CHICAGO – September 8, 2005 – For two days last month, 38 executives from 22 leading retail companies gathered in Chicago to share strategies and practical information on what they universally consider to be the most effective early indicator of their companies’ performance: store traffic volumes. The gathering was the first annual users group meeting for customers of ShopperTrak RCT Corporation, the world’s leading provider of traffic intelligence solutions and services.

The conference, chaired by ShopperTrak’s executive team, was held to foster discussion and analysis of the best practices in traffic measurement; traffic trends in the retail marketplace; and how the world’s top retailers are applying traffic- and conversion rate-based strategies at the store level.

The group heard frank testimonials from specialty retailers Payless Shoe Source and MetroPark regarding their use of ShopperTrak data to better understand customer traffic patterns and maximize store performance.

During his presentation, Larry Leibach, director of special projects for Payless, discussed the company’s use of ShopperTrak’s technology in 1,350 of the family footwear retailer’s nationwide chain of stores. By implementing ShopperTrak’s Orbit® digital counter technology in these stores, Leibach described how the company is able to calculate each store’s conversion rate (the number of transactions in the store divided by the number of potential customers over a certain period) to optimize its labor force and better plan for peak days and times. Payless also uses traffic counts to more easily gauge the effectiveness of the company’s advertising and promotional campaigns.

"We believe conversion rate is the most important thing for our employees to focus on," Mr. Leibach said. "Among other things, it has taught us that it is easier to increase revenues by strategically reallocating labor, rather than simply adding labor."

Lance Hutchison, director of stores for MetroPark, addressed the group regarding the use of ShopperTrak counters and data in all of the company’s mall-based specialty stores from the time they were opened in 2004. Mr. Hutchison noted that by utilizing the Orbit technology, MetroPark is able to effectively monitor each store’s STAR™ (shopper-to-associate-ratio), allowing them to schedule the appropriate amount of labor during all operating hours. MetroPark also uses the STAR ratings to place the best sales staff on the floor during the hours of greatest opportunity, helping boost store conversion rate. Using this approach, Mr. Hutchison said that the highest volume MetroPark store experienced a 17 percent lift in sales.

"We’re traffic junkies," he said. "I don’t think our store managers would know how to do their jobs without this kind of information."

Jan Davis, president and chief executive officer of ShopperTrak, said that the gathering was of particular value due to the openness with which participating retailers shared valuable industry information.

"This conference demonstrated that the retail industry has concluded that traffic measurement and conversion rate are the factors which will enable even the most successful of them to, in effect, extract more oil from existing oil wells," she said. "We appreciate the practical insights of those who participated in our conference, and look forward to our next users gathering."

A privately held entity, ShopperTrak leverages 20 years of people counting expertise to be the industry's authority for information about and analysis of the movement of shoppers in retail and service environments. ShopperTrak's cutting-edge pedestrian tracking products and indices offer traffic intelligence solutions that enable companies to better understand traffic trends and the impact of store and staff performance on company revenues. With more than 40,000 units installed throughout 43 countries in the world's best known retail outlets, malls, casinos and financial offices, the company's solutions provide a proven means for retailers and branch managers to monitor labor efficiencies, advertising and marketing efforts, store design and remodeling programs, merchandise changes, associate training programs, and other budget-intensive strategic initiatives.

About ShopperTrak RCT Corporation
Chicago-based ShopperTrak RCT Corporation is the world’s leading provider of information and intelligence to the retail, gaming, financial services and entertainment industries. Its products and solutions, including the Orbit® shopper traffic counting system, the National Retail Sales Estimate (NRSE), the ShopperTrak Retail Sales Index® and other information products and software tools, give clients the resources they need to make effective business decisions. ShopperTrak operates six offices in the United States and has distribution in 43 countries around the world. The company can be reached at 312-529-5300 or on the Internet at http://www.shoppertrak.com.