National Retail Federation and Forrester Research Announce Online Retail Index

Business Wire, July 19, 1999

WASHINGTON and CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 19, 1999--

The National Retail Federation (NRF), the world's largest retail trade association, and Forrester Research, Inc. (NASDAQ:FORR), the leading provider of eCommerce research and analysis, today announced plans to create an index of online retail trends. With data aggregated from the nation's leading retailers, catalogers, and manufacturers, the National Retail Federation/Forrester Online Retail Index will track online retail metrics, including sales and traffic, on a quarterly basis. The NRF/Forrester Online Retail Index will provide the most comprehensive assessment of what is happening in Internet retail.

"We are very excited about the index and what this information will mean to the participating companies," said National Retail Federation President Tracy Mullin. "For the first time, our members will be able to get consistent data by product category on the state of the online market. We're equally excited about Forrester's involvement in the index. Their participation will assure the integrity of the data and shed light on the findings."

"The Internet economy has passed through its infancy and entered into the next phase of development," said Forrester Research President George F. Colony. "To develop an effective online strategy in a rapidly expanding and highly competitive market, retailers need a complete picture of how the market is evolving. No other organization better represents the retail industry than the NRF and its members. Forrester is honored to be working with the NRF to deliver an index that has real depth and meaning."

The NRF/Forrester Online Retail Index will be based on a survey developed by Forrester in conjunction with the NRF. Survey participants will report data by product category, rather than store format, to allow comparison across categories and ensure confidentiality of company information. The data will be submitted online and aggregated by Forrester. Survey results will be shared with the participants in aggregate form only.

The NRF and Forrester are currently recruiting retailers to their second-quarter online shopping results as part of a beta version of the Index. The first aggregate results will represent third-quarter data and will be made available in early October.

New retailers will continue to be added each quarter -- the NRF and Forrester expect to have more than 200 participating companies by the middle of next year. The goal is to capture online sales data from more than 75 of the top 100 retailers, including brick-and-mortar retailers, catalog/retailer hybrids, and pure-play Internet retailers. Retailers with less than $100 million in real-world annual sales and Internet retailers with less than $500,000 in annual sales will not be able to participate in the Index.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) is the world's largest retail trade association with membership that comprises all retail formats and channels of distribution including department, specialty, discount, catalogue, Internet and independent stores. NRF members represent an industry that encompasses more than 1.4 million US retail establishments, employs more than 20 million people -- about 1 in 5 American workers -- and registered 1998 sales of $2.7 trillion. NRF's international members operate stores in more than 50 nations. In its role as the retail industry's umbrella group, NRF also represents 32 national and 50 state associations in the US as well as 36 international associations representing retailers abroad.

Forrester Research is a leading independent research firm that analyzes technology change and its impact on business, consumers, and society. Forrester's "whole view" of the Internet economy enables clients to weave together Internet commerce initiatives with corporate systems to satisfy the customer's changing needs. Clients receive the "whole view" through Forrester's unique eResearch reports, an array of advisory services, and events. Established in 1983, Forrester is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. The Forrester European Research Center is located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Additional information about Forrester Research can be found at www.forrester.com.