Retailers using ATG OnDemand services see surge in web sales for 2009 holiday shopping season

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: Retailers using ATG OnDemand services see surge in web sales for 2009 holiday shopping season.

ATG (Art Technology Group Inc.), provider of cross-channel e-commerce solutions, has announced that its retail Commerce OnDemand clients saw a significant year-over-year increase in Web sales and conversion rates for the 2009 holiday shopping season.

The company reports that, using ATG applications to serve customers via a personalised, cross-channel user experience, leading and emerging retailers have been able to boost sales and conversion rates to market-leading levels.

Market research groups and analyst firms are now reporting strong online sales figures for the 2009 holiday season, with the latest numbers revealing a year-over-year e-commerce growth rate of 15.5 percent, according to MasterCard advisors' SpendingPulse, which tracks all forms of payment. ATG clients experienced even stronger results with year-over-year Web revenues growing an average of 19 percent for the top 10 retailers on the ATG Commerce OnDemand platform.

An example of this kind of transformation is provided by Calendar Holdings LLC, the parent company to Calendar Club, who selected ATG Commerce in early 2009 to power the e-commerce operations of its entire family of brands. The ATG-powered sites give Calendar Holdings full control of the online presence of each brand and affiliate, and allow greater merchandising and promotional focus. 

"Our transition in the summer of 2009 to an ATG e-commerce platform has allowed us to provide our customers with a more feature-rich and satisfying online shopping experience, said Paul Hoffman, chief operating officer, Calendar Holdings, LLC. During the 4th quarter 2009, which is our peak sales period, we saw double-digit revenue growth versus the prior year."

ATG Recommendations, one of ATGs SaaS-based Optimization Services, helps online retailers increase conversion rates and average order values by automatically personalizing product recommendations, cross-sells, up-sells, best sellers lists, and online gift guides. Industry-wide, the 2009 holiday period saw a threefold increase over 2008 in the total number of product recommendations served daily by merchants, an indication of how many more online retailers are using recommendations and automated merchandising to quickly and easily optimize their online storefronts. During the 2009 holiday season, when shoppers browsed personalized merchandise suggestions powered by ATG Recommendations, their average order value was 9% to 36% greater than other customers who did not.  

The results are in, and its clear that online sales for the 2009 holiday were up significantly from last year. e-Commerce sales continue to be a bright spot for retailers, as categories across the board enjoyed record-breaking online sales results, said Nina McIntyre, senior vice president and chief marketing Officer, ATG. For retailers using ATG, the goal is simple: increase sales. Were happy to report these impressive aggregate holiday results via ATG Commerce OnDemand and ATG Optimization Services.

ATG technologies power the cross-channel and e-commerce activities for more than 900 global brands, including numerous retailers and consumer product manufacturers. For a snapshot of ATG customers, visit http://www.atg.com/en/company/customers/.

About ATG
A trusted, global specialist in e-commerce, ATG (Art Technology Group, Inc., NASDAQ: ARTG) has spent the last decade focused on helping the world's premier brands maximize the success of their online businesses. ATG Commerce is the commerce platform and business user application solution top-rated by industry analysts for powering highly personalized, efficient and effective e-commerce sites.