index Shows 23% Growth Over 2010

SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwire - Nov 26, 2011) - Mercent™, a leading technology company that enables retailers to profitably reach and convert more shoppers online, today released its Mercent Retail eCommerce Performance Index™ (MEPI) for Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday 2011. The MEPI is a quarterly report that measures year-over-year growth of same-seller gross merchandise value (GMV) for national brand name retailers selling across leading eCommerce sales channels. Mercent supplements its quarterly distribution of the MEPI with annual holiday MEPI reports measuring key shopping days during the holiday selling season.

• For the 24 hours of Thursday, November 24, 2011 (Thanksgiving), same-seller GMV for retailers selling through Mercent Retail™ increased 18% relative to the same 24-hour period in 2010. In this same period, same-seller GMV for Mercent retail clients participating in Amazon's "Selling on Amazon" third-party marketplace program grew 28% relative to Thanksgiving Day 2010; and 34% relative to the five calendars days leading up to Thanksgiving Day 2011.
• For the 24 hours of Friday, November 25, 2011 (Black Friday), same-seller online retail GMV for merchants selling through Mercent Retail™ increased by 23% relative to the same period in 2010. Mercent estimates during this same period, same-seller GMV for clients participating in Amazon's "Selling on Amazon" third-party marketplace program increased by 27% versus Black Friday 2010.

"Over the Thanksgiving weekend in 2010, consumers spent more online as a percentage of total retail sales than ever before. Based on Mercent's eCommerce Performance Index results for 48 hours of Thanksgiving and Black Friday 2011, this year's holiday selling season is showing equal promise. Same-seller GMV for Mercent retail clients grew 18% on Thanksgiving Day and 23% on Black Friday over the same periods in 2010," commented Mercent CEO Eric Best. "Consumers remain price and value-focused, but appear to be opening their wallets as much this year as they did in 2010. As the holiday selling season continues, it will be important for retailers to sustain sales momentum through aggressive online marketing promotions."

Mercent eCommerce Performance Index™ Methodology:
The methodology for the Mercent eCommerce Performance Index comparison matches all prior studies and reports retail transactions driven through Mercent's network of online shopping and advertising channels, including comparison shopping engines (CSEs), third-party seller marketplaces, and affiliate programs. To ensure continuity and to eliminate artifact associated with new customer ramp, the Mercent eCommerce Performance Index only references retailers live on the Mercent Retail platform prior to and during the entire reported term. Information regarding Mercent Retail shopping feed management technology, Mercent Performance marketing services, and the complete list of online marketing channels in the Mercent Shopping Network are available at www.mercent.com.

About Mercent:
Mercent ensures the world's leading retailers are visible, competitive and profitable where consumers shop online. Through its award-winning Mercent Retail™ SAAS technology and Mercent Performance™ professional services, Mercent helps the world's most successful online merchants including 1-800-Flowers, Bass Pro Shops, GUESS?, L'Occitane USA, HSN and others, maximize their online marketing performance to drive inventory velocity, customer acquisition, revenues and profits. Supported online shopping destinations include Amazon.com, Google, eBay, Bing, comparison shopping engines (CSEs), affiliate networks, social shopping sites, and paid search and display advertising campaigns. The company was founded by Amazon.com veterans, is venture-funded, and is based in Seattle, WA. For more information, visit www.mercent.com.

Facebook
Twitter
Blog