CHICAGO – September 10, 2008 - ShopperTrak RCT Corporation’s National Retail Sales Estimate today reported that August retail sales rose 3.5 percent while the company’s Retail Traffic Index (SRTI) reported total U.S. foot traffic slipped 5.6 percent for the same time period.

While this year’s back-to-school shopping season helped drive monthly sales, high gasoline prices, the sub-prime mortgage collapse, and other economic pressures on consumers slowed both back-to-school performance as compared to last year. On a year-over-year comparison, back-to-school 2008 increased 3.5 percent versus 2007, slipping from the 6.1 percent rise retailers experienced last year as compared to 2006. Additionally, ShopperTrak’s SRTI reported enclosed mall traffic for the season fell 3.7 percent as compared to 2007, which dipped 1.7 percent versus 2006.

“When looking at the August traffic figure, it seems pretty apparent the American consumer felt the sting of ever-increasing gasoline prices, credit card balances and the continued housing slump,” said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak. “Although retailers need to pay close attention to this traffic pattern, the fact that August posted a retail sales increase with fewer visits to malls and retail outlets continues to showcase the resiliency of U.S. shoppers.” Martin continued: “Looking forward to the critical holiday shopping season, retailers are counting on this spending resiliency to continue and will most likely post early sales and promotions intended to drive consumer spending for the season.”

On a weekly level, ShopperTrak’s NRSE reported sales for the week ending September 6 increased a 5.9 percent as compared to last year, while weekly sales fell 0.4 percent versus the previous seven day period ending August 30.

Developed by ShopperTrak, the NRSE provides a nationwide benchmark of retail sales. It is derived from the U.S. Commerce Department's GAFO (general merchandise, apparel, furniture, sporting goods, electronics, hobby, books and other related store sales) statistic, as well as ShopperTrak proprietary industry intelligence on shopper movement and sales statistics.

The ShopperTrak Retail Traffic Index™ measures traffic across five separate retail segments including total U.S. retailing. Available as a database or in newsletter format, SRTI reports national and regional traffic trends in a rolling 16 month trend line.

A privately held entity, ShopperTrak leverages 20 years of retail expertise to be the industry's authority for information and analysis of the movement of shoppers in retail environments. ShopperTrak's cutting-edge shopper tracking products and indices offer retail intelligence solutions that enable companies to better understand retail trends and the impact of store and staff performance on company revenues. With more than 50,000 units installed in the world's best known retail outlets and malls, the company's solutions also provide a proven means for retailers to gauge labor efficiencies, advertising and marketing efforts, store design and remodeling programs, merchandise changes, associate training programs, and other budget-intensive strategic initiatives. For more information visit http://www.shoppertrak.com.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The data contained within this news release is the property of ShopperTrak RCT Corporation and may be reprinted, published or broadcast, provided proper credit is given to the National Retail Sales Estimate (NRSE), the ShopperTrak Retail Traffic Index and ShopperTrak RCT Corporation as the supplier of the information. Please contact Aaron Martin at 312-943-9100 if you have any questions concerning the use of this data.