Mercent Reports 13.6% Q3 2011 U.S. Retail eCommerce Growth Representing 12th Consecutive Quarter of Positive YOY Growth

SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwire - Oct 28, 2011) - Mercent™, a leading technology company that enables retailers to profitably reach and convert more shoppers online, released its Mercent eCommerce Performance Index™ (MEPI) summary results for Q3 FY2011. The MEPI is a quarterly report that measures year-over-year growth of same-seller gross merchandise value (GMV) for national brand name retailers selling across leading eCommerce sales channels.

For Q3 FY2011, same-seller GMV for retailers selling through Mercent Retail™ was up 13.6% relative to Q3 FY2010. This growth rate represented the twelfth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and ninth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth rates for Mercent's portfolio of brand name enterprise retailers. Mercent also reported same-seller GMV for clients participating in Amazon's 'Selling on Amazon' third-party marketplace program grew in the third quarter by 37%.

"Double-digit growth in gross merchandise value across our portfolio of brand name enterprise retailers continued in Q3 FY2011, in-line with growth rates for the eCommerce sector overall," commented Mercent CEO Eric Best. "The overall macroeconomic picture continues to beleaguer consumer sentiment -- a trend we believe will continue to drive more consumers to the eCommerce channel. We also believe the proliferation and use of mobile devices serves as an added mechanism enabling consumers to bargain shop and price compare both online and off. In terms of impact during the fourth quarter, we believe eCommerce sales and GMV will be on par with Q4 FY2010, ranging in the mid double-digits."

Across its portfolio of more than 180 Internet Retailer Top 1000 retailers sourcing and processing a forecasted $1.2B in FY2011 GMV through the Mercent Retail™ SAAS platform, Mercent observed other notable trends and drivers in Q3 FY2011 -- reflecting trailing eCommerce performance in the third quarter and setting the stage for the remainder of FY2011:

• Year-over-year same seller growth slightly decelerated only from July 2011 through September 2011, reaffirming challenging FY2010 comparables.
• Amazon's third party seller marketplace remains the consistent top performer for Mercent's base of 180 plus brand name retail clients, leading the eCommerce market overall in both volume and growth. Overall, Amazon is delivering eCommerce sales results that continue to steadily outpace organic eCommerce quarter-to-date and year-to-date figures.
• Performance on Google continues to decelerate for Mercent retail clients, primarily due to Google's algorithm changes, stricter seller policies, and platform focus shift to more aggressive channel monetization. We believe this is resulting in the continued deceleration of volume through Google's free product advertising program, Google Product Search, and continued growth of Google's paid retail ad programs that include Google Product Listing Ads, Product Extensions to AdWords, and Dynamic Search Ads.
• eBay is showing notably accelerated growth in-line with organic eCommerce industry trends with Q3 FY2011. We continue to believe eBay is executing a more aggressive business strategy that will accelerate its marketplace performance, specifically in fixed-price listings and in the FY2011 holiday season.
• Shopping engine and CSE performance is in-line with the eCommerce industry overall, posting respectable double-digit growth rates for Q3 FY2011.
• Mercent observes that retailer investment in eCommerce growth for Q4 FY2011 is focused on tactical programs that include price optimization, expansion to high performance channels. Longer term retail strategies are focused on social shopping, and local and mobile (MCommerce) shopping programs.

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.