Don't Make Mom An Afterthought!

ShopLocal Data Shows Mother's Day Shopping Largely a Last-Minute Activity

Chicago- May 4, 2006 - Data recently made available from www.ShopLocal.com , the leading provider of in-store sale information and e-commerce options from the nation's top retailers, indicates that shopping for mom on Mother's Day is largely left to the last-minute, with browsers and buyers flocking to the Web for gift ideas the week before the holiday.

Last year, the average total daily visits to ShopLocal.com jumped by more than 40 percent the week leading up to Mother's Day when compared to traffic the two previous weeks. Not surprisingly, Home & Garden was the most viewed category for Mom's Day Week. But interestingly, Automotive came in second, with Furniture, Home Improvement, and Grocery & Household Products rounding out the Top Five most viewed categories.

Additional 2005 data shows that ShopLocal.com traffic peaked on the Tuesday prior to the holiday, as consumers scrambled to find quick, last-minute gifts. ShopLocal's shopping expert Eva Yusa expects more of the same this year, and predicts Tuesday, May 9 will be the peak traffic day leading up to Mother's Day on Sunday, May 14. She calls this annual rush to the Web "the Mad dash for Mom."

"Mother's Day sneaks up on people," says Yusa. "It's springtime, people get busy around the house, and all of a sudden you wake up and realize, 'I need to find a gift for Mom.' That week before is the dash to get something special for mom - fast!"

Holidays like Mother's Day continue to have a considerable impact on the retail industry - both online and offline. According to the National Retail Federation/BIGResearch, consumers spent $11.4 billion in 2005 on Mother's Day gifts. Online spending represented 16.3 percent the total money spent which is a 22.4 percent increase compared to the average the previous year. For 2006, the NRF estimates that online spending will increase by 23.7 percent over 2005. Overall, Mother's Day is the third-most-lucrative retail holiday of the year, trailing only the Christmas Holidays and Valentine's Day.

ShopLocal.com the Source for Last-Minute Mother's Day Gifts

Luckily, ShopLocal.com can help when it comes to finding great last-minute gifts for Mom. By placing thousands of items from online sales circulars alongside deals from e-commerce retailers in a single, zip code-targeted database, ShopLocal.com brings consumers newfound confidence that they've gotten the best deal - whether they chose to research first online and then head to a local store, or purchase immediately online.

A recent ShopLocal search for deals in the Chicago area found great Mother's Day gift ideas such as a Heated Massage Mat, available online for $149 at the Discovery Store, and the Tranquil Moments Sound Therapy System from Brookstone.com for $99. Just a few clicks and these relaxing gifts can get to Mom just in time.

But ShopLocal.com also bails out chronic procrastinators with surprising gifts at nearby stores - like the Taste of Italy selection of fresh herbs, for the Mom with a green-thumb or that loves to cook, available at Home Depot for $29. Or the Relax to the Max Luscious Lavender Gift Set, available at Walgreen's for $19.99. ShopLocal even offers driving directions so you can find the quickest route to the store and then on to Mom's house!

About ShopLocal

ShopLocal is the leading provider of Web shopping services for retailers and other local businesses, helping them connect with millions of consumers who use the Internet each year to purchase products online as well as those who use it as a research tool for offline purchases. Retailers depend on ShopLocal's SmartCircular and Smart Catalog services to distribute sales and promotional content through their own Web sites, offering a convenient and localized experience for their customers. The ShopLocal Network, consisting of ShopLocal.com and more than 200 leading media, search and shopping Web sites, provides retailers with access to a dynamic, geographically-based marketplace of ready-to-buy shoppers looking to purchase items from t-shirts to televisions, and food to furniture online or at a store near them. Retailers benefit from ShopLocal's DataPoint services, the most complete Web-to-store tracking information available, providing retailers with the understanding necessary to make each Web-shopping effort more successful. Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company (NYSE:TRB), and Knight Ridder, Inc. (NYSE:KRI), are partners in ShopLocal and other joint ventures to provide consumers online products such as CareerBuilder.com, Cars.com and Apartments.com.

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