BOSTON, MA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- March 8, 2007 -- More than two-thirds (71%) of Best-in-Class retailers are improving historical promotion analysis and the understanding of consumer purchase patterns for better returns on company and vendor funded promotions, says a new report on promotions optimization by Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS). "The Changing Dynamics of Retail Promotions" research report reveals that Best-in-Class retailers are taking a new approach towards promotion optimization by taking the solution deeper into the enterprise to improve historical consumer purchase dynamics.

Aberdeen's research of 140 retailers shows that promotions and its optimization is shifting deeper into the enterprise. This solution is acquiring a critical role in the value chain collaboration and overall retail optimization. Companies that bring together strategic planning, store operations, inventory management and pricing groups to create optimized promotions planning are achieving significantly better results. These departments are playing a key role in ensuring that promotion processes are forecasted, planned and executed the right way. The report reveals that historical promotion analysis is the most significant strategic action area for retail companies in their quest to adopt or improve their existing optimization goals for promotions.

"Firms displaying Best-in-Class practices consider improving their abilities for historical promotion analysis as a key step in improving their promotion accuracy, sales uplift and profitability," says Sahir Anand, Research Analyst for Aberdeen's Retail Technology practice. "Best-in-Class retail enterprises that have currently adopted promotion optimization applications take into account the successful and failed promotion data from the past for accurate processing of a promotion mix."

A key component of any historical promotion analysis is dependant on the effective measurement of new product adoption of branded or own-brand merchandise. Tracking new product adoption enables enterprises in predicting profit uplift for a category and capturing the best promotion mix for a particular promotion period. "Best-in-Class companies outnumber the Average and Laggard when it comes to tracking new product adoption for measuring promotion effectiveness. While 86% of the Best-in-Class track new product adoption, only 42% of the Average and 33% of Laggards are measuring this strategy as important for optimization," says Anand.

This report is underwritten by IBM, Demand Tec, and Connect 3 Systems Inc. and provides recommended steps that could lead retailers needing to close in on the industry leaders as well as Best-in-Class to maintain their competitive advantage. Obstacles to promotion optimization are many, but this report illustrates they are not insurmountable.

To download a complimentary copy of the report for a limited time, please visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=3909

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen™ for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement - Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.harte-hanks.com.

Contact Information: Media Contact: Sahir Anand Aberdeen Harte-Hanks (617) 854-5271 sahir.anand@abredeen.com