ShopLocal Retail Index Up 45 Percent In March

Retailers and Shoppers Expand Use of Internet in Soft Economy

Chicago - April 16, 2008 - ShopLocal, the leader in multi-channel localized shopping and marketing services, today announced the ShopLocal Index was up a strong 45 percent for the month of March compared with the same period last year. The Index, at 188 for the month * (benchmarked at 100 for January 2006), reported 266 million page views and 21 million consumer visits to sites. Retailers increased their use of the Internet and gave more visibility to store promotions in response to their growing importance to shoppers looking for deals, according to ShopLocal CEO Vikram Sharma. Page views per visit were up 17 percent compared to last year reflecting a more cost-conscious and savvy shopper. Some leading retailers pushed the envelope on the trend by going without print circulars during Easter.

“The economy is driving shoppers to spend more time on the Internet to find current sales and deals so they can make more productive trips to the store,” said Sharma. “Retailers see this as affirmation of their shift in strategy to place greater emphasis on the Internet to drive both online and in-store sales. Shoppers and retailers both appreciate the efficiency of the Internet in this tough economy.”

March 2008 ShopLocal Index highlights of interest to retailers include:

• The ShopLocal Index resumed its growth to 45 percent in March year-over-year, with 266 million page views, versus 183 million last year.

• Consumer page views per visit on a per retailer basis was 12.7 for the month of March (adjusted), representing strong growth of 17 percent (adjusted) from last year’s 10.9 percent. • The grocery category increased 29 percent over last year at a time when prices for grocery and staple items are up significantly over last year.

• The department store and mass merchant category in the ShopLocal Index continued to lead all other retail categories, posting an 80 percent increase, up from last month’s 49 percent increase. This spike was impacted by an early Easter which drove an increase for apparel and accessories during this period.

• Consumer electronics and office supplies grew a healthy 42 percent, reflecting continued interest in all things digital.

The ShopLocal Index is the advertising industry’s first market indicator designed to track the influence of the Internet on in-store shopping. Updated monthly, the Index is based on the online activity of an average of 20 million monthly consumer visits to store promotions that are presented on the sites of 50 major U.S. retailers, including such notable retailers as JCPenney, Best Buy, Walgreens and Home Depot. These retailers cover all major retail segments including computers, consumer electronics, office supplies, home improvement, department stores, mass merchants, grocery, drug and various specialty stores. Their online circular sites are powered by ShopLocal’s SmartCircular technology.

* Note: March is adjusted for an additional Sunday and early Easter.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Indices available at www.aboutshoplocal.com/index.

About ShopLocal
ShopLocal, the leader in multi-channel shopping services, offers a complete suite of solutions connecting advertisers and consumers online and in-store. The company’s consumer Web site, ShopLocal.com, provides users with choice and control in their shopping experience by offering the most comprehensive selection of timely online and in-store offers on one easy-to-use site. With ShopLocal.com, consumers can find millions of products and up-to-date weekly sales, deals, and coupons for consumer electronics, apparel, groceries and more. 

ShopLocal’s industry leading SmartCircular, SmartMedia and SmartCatalog solutions are used by more than one hundred of the nation’s top retailers, including Target, Best Buy, Home Depot, CVS and Sears. ShopLocal powers multi-channel shopping for hundreds of newspaper Web sites and other leading local and shopping sites, such as Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Arizona Republic, Google and SuperPages.com. ShopLocal is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company and The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI). For more information, visit www.aboutshoplocal.com.

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ShopLocal, ShopLocal.com, SmartCircular, SmartCatalog, SmartMedia and SmartDelivery are trademarks of ShopLocal. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.