ShopLocal Index Indicates Consumers Searching Retailers' Local Online Circulars Grew 18.7% in the First Quarter of 2006

Chicago, April 19, 2006 - ShopLocal, LLC, the leading provider of Web-to-store (W2S) and e-commerce marketing solutions for retailers announced today that, according to the ShopLocal Index, consumers seeking Web-to-store information grew 18.7% in the first quarter of 2006 over the same time period in 2005.

The ShopLocal Index is a cross-section of 12 top retailers across several categories, including Target, Staples, Home Depot, and Best Buy. Examination of the over 20 million visits to the indexed retailers' online circulars reveals that consumers utilize ShopLocal powered circulars as tool to conduct research in addition to traditional search.

"The growing importance and availability of local store and local search information for consumers can't be overstated," said Brian Hand, CEO of ShopLocal, LLC. "It's been common sense for years that consumers who browse traditional local print circulars are already indicating their desire and intent to buy. But with online circulars, their behavior is increasingly trackable and useful to retailers and marketers."

Nearly 40% of consumers viewing ShopLocal Index retailers' online circulars viewed item detail pages (a detailed product information page displayed after clicking on an item listing) with another 17% browsing by category and 6% indicating an intent to buy immediately online. According to a recent study conducted by the Dieringer Research Group (DRG), the browsing time of consumers researching products online versus in-person in 2005 was typically 3 or more hours. This is 2 hours more than 2004. According to the DRG, W2S products purchased by a greater percentage of W2S shoppers after online research included electronics, music, video and books, computers and software, women's apparel, and cameras (Source: The Dieringer Research Group 2006 U.S. Web2Store Benchmark Survey).

Additionally, a recent comScore Networks study, sponsored by Google Inc., found that 63% of online product research resulted in offline purchases. comScore's research emphasized the importance of search in consumers' offline purchases while the Dieringer Group's research also gauged the number of occasions when local shopping decisions were influence by various medias. Web-to-store shoppers said they relied on Internet research nearly twice as often as the next leading local advertising media source of information for local shopping trips which are newspaper ads/inserts.

About ShopLocal

ShopLocal, LLC (www.shoplocalllc.com) 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.