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Santa Clara, California - (Cheap Web Hosting Directory) - April 6, 2007 - The majority of adult Internet shoppers appear to make more informed shopping trips to local stores, after conducting web research, according to a study from multi-channel shopping service firm, ShopLocal.

According to the results of the annual American Interactive Consumer Survey, conducted by The Dieringer Research Group on behalf of ShopLocal, 85 percent of consumers are using online circulars and other tools to compare prices for big- and small-ticket items alike.

Bob Armour, Chief Marketing Officer for ShopLocal remarked, “Nearly nine out of 10 adults — from the 110 million Internet shoppers 18 years and older who go online at least once a month — were found to have used the Internet for local shopping, not an online purchase. This confirms that the Internet is now widely used for local shopping information as well as making online purchases.”

The annual survey from ShopLocal found that nearly two-thirds of multi-channel shoppers now say the Internet is the most important shopping information resource, confirming the high value of online information about products and stores to local shoppers. In fact, online consumers overall responded that they spend more time researching products online than they spend shopping in person.

Multi-channel shoppers also tend to purchase more at local stores than they originally planned to after doing online research, according to the new study. During the three months prior to the survey, nine out of 10 local shopping trips made by multi-channel consumers for products researched online resulted in purchases worth $125 more than the products researched online — a figure that rose 25 percent from the prior year. This means that retailers get added leverage from advertising their goods and services online due to this spending “halo effect.”

The most frequent use of multi-channel shopping is associated with purchasing of home furnishings, tools, men’s apparel, sports and fitness products and major appliances. Other leading products more likely to be purchased locally after online research included household products, tools, small appliances, cameras and telephone products.

Mr. Armour continued, “With valued services such as a blog from our shopping expert Eva (www.shoplocal.com/EvaTheShoppingDivaBlog.fp ) power reviews, grocery coupons (www.boodle.com/cgi-bin/center.cgi?config=SHOPLOCAL ) and subscriber emails, we feel we are giving consumers specific and useful information to drive their purchasing decisions’”

The annual American Interactive Consumer Survey, conducted by The Dieringer Research Group (Milwaukee, WI.) was fielded in the fourth quarter of 2006, and interviewed 22,001 U.S. consumers by phone and online.

ShopLocal multi-channel shopping service firm, offers a suite of solutions connecting retailers and consumers online and in-store. The company’s web site, ShopLocal.com, provides consumers choice and control in their shopping experience by offering comprehensive, timely online and in-store offers, featuring millions of products and up-to-date weekly sales, deals, and coupons for consumer electronics, apparel, and groceries.

ShopLocal’s customers include Target, Best Buy, Home Depot, CVS and Sears. ShopLocal powers multi-channel shopping for hundreds of newspaper Web sites and other leading local and shopping sites, such as Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Arizona Republic, Google and Verizon SuperPages.com. ShopLocal is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), Tribune Company (NYSE: TRB), and The McClatchy Company.

For more information, please visit: www.shoplocal.com.

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