Cyber Monday 2013 Retail Growth Strong According to Mercent eCommerce Performance Index; Black Friday and Cyber Monday Cede Volume to Earlier and Longer Promotions

SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwired - Dec 3, 2013) - Mercent™, a retail technology company that enables major retailers to advertise and sell to consumers shopping online, today released its Mercent eCommerce Performance Index™ (MEPI) for the 2013 "Cyber Five" holiday shopping weekend including Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Mercent's eCommerce Performance Index™ is a quarterly report that measures retail sales growth for over 550 retailers selling across leading eCommerce sales channels that include Amazon, Google, eBay and 200 other online shopping destinations. During the critical holiday retail selling season, Mercent supplements its quarterly ecommerce benchmarks with daily holiday reports.

For the 2013 retail holiday selling season covering the five days of Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, Mercent reports the following results:

*First half (12 hours) of Cyber Monday reported.

For the 2013 retail holiday selling season covering the five days from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday*, Mercent reports the following results:

• Retail eCommerce sales from Mercent supported channels grew 33% YOY on a same seller basis on Cyber Monday, with Google contributing 54% YOY same seller growth and Amazon achieving 23% YOY same seller growth.
  
  
• For the 24 hours of Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 28^th same-seller gross merchandise value (GMV) increased 40% relative to the same 24-hour period in 2012. For the 24 hours of Black Friday, November 29^th, same-seller GMV sales lagged slightly behind Thanksgiving Day results but still increased over Black Friday 2012 by 35%, achieving a new Mercent daily record gross merchandise value (GMV) on Black Friday.
  
  
• Amazon.com was a key contributor to same seller growth for Mercent clients with 29% year-over-year growth on Thanksgiving Day and 25% year-over-year growth on Black Friday.
  
  
• Google Shopping outpaced Amazon same-seller sales during this period and is increasingly showing itself as a highly competitive channel for Mercent retail clients. According to Mercent's eCommerce Performance Index, Google Shopping grew approximately 70% and 47% on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday respectively. 

"Google continues to invest in the retail sector offering more engaging shopping tools that enable consumers to efficiently research and shop through Google. Retail sales figures show these investments are positioning Google as a formidable competitor to other leading channels including Amazon.com," commented Eric Best, Chairman and CEO of Mercent. "We've seen modest sales shift away from what has traditionally been retail's blockbuster holiday sales day, Black Friday, now spread across both weeks leading up to Thanksgiving and following Cyber Monday. 

According to Mercent, eCommerce growth continues to outpace brick and mortar retail and savvy shoppers continue to leverage full tablet and smartphone capabilities to ensure they are getting the very best deals while shopping both on and offline.

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 provides leading technology and services that enable retailer success on Google Shopping/PLA, multiple marketplaces including Amazon, and various other CSEs and channels. Its technology platform, Mercent Retail, allows retailers to leverage a single data integration to improve data quality and performance on over 200 channel destinations. Mercent Retail™ technology Mercent is used by large brand name retailers, including 1-800-Flowers, the Home Shopping Network, GUESS?, and others to reach and convert online shoppers. Supported purchasing destinations include Amazon.com, Google, eBay, Bing, product ads, 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 based in Seattle, WA. For more information, visit www.mercent.com.