Blacks chose Mercado to enable its online customers to quickly find, select, and purchase the appropriate clothing, equipment, and supplies for outdoor activities like camping, hiking, mountaineering, skiing, and snowboarding.

"We felt that improving the search and navigation on our web site was a high priority", said David Kohn, Director of Business Development at Blacks. "We looked at all the major site search vendors and we were very impressed with Mercado's capabilities. In addition to making it much simpler and easier for our customers to find what they are looking for, their merchandising features will enable us to proactively sell on our site by presenting shoppers with relevant offers. We expect significant increases in conversion, order size, and customer satisfaction."

By using Mercado and its easy-to-use merchandising console, Black's marketing staff can quickly develop, manage and implement a wide variety of seasonal specials, up-sell and down-sell opportunities, as well as ensure that products are ranked appropriately for Blacks' business and displayed in a fashion that makes sense to their shoppers.

"We are very excited to be working closely with Blacks," said Rich Beattie, Mercado's VP of European Sales and Alliances. "They are without doubt one of the most innovative multi-channel retailers in the UK, and have shown significant leadership in recognizing -- and acting on -- the Web's commercial potential. We are looking forward to being a part of Blacks' continued online success."

According to Mr. Kohn, "the Mercado team's enthusiasm and commitment to our success were definitely key factors in our selection of Mercado as a partner. We felt that Mercado was really going to support our implementation and they made it easy for us to understand how site search and merchandising would bring us to the next level of business success."

About Mercado Software

Mercado is the leading e-commerce search & merchandising solution specialist for multi-channel retail and B2B organizations. By enabling a superior buying experience and equipping business managers with a powerful platform on which to execute merchandising strategies, online businesses can aggressively grow revenue and foster customer loyalty. Ocado, Sears, Williams-Sonoma, JCPenney, Macy's, Target, and OfficeMax, are some of the companies benefiting from Mercado's solutions. For more information about Mercado Software, please visit http://www.mercado.com or call 44 (0)1628 509 008 (toll-free in North America at (888) 376-1400).

About Blacks

Blacks Leisure Group plc is the UK's leading outdoor retail group. The group comprises Blacks and Millets, the two largest outdoor retail chains in the UK, Freespirit, the leading boardwear retailer and the UK retail and distribution for O'Neill surfwear. The group comprises around 450 shops, employs over 5,500 team members and serves some 12 million different customers per annum.

Blacks Leisure Group is committed to the outdoors and supports some of the UK's most prominent groups, including the Duke of Edinburgh's Award (for which Blacks are an official kit supplier), the Outward Bound trust, the Lake District National Park Authority and the Council for National Parks. Blacks is also a member of GO, the outdoor industry trade association.