Mercent Marks eCommerce Recovery; Q309 Mercent eCommerce Index Shows 11.4% YOY Increase in Aggregate Online Retail Sales

SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwire - October 22, 2009) - Mercent™, a leading provider of on-demand marketing solutions for retailers, today released results for the Mercent eCommerce Index™ -- a quarterly report that measures year-over-year (YOY) aggregate same-seller gross merchandise value (GMV) across online sales channels supported by the Mercent Retail™ channel management platform.

According to the Q309 Mercent eCommerce Index™, same-seller GMV for retailers selling online through Mercent Retail™ grew by 11.4% relative to the same period in 2008, representing an almost 100% increase from 5.9% growth reported in the Q209 Mercent eCommerce Index. Same-seller GMV for merchants participating in Amazon's "Selling on Amazon" program through Mercent Retail™ increased in the third quarter by approximately 70% compared to 42% YOY growth in Q209.

According to Eric Best, CEO of Mercent, "The 11.4% year-over-year sales growth in Q3 represents the first increasing growth quarter Mercent retail clients have seen in the last four quarters. Although some broad softness remains in the market, our historical Index data and trending indicate the 5.9% second quarter growth marked the bottom of the eCommerce downturn and beginning of a measured recovery."

Mercent attributes merchant GMV sales growth across all online channels supported by Mercent to the macroeconomic recovery in consumer spending; increased appeal of online channels that provide aggressive and competitive buying options to value-conscious shoppers; and the efficiencies of major online shopping destinations (such as Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and others) that are driving down industry selling and fulfillment costs.

In addition, retailers have become increasingly savvy in their online sales and advertising strategies, leveraging technologies like Mercent Retail™ to seamlessly integrate product data feeds with online sales channels and fully optimize online advertising campaigns and promotions to drive incremental sales. In addition to hosted software, Mercent offers merchants professional consulting and services to ensure its clients are operating with the most up-to-date and relevant industry, technical and marketing insight and analysis.

Best continued, "Our report of same-seller GMV growth on Amazon is also affirming news for merchants selling through Mercent. One specific customer grew its business by 400% -- or five times their prior year's sales in the quarter; and our entire client base selling on Amazon through Mercent Retail™ experienced sales growth that continues to significantly outpace eCommerce analyst expectations and reported industry results."

Since Mercent announced the Q209 Mercent eCommerce Index in August, the company has doubled its Tier 1 customer count, adding a host of new brand name retailers that include Fossil®, Orvis, BlueFly, National Business Furniture, and others; furthering the company's leadership position in the online channel management segment. More than 70% of Mercent's new customers in 2009 rank within the Top 250 of the Internet Retail Top 500 list.

Mercent eCommerce Index™ Methodology:

The methodology for the Mercent eCommerce 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 artifacts associated with new customer ramp, the Mercent eCommerce 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 is a leading provider of online channel marketing technology and services for retailers. 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, Brookstone, GUESS?, L'Occitane USA, Redcats Group, and REI optimize online shopping channel marketing campaigns to drive customer acquisition, revenues, profits, and inventory velocity. Mercent is the single point of integration with a vast online advertising network that includes transactional marketplaces such as Amazon.com and eBay; comparison shopping engines (CSEs) such as Shopping.com and NextTag; affiliate marketing programs such as LinkShare and the Google Affiliate Network; and other product advertising channels including Microsoft Bing Cashback and Google Product Ads. The company is a 'Selling on Amazon.com' Certified System Integrator, Buy.com Gold Certified Partner, eBay Certified Provider, certified Google Product Search Partner and Yahoo! Search Submit Pro certified feed provider. Founded by a seasoned team of Amazon.com veterans, Mercent is a venture-funded company based in Seattle, WA. For more information, visit www.mercent.com.

Contact Information: Mercent PR Contact: Kristine Szarkowitz (Tel): 206.310.5323