LAS VEGAS – Just in time for the competitive online holiday shopping season, Adlucent announced the release of a new version of the industry’s first search engine marketing (SEM) platform designed to help online retailers grow revenue and profits by automatically adjusting their search advertising campaigns based on real-time inventory levels, product popularity, and search query trends.

Adlucent’s real-time SEM analytics technology helps retailers predict top selling items dynamically so they can plan advertising investments to improve profits, eliminate wasteful ad spend and optimize returns on search marketing. Product demonstrations of the new platform will be given at Adlucent booth 607 at the Shop.org 2009 Annual Summit.

“Whether they sell kitchenware or DVDs, online retailers are trying to figure out which products will be hot this holiday season,” said Michael Griffin, founder and CTO of Adlucent.

“Our customers already know the answer to that question based on our platform’s unique ability to predict the top items on everyone’s shopping list. Our customers can use this information to make the decisions on which products to promote, how aggressively to promote them, and which ones to leave out of SEM campaigns.”

The Adlucent Real-Time SEM Analytics for retailers is powered by the company’s Deep Search™ technology, which accurately monitors and predicts how keywords will behave, thereby minimizing testing costs and maximizing keyword profitability. The platform is accessible via a simple, easy-to-use Web interface. The latest version of the platform includes the following new features:

• Top Seller Identification – allows retail customers to predict which seasonal items will be top sellers at any given period during the year or within a given day. These capabilities increase top seller selection accuracy, significantly reducing wasted online ad spend.
• Predictive Demand Forecasting – links live SEM campaigns with a retailer’s product inventory system. With this capability, retailers can take actions to eliminate wasted ad spend prior to inventory levels being insufficient to allow fulfillment of an advertising-driven purchase. Product-specific campaigns are automatically paused and reactivated based on real-time inventory levels and shipping deadlines. With this demand information, retailers can make more precise inventory replenishment decisions.
• Social Media and User Reviews Integration – leverages user ratings and reviews and SEM campaign data with predictive analytics to determine which products to market and how much to spend marketing those products.
“Only 10-25 percent of the products that online retailers sell drive the vast majority of their revenue and profits,” added Michael Griffin. “The key to success is to be the best at maximizing the most effective keywords to boost sales of the right products at the right time in a very dynamic marketplace. That’s what our Real-Time Retail SEM technology does better than any other in the industry.”

Adlucent offers pure performance-based search marketing technology and services for which clients pay only for generated sales not clicks. With its proprietary Deep Search™ technology, Adlucent can accurately monitor and predict how keywords will behave, thereby minimizing testing costs and maximizing keyword profitability.

About Adlucent:

Ranked 73rd in Inc. Magazine’s top 100 fastest-growing companies list, Adlucent helps the world’s largest and most successful online retailers increase sales by attracting and delivering highly-qualified customers. Powered by its Deep Search™ technology, the Adlucent Real-Time Search Engine Marketing platform accurately predicts how retail products will sell online. Adlucent is a privately-held company headquartered in Austin, Texas. More information is available at www.adlucent.com.

Adlucent is a trademark of Adlucent, LLC. All other company and product names mentioned are used only for identification and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

According to comScore, the top growing online product category for the season was Sport & Fitness, which grew 18 percent versus year ago. The category continues to benefit from consumers’ focus on health and fitness and consumers feeling more comfortable purchasing higher-priced fitness equipment, such as treadmills and elliptical machines, online. The second fastest-growing category was Video Games, Consoles & Accessories, which grew 14 percent on continued demand for popular consoles, such as the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Apparel & Accessories, the only other product category with positive online growth, generated higher sales as a result of retailers’ aggressive discounting and promotions, and helped by unfavorable weather across much of the country.
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Top Online Product Categories for 2008 Holiday Season
Online Non-Travel Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Dec. 1-24, 2008 vs. Nov. 26 – Dec. 19, 2007
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.

Product Category                         Y/Y Percent Change
Sport & Fitness                                      18%
Video Games, Consoles & Accessories  14%
Apparel & Accessories                             4%
Books & Magazines                                -1%
Consumer Electronics                            -5%
Flowers, Greetings & Gifts                     -7%
Toys                                                       -7%
Computer Hardware                               -8%
Home, Garden & Furniture                     -14%
Event Tickets                                        -18%
Jewelry & Watches                                 -24%
Computer Software (Excl. PC Games)    -24%
Office Supplies                                     -30%
Music, Movies & Videos                        -32%
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A comparison to the MasterCard Advisors’ data revealed that the online trends in several product categories outperformed overall consumer spending in those categories, including:
Sales of Apparel & Accessories up 4 percent online, compared to a 19-21 percent decline in overall sales of the category.
Consumer Electronics declined 5 percent online and Home, Garden and Furniture declined 14 percent online. This compares to a 26-percent decline in overall sales of Electronics/ Appliances.
Jewelry & Watches declined 24 percent online, compared to a 34-percent decline in overall sales of Luxury Goods (including Jewelry & Watches).
 
“For an online holiday shopping season that recorded a disappointing 3-percent decline in sales, a positive note is that e-commerce trends outperformed overall consumer spending in several product categories, which is to say that e-commerce continued to capture an increasing share of consumers’ wallet,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Clearly, 2008 was an extremely challenging time for many retailers, and the beginning of 2009 may not be much better. But when the consumer economy eventually does rebound, e-commerce is poised to benefit from its emergence as an important consumer sales channel.”
 
Wealthiest Households Spent More Online this Holiday Season
comScore also analyzed non-travel e-commerce spending by household income segment for the holiday shopping season, revealing that growth in online spending only occurred (up 7 percent) within households making at least $100,000 in annual income, while lower income segments logged significant declines in spending. Those households earning less than $50,000 per year appear to be the most affected by the current economic environment, with their online spending declining by 13 percent versus year ago.
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2008 Holiday Season vs. Corresponding Days* in 2007
Online Non-Travel Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Dec. 1-24, 2008 vs. Nov. 26 – Dec. 19, 2007
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.

Annual Household Income      Growth Rate
$0-$49,999                                 -13%
$50,000-$99,999                          -8%
$100,000+                                       7%
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About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

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2008 Holiday Season vs. Corresponding Days* in 2007
Non-Travel (Retail) Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.

Holiday Season                            Millions ($)
                                                       2007      2008      Pct Change
November 1 – December 23         $26,332    $25,537       -3%
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*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (Oct. 27 – Dec. 18, 2007)
 
“The 2008 online holiday shopping season has declined 3 percent versus year ago, falling behind our expectation of flat sales this year,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “This marks the first time we’ve seen negative growth rates for the holiday season since we began tracking e-commerce in 2001. The combination of having five fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas and the severe economic headwinds faced by consumers has made this a really tough season for retailers, both offline and online.”
 
Q4 E-Commerce Spending to Date
The growth rate for Q4 2008 to date compared to the same period a year ago will end up looking marginally worse than the holiday season results. For the period of October 1 – December 28 compared to the same calendar days in 2008, e-commerce spending is down 4 percent to 36.8 billion. The fourth quarter of 2008 will also mark the first full quarter to record a negative growth rate since comScore began tracking e-commerce.
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Fourth Quarter-to-Date E-Commerce Spending
Non-Travel (Retail) Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.

Q4-to-Date                               Millions ($)
                                                     2007       2008      Pct Change
October 1 – December 28         $38,376     $36,803      -4%
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Apple and Amazon among Top Traffic Gainers in December
Despite soft online sales this holiday season, consumers continued to shop online for the best deals. In the period of December 1-24 vs. the corresponding shopping days last year, several top retailers achieved growth in visitation to their sites. eBay remained the most visited retail site with 85.4 million visitors but saw a slight decline of 4 percent in visitors, while three of the top five  most visited sites recorded gains. Amazon Sites grew 7 percent to 76.2 million visitors, followed by Wal-Mart (up 4 percent to 51.5 million visitors), Target (down 1 percent to 46.8 million visitors) and Apple Inc. (up 19 percent to 35 million visitors).
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Traffic Growth to Top Retailer Sites
Dec. 1 – Dec. 24, 2008 vs. Corresponding Days* in 2007
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore Media Metrix

                                      Unique Visitors (000)
                                                     2007      2008     Percent Change
Total Internet                           171,113    179,997       5%
eBay                                           88,894     85,442      -4%
Amazon Sites                             70,975     76,240       7%
Wal-Mart                                    49,632     51,546       4%
Target Corporation                     47,338     46,837      -1%
Apple Inc.                                   29,450     35,017      19%
Best Buy Sites                              28,602     28,555       0%
JCPenney Sites                            21,329     18,918     -11%
Toysrus Sites                              19,817     18,075      -9%
Sears.com                                   18,010     18,413       2%
Circuit City Stores, Inc.               19,466     15,456     -21%
Overstock.com                           18,911     15,951     -16%
AmericanGreetings Property       17,273     14,666     -15%
Hewlett Packard                         15,217     19,425      28%
Dell                                            17,279     14,305     -17%
Macy’s Inc.                                 15,715     15,868       1%
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*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (Oct. 27 – Dec. 19, 2007)
 
comScore’s Summary of  2008 Holiday Online Retail Spending by Key Time Period
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Online Non-Travel (Retail) Holiday Consumer Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.

                                             Millions ($)
                                                         2007       2008       Pct Change
January – October                           $93,551    $102,144        9%
November 1 – December 23*          $26,332     $25,537       -3%
November 27 (Thanksgiving Day)*       $273        $288        6%
November 28 (Black Friday)*                 $531        $534        1%
December 1 (Cyber Monday)*                $733        $846       15%
Heaviest Online Shopping Day              $881        $887        1%
                                   (Dec. 10)     (Dec. 9)  
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* Versus Corresponding Shopping Days in 2007 Relative to Thanksgiving
 
About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

RESTON, VA – comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, reported its tracking of holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 35 days of the November – December 2008 holiday season. For the holiday season through December 5, $14.92 billion has been spent online, essentially the same level compared to the corresponding days last year. For the five days beginning with December 1 (Cyber Monday), the kick-off to the heaviest part of the online shopping season, sales totaled $3.74 billion, up 9 percent versus year ago. Two individual days in the past week achieved more than $800 million in online spending: Monday, December 1 (“Cyber Monday”) with $846 million, and Tuesday, December 2 with $823 million.

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2008 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2007

Non-Travel (Retail) Spending

Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore, Inc.

Holiday Season to Date Millions ($)

2007 2008 Pct Change

November 1 – December 5 $14,903 $14,922 0%

Dec .1 (Cyber Monday) – Dec. 5 $3,419 $3,743 9%
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*Corresponding days based on equivalent shopping days relative to Thanksgiving (October 27 – November 30, 2007)

“The online holiday shopping season has picked up noticeably since Thanksgiving as consumers have given in to the holiday spirit – and very attractive retailer discounts,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Particularly encouraging is the growth of 9 percent in online sales that has occurred since Cyber Monday. While this growth is certainly a positive development in this tough retail season, it also needs to be put into perspective. With the compressed time period between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year – five days shorter than last year – we need to see continued strong growth during the critical weeks between today and Christmas if this year’s shopping season is to at least match that of last year.”

Top Performing Retail Categories Since Cyber Monday

The fastest growing product categories during the period from December 1 through December 5 were Sport & Fitness (up 35 percent) and Consumer Electronics (up 24 percent), which saw sales surge as a result of significant price reductions on many items, including flat panel TVs. Apparel & Accessories, the second largest retail category in terms of dollar sales (after Computer Hardware) during this period, also experienced strong gains (up 16 percent). The softest retail categories include Music, Movies & Videos (down 24 percent) and Jewelry & Watches (down 22 percent).
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Growth in Retail E-Commerce Categories by Dollar Sales Since Cyber Monday

Non-Travel (Retail) Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Dec. 1- Dec. 5, 2008 vs. Corresponding Shopping Days in 2007
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore, Inc.

Retail Category Y/Y Percent Change in Category Sales ($)

Sport & Fitness 35%
Consumer Electronics 24%
Apparel & Accessories 16%
Toys 16%
Books & Magazines 10%
Video Games, Consoles & Accessories 9%
Computer Hardware 2%
Home, Garden & Furniture 0%
Flowers, Greetings & Gifts -8%
Jewelry & Watches -22%
Music, Movies & Videos -24%
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Visitors to Top Retailer Sites Since Cyber Monday

During the five-day period since Cyber Monday, traffic to the retail site category is up 2 percent versus year ago, with many sites drawing a substantial number of visitors. eBay topped the list with 36 million unique visitors, while three of the top ten retailer sites saw gains versus year ago: Amazon Sites (up 10 percent), Wal-Mart (up 7 percent), and Apple Inc. (up 29 percent).

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Visitor Growth at Top Retailer Sites

Dec. 1- Dec. 5, 2008 vs. Corresponding Shopping Days in 2007

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore, Inc.

Unique Visitors (000)

2007 2008 Percent Change

Retail Site Category 118,393 121,271 2%
eBay 40,180 36,631 -9%
Amazon Sites 26,859 29,505 10%
Wal-Mart 18,183 19,514 7%
Target Corporation 16,273 15,905 -2%
Apple Inc. 9,290 11,943 29%
Best Buy Sites 9,350 8,561 -8%
JCPenney Sites 6,657 6,435 -3%
Overstock.com 6,930 5,874 -15%
Toysrus Sites 6,434 5,969 -7%
Dell 6,740 5,611 -17%
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comScore’s Summary of 2008 Holiday Online Retail Spending by Key Time Period
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Online Non-Travel (Retail) Holiday Consumer Spending

Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore, Inc.

Millions ($)

2007 2008 Pct Change

January – October $93,551 $102,144 9%

comScore Holiday Season Forecast (Nov-Dec) $29,169 $29,200** 0%**

November 27 (Thanksgiving Day)* $273 $288 6%

November 28 (Black Friday)* $531 $534 1%

December 1 (Cyber Monday)* $733 $846 15%
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* Versus Corresponding Shopping Day in 2007 Relative to Thanksgiving
**Forecast

About comScore

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/boilerplate.

RESTON, VA, November 30, 2008 – comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported its tracking of holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 28 days of the November – December 2008 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $10.41 billion has been spent online, marking a 4-percent decline versus the corresponding days last year, while Black Friday saw $534 million in online spending, up 1 percent. For the combination of Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, online sales were up 2 percent relative to last year.

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2008 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2007

Non-Travel (Retail) Spending

Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore, Inc.

Holiday Season to Date Millions ($)

2007 2008 Pct Change

November 1 – 28 $10,839 $10,410 -4%
November 27 (Thanksgiving Day) $272 $288 6%
November 28 (“Black Friday”) $531 $534 1%
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*Corresponding days based on equivalent shopping days relative to Thanksgiving (October 27 thru November 23, 2007)

“Early reports suggest that Black Friday sales in retail stores were slightly better than anticipated in this depressed retail climate, and that performance apparently extended to the online channel, which saw sales on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday combined increase 2 percent versus year ago,” said comScore chairman, Gian Fulgoni. “It’s probable that on Black Friday consumers responded positively to the very aggressive promotions and discounts being offered in retail stores, so it will be important to see how they respond to similarly attractive deals being offered online on Cyber Monday, the traditional kick-off to the online holiday shopping season.”

Most Online Shoppers Sleep in on Black Friday

Evidently, one of the benefits of avoiding the Black Friday crush at retail stores and opting to shop online is not having to wake up at the crack of dawn. The early morning rush online – between the hours of 4:00-8:00 AM – accounted for just 11 percent of the day’s total online retail sales, while the period after 8:00 AM saw 84 percent of online sales take place. The 12:00- 4:00 PM segment represented the highest share of Black Friday online sales (24 percent), with the hour of 12:00-1:00 PM being the heaviest individual hour of spending with 8 percent of sales.

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Black Friday Online Spending by Time of Day

Non-Travel (Retail) Spending

Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore, Inc.

Black Friday – Time of Day Share of Dollars Spent

12-4 AM 5.5%
4-8 AM 10.9%
8 AM – 12 PM 23.1%
12-4 PM 24.2%
4-8 PM 17.2%
8 PM – 12 AM 19.1%
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Cyber Monday Historical Bellwether for Overall Holiday Season Performance

The Monday after Thanksgiving, popularly known as “Cyber Monday,” represents the first significant spike in online spending activity for the holiday season. The phenomenon results from Cyber Monday being the first working day following the Thanksgiving holiday and the fact that purchases from work still account for approximately half of all e-commerce spending.

Interestingly, Cyber Monday has historically proved to be an accurate bellwether for the overall performance of the online holiday shopping season. While the year-over-year growth rates for individual online spending days vary quite significantly throughout the season, during the past few years Cyber Monday has been within a few percentage points of the final holiday season growth rate.

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Cyber Monday Growth Rates

Non-Travel (Retail) Spending

Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases

2005-2007

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore, Inc.

Growth Rate vs. Prior Year

Cyber Monday Full Holiday Season

2005 26% 25%
2006 26% 26%
2007 21% 19%

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“With so much volatility right now in the variables that influence consumer spending, predicting where this online holiday season will end up has been far more challenging than in previous years,” added Fulgoni. “That said, Cyber Monday may well prove to be an important indicator of whether the decline in spending that we’ve seen during the first few weeks of the online holiday season will continue for the balance of the year.”
comScore 2008 Holiday Online Retail Spending Forecast
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Online Non-Travel (Retail) Holiday Consumer Spending

Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases

Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations

Source: comScore, Inc.

Billions ($)

2007 2008 Pct Change

January – October Actual $93.6 $102.1 9%
Holiday Season Forecast (Nov-Dec) $29.2* $29.2** 0%**
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* Actual **Forecast

About comScore

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/boilerplate.