SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwire - April 21, 2010) - Mercent™, a leading provider of on-demand marketing solutions for retailers, today released results for the Mercent eCommerce Performance Index™ -- a quarterly report that measures year-over-year (YOY) aggregate same-seller gross merchandise value (GMV) across online sales channels supported by the Mercent Retail™ channel management platform.
According to the Q110 Mercent Performance eCommerce Index, same-seller GMV for retailers selling online through Mercent Retail grew by 38% relative to the same period in 2009, representing the highest historical reported GMV growth for the Mercent eCommerce Performance Index since Mercent initiated the report in Q408. Same-seller GMV for merchants participating in Amazon's "Selling on Amazon" program through Mercent Retail also increased year-over-year in the first quarter, up approximately 58%.
According to Eric Best, CEO of Mercent, "We continue to see steady upward momentum across all eCommerce channels for clients selling through Mercent Retail. The 38% year-over-year sales growth in the first quarter signals strengthening consumer confidence in the stabilizing economy, and a return to material advertising spend among retailer advertisers. More important, we're seeing growth across all retail categories -- from luxury brands to low cost providers. Based on this and Mercent's historical Index data and trending, we expect the online retail segment to continue yielding above average industry growth."
Mercent attributes merchant GMV sales growth across all online channels supported by Mercent to the stabilizing economy; a third sequential quarter of macroeconomic recovery in consumer spending; and the continued appeal of online channels that provide attractive and competitive buying options to online shoppers. Retailers also continue to focus on third-party online sales channels as a key revenue generator, leveraging solutions like Mercent Retail. Mercent enables Top Tier, brand-name retailers to seamlessly integrate product data feeds with online sales channels like Amazon, Google, eBay, Bing, comparison shopping engines and others, to fully optimize their online advertising campaigns and promotions to drive merchandise sales. In addition to hosted software, Mercent offers merchants professional consulting and services to ensure its clients are operating with the most up-to-date and relevant industry, technical, and marketing insight and analysis.
Best continued, "Strong same-seller GMV growth through Amazon.com is positive news for retailers selling through Mercent Retail. Approximately 80% of our Amazon client base increased merchandise sales in the quarter and Mercent's entire client base selling on Amazon experienced sales growth that significantly outpaces eCommerce analyst expectations and reported industry results."
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.
About Mercent
Mercent is a leading provider of online channel marketing technology and services for retailers. Through its award-winning Mercent Retail™ SAAS technology and Mercent Performance™ professional services, Mercent helps the world's most successful online merchants including 1-800-Flowers, Bass Pro Shops, Brookstone, GUESS?, L'Occitane USA, Redcats Group, and REI optimize online shopping channel marketing campaigns to drive customer acquisition, revenues, profits, and inventory velocity. Mercent is the single point of integration with a vast online advertising network that includes transactional marketplaces such as Amazon.com and eBay; comparison shopping engines (CSEs) such as Shopping.com and NextTag; affiliate marketing programs such as LinkShare and the Google Affiliate Network; and other product advertising channels including Microsoft Bing Cashback and Google Product Listing Ads (PLA). The company is a 'Selling on Amazon.com' Certified System Integrator, Buy.com Gold Certified Partner, eBay Certified Provider and certified Google Product Search Partner. Founded by a seasoned team of Amazon.com veterans, Mercent is a venture-funded company based in Seattle, WA. For more information, visit www.mercent.com.
Contact Information:
Mercent PR Contact:
Kristine Szarkowitz
(Tel: ) 206. 310.5323