As Consumers' Wallets Open Up, Retailers Reach Out to Shoppers on a More Personal Level

ATLANTA, June 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on the positive sales growth eked out of 2009, many retailers are looking to transform more of their store floor into a personalized desktop shopping experience to capture consumers who are increasingly willing to spend their dollars online, especially during the 2010 holidays.

To help e-tailers get out in front of the all-important holiday shopping season, Digital Element is leveraging its IP Intelligence and geolocation technology to enable e-tailers to automatically personalize website content, products, promotions and advertising an area crucial to enhancing the online shopping experience and engaging more consumers. Retailers such as Ace Hardware, Armstrong World Industries, Camping World, 4 Wheel Parts are using Digital Element's IP Intelligence to make the online shopping experience more personally relevant for their customers.

"Because we are focused on delivering unrivaled and praiseworthy customer experiences, improving the online channel for our customers is a top priority," said Chris Casarez, Internet Marketing Specialist at 4 Wheel Parts. "With Digital Element's IP Intelligence technology, we can continue to serve a wide range of customers with differing needs, while ensuring they can quickly locate the parts and accessories they are shopping for with the same ease they'd experience in one of our retail locations."

Online Retailing Expected to See Increased Momentum

The National Retail Federation (NRF) is predicting a 2.5 percent pick-up in sales for the coming year, citing improved consumer confidence and a number of other economic indicators heading upwards in the near future. Additional statistics suggest that the momentum in online retailing continues to gather steam:

• Online retail saw four times the growth of the overall sector for the full November-December 2009 holiday period, with total retail e-commerce sales of $29.1 billion. The 2009 season also saw the first-ever shopping day to break the $900 million barrier, with $913 million in online sales logged on "Green Tuesday," December 15.
• E-commerce sales in the United States are expected to keep growing at a 10 percent compound annual growth rate through 2014. Forecasts indicate online U.S. retail sales will then be nearly $250 billion, up from $155 billion in 2009.
• Web shopping is projected to represent 8 percent of all retail sales in the United States by 2014, up from 6 percent in 2009.
• By 2014, 53 percent of total U.S. retail sales will be influenced by e-commerce as consumers increasingly use the Internet to research products before purchasing.

"Preparation for the holiday season starts very early because most retailers typically get 35 percent or more of their annual sales during this period," said Rob Friedman, executive vice president, Digital Element. "Retailers have come to recognize the importance of having an online storefront that leverages technology to improve merchandising, usability and content relevancy. However, e-tailers need to hone and improve these key areas now, well ahead of the 2010 holiday season. Quick and easy to implement, Digital Element's IP Intelligence technology will not only be able to help online merchants successfully reach and engage the almighty holiday shopper, but will also help extend their sales efforts into a 365-day season."

During Internet Retailer Conference & Exposition (IRCE), visit Digital Element at Booth No. 432.

About Digital Element

Founded in 1999, Digital Element is the industry pioneer of IP Intelligence, a non-invasive, privacy-sensitive technology that automatically uncovers geographic information, connection speed, domain name, ISP, language and other characteristics about online users based solely on their IP addresses. This knowledge enables online businesses to customize content for more accurate and profitable online interactions, making it ideal for targeted advertising, content localization, geographic rights management, local search and enhanced analytics. Digital Element's patented IP Intelligence solution with its exceedingly accurate geolocation capabilities is used by industry-leading advertising networks, web publishers, search engines, social networks, e-tailers, and analytics platforms around the world to revolutionize the way people experience the Internet.

Digital Element is a business unit of Digital Envoy, part of Dominion Enterprises, a leading media and information services company. For more information about Digital Element, visit http://www.digital-element.net.

SOURCE Digital Element