ShopLocal Announces 2005 Holiday Shopping Report

Holiday Shoppers Flock To Online Sales Circulars; Sundays and Thanksgiving Day the Most Popular Shopping Days According To ShopLocal Data

CHICAGO – January 2, 2006 – ShopLocal, the leading provider of Web-to-store and e-commerce marketing solutions for retailers, released final results from the 2005 holiday shopping season today. The increased popularity of comparison shopping Web sites was evident to ShopLocal.com which, from November 24 to December 24, surged to more than 60 percent above comparable levels from a year-ago. And visitors spent more time online this year, with average time spent on ShopLocal.com growing by six percent versus 2004 as consumers spent an average of five full minutes online per visit.

In addition to operating ShopLocal.com, through its SmartCircular program ShopLocal creates and hosts online circulars for companies such as Target, Best Buy, Staples, and dozens of other leading retailers to post on their own consumer Web sites.

An analysis of the top 10 retailers enrolled in ShopLocal’s SmartCircular program indicated a 37 percent increase in visitor traffic to retailers’ online circulars. This trend underscores consumers’ increasing use of the Web as a tool for multi-channel shopping and complements local sales information delivered via traditional media.

Is Thanksgiving Day the Real “Cyber Monday”?

While many retailers did experience a spike in online shopping on "Cyber Monday,” ShopLocal.com experienced its highest day of growth on Thanksgiving Day, with a 370 percent increase over ShopLocal.com’s inaugural 2004 holiday shopping season. The online circular pages of ShopLocal’s retailer clients also had their biggest day on Thanksgiving Day, receiving more than 2.3 million total visits on the holiday.

Sundays were popular days for scanning retailers’ online circulars, according to ShopLocal data. After the Thanksgiving holiday, the three biggest traffic increases for ShopLocal’s SmartCircular clients took place on Sunday December 4, Sunday, December 11, and Sunday, December 18.

"Old habits don’t die, they move online," says Brian Hand, ShopLocal founder and CEO. "Consumers are accustomed to searching through the print circulars in their Sunday paper and on holidays like Thanksgiving Day, the biggest sale circular day of the year. But now, more and more shoppers are also getting in front of the computer screen to scan for what’s on sale at local stores.”

About ShopLocal

ShopLocal, LLC is the leading Web shopping company for consumers and retailers. With ShopLocal.com and The ShopLocal Network -- made up of more than 200 affiliate media, search, and shopping sites -- consumers have access to the only place on the Web with information on products from local stores side-by-side with e-commerce options. With ShopLocal’s SmartCircular and Smart Catalog services, retailers can distribute sales and promotional content through The ShopLocal Network as well as their own Web sites.