ShopperTrak Reports Year-Over-Year Retail Sales Rise 8.8 Percent for Week Ending December 26; Traffic Slips 1.0 Percent

December 26 Spending Totals $7.9 Billion, Moves Ahead of Super Saturday as Number Two Performing Day of Season

CHICAGO, IL, December 30, 2009 – ShopperTrak’s National Retail Sales Estimate™ (NRSE) today reported that GAFO retail sales increased a strong 8.8 percent for the week ending December 26 as compared to the same period last year, while the company’s Retail Traffic Index (SRTI) showed a slight 1.0 percent total U.S. foot traffic decline for the same period.

As anticipated, consumer spending and traffic peaked last week as shoppers took full advantage of the four shopping days before Christmas following the inclement weather throughout the Northeast, Midwest and South which curbed spending during the critical Super Saturday (Dec. 19) weekend.  In all, ShopperTrak reports four of the top seven performing traffic days this holiday season materialized last week:

1.      Black Friday (Nov. 27)

2.      Dec. 26 (Saturday)

3.      Super Saturday (Dec. 19)

4.      Dec. 23 (Wednesday)

5.      Dec. 12 (Saturday)

6.      Dec. 22 (Tuesday)

7.      Dec. 21 (Monday)

Due to the poor weather during the week ending Dec. 19, the day after Christmas (Dec.26) – traditionally around the third best performing day of the season – vaulted to the number two position this season with $7.9 billion spent, opposed to $7.8 billion last year.  This daily spending total falls behind Black Friday ($10.66 billion) and just ahead of Super Saturday ($6.9 billion).  ShopperTrak also reported total U.S. foot traffic for Dec. 26 increased 7.7 percent versus the previous Saturday (Super Saturday), but slipped 6.6 percent compared to the same day last year. 

“As expected, pent up demand following the snow storm on Super Saturday pushed consumers to spend heavily last week as value driven and procrastinating shoppers utilized the extended period between Super Saturday and Christmas to purchase the remaining items on their Christmas lists,” said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak.  “Although traffic was slightly off for the week compared to last year, consumers purchased more with fewer trips driving sales and assuredly pushing retailers into the black this holiday season.  Based on last week’s performance we believe our prediction of a 1.6 percent retail sales increase with a 4.2 percent total U.S. foot traffic decline is accurate.”

For ShopperTrak’s full holiday 2009 analysis, please visit ShopperTrak’s newly designed Website www.shoppertrak.com .   

The SRTI is generated from a carefully drawn sample of more than 50,000 retail and enclosed mall locations throughout the United States.  The product is a set of five calculated indices for select segments of the retail industry that compare current week mall or store traffic to a baseline traffic figure from a fixed week on the NRF calendar.  The SRTI is priced by individual segment.

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's proprietary industry intelligence on shopper movement and sales statistics. This gives retailers, investors and policy makers the most accurate and timely information on consumer trends available today.

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), Retail Traffic Index (SRTI) 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.