Shop Direct Group to Boost Web Presence with ATG

ATG (Art Technology Group, Inc., NASDAQ: ARTG), the premier provider of e-commerce solutions, today announced that Shop Direct, the UK’s largest online and home shopping retailer powering some of the best loved brands, will deploy ATG’s e-commerce suite across its multiple sites and brands to deliver faster and more agile web applications to customers.

The retailer will be launching nine brands, including Littlewoods, Littlewoods Direct, Littlewoods Ireland, Additions, Marshall Ward, Kays Choice, Great Universal, and Empire, using ATG’s solutions. Shop Direct will be able to easily deploy all nine sites using just one unified ATG platform with advanced business tools that will allow the sites to scale up as the company grows. ATG partners Conchango and Spindrift are working to build and deliver the sites using ATG’s state-of-the-art e-commerce technology.

The deployment is part of the company’s pledge to move away from paper-based catalogues in order to meet its objective of being 70% online by 2010. As an organisation with deep roots in home shopping, Shop Direct had been relying on a largely custom-built e-commerce platform and wanted a solution that would allow them to innovate with greater speed and provide business users with greater flexibility.

Neal Preece, E-Commerce Director at Shop Direct comments, "Shop Direct has three key objectives that its e-commerce strategy will have a pivotal role in achieving. Firstly, to create a step-change customer experience, secondly to add more personalisation to our sites so that offers are targeted effectively and customers have a more streamlined online shopping experience. Lastly, we also want to add web 2.0 technology to enable customers to personalise their own content to the site such as photos and reviews, or even ‘shop with a friend’.”

Frank Lord, vice president at ATG EMEA explains, "Shop Direct is a shining example of a retailer embracing the web 2.0 revolution to improve customer loyalty. This deployment is sure to set the bar high for future e-commerce projects in 2009. Shop Direct will be one step ahead of the game when it comes to multi-channel delivery by consistently offering its customers enhanced speed and more highly personalised touch points, all powered by ATG.”

About Shop Direct

Shop Direct Group Ltd, is the UK’s largest home shopping retailer, with sales of around £1.7bn. To support the expected growth of online retailing, Shop Direct Group has a highly valuable and efficient infrastructure that no other UK retailers can rival – sourcing, warehousing, single pick and pack distribution, home delivery to 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 maximise the success of their online businesses. The ATG Commerce application suite is the top-rated platform by industry analysts for powering highly personalised, efficient and effective e-commerce sites. The company's platform-neutral e-commerce optimisation services can be easily added to any Web site to increase conversions and reduce abandonment. These services include ATG Recommendations and eStara Connections. The company is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with additional locations throughout North America and Europe. For more information, please visit http://www.atg.com.