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Adjoined Research:

-- The Next Wal-Mart is an Internet Merchant with Large Inventories Always Available Online with a Small "Offline" (Physical) Presence to Provide the Complete Retail Experience for Consumers.

-- Retailers Analyzed: Amazon.com, Bloomingdale's, Coach, Costco, Dillard's, eBay, JC Penney, Kmart, Kohl's, Limited Brands Inc, Macy's, Marshalls, Mervyn's, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Overstock.com, Robinsons-May, Ross, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sam's Club, Sears, Target, TJ Maxx, Toys R Us and Wal-Mart

Adjoined Research, the independent research division of Adjoined Consulting, Inc., an industry-focused, full-service management and IT consulting firm, today announced the immediate availability of its latest report on the retail industry. According to the Adjoined Research study "Retail Demand 2005: Emerging Consumer Desires in the Retail Sector," retailers across America better start integrating their supply chain across all channels in order to compete. The complete study tracks traditional retailers such as Mass Merchants, Department Stores and Apparel Stores, as well as Internet Merchants.

The independent research study identifies the top performing retailers in each industry as:

-- Mass Merchant (tied): Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Target (NYSE: TGT)

-- Department Store: Neiman Marcus (NYSE: NMG.A)

-- Apparel Store: Coach (NYSE: COH)

-- Internet Merchant: Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN)

Now in its second year, the study is based on random selections from a 5,000 US consumer panel assembled based on their familiarity with retailers. Consumers describe both their emotional and rational desires across three business areas -- Products, Sales/Service and Management -- consisting of four attributes in each area. Consumers then rate each retailer's ability to deliver against their desires. Performance Ratings, compiled by Adjoined Research, show how closely each retailer comes to meeting consumer desires by dividing their delivery scores by desires scores.

"The bar continues to be raised for retailers to remain competitive today," said John A. White III, a managing officer in Adjoined's Strategy Services - Products division. "Consumers expect all aspects of the retailer supply chain to work seamlessly with each other in order to deliver a single, united customer experience. The days of online versus physical stores are behind us, and the champions will be those retailers that can integrate multiple shopping channels seamlessly and deliver the right products and services at the right price and time."

Among the key findings, Adjoined Research illustrates how consumers segment into four types of shoppers: Thrifties, Allures, Speedsters and Elites (see illustration at www.adjoined.com/retailgraph). Ironically, each shopper type has preferences about where to shop that are not aligned with the traditional types of stores. For example, Thrifties do not only shop at Mass Merchants like Wal-Mart, they also shop at stores like Kohl's and eBay to get the best price. Speedsters, who are defined by their desire to save time yet still require access to brands, prefer to shop at Target, Costco and Overstock.com.

According to Gary A. Williams, Managing Officer for Adjoined Research, "the top performing retailers, from both a consumer and financial return point of view, are those companies that understand where they fit in today's complex world of shopping desires. For example, both Coach and Neiman Marcus focus on the Allures and Thrifties respectively to fully meet their desires. Other types of shoppers may buy from them, but they know precisely what to deliver to meet the needs of core consumers."

"Conversely, Toys R Us has never understood that their primary shopper is an Elite, not a Thrifty," adds Williams. "While many Thrifties finally end up at Toys R Us when Wal-Mart is out of stock, the Elites do not initially go to Toys R Us because of low prices. What they want is to browse the large selection and have 'toy experts' educate them on safety, reliability and the overall entertainment value of each toy."

For More Information on Report

For more key facts and findings on this study, a complimentary executive summary can be downloaded at http://www.adjoined.com/retail or by contacting Martha Arce at 305.423.2863 or marce@adjoined.com.

The research covers 25 retail leaders including Amazon.com (NasdaqNM: AMZN), Bloomingdale's (NYSE: FD), Coach (NYSE: COH), Costco (NasdaqNM: COST), Dillard's (NYSE: DDS), eBay (NasdaqNM: EBAY), JC Penney (NYSE: JCP), Kmart (NasdaqNM: KMRT), Kohl's (NYSE: KSS), Limited Brands Inc (NYSE: LTD), Macy's (Burdines-Macy's) (NYSE: FD), Marshalls (NYSE: TJX), Mervyn's (sold to investors group), Neiman Marcus (NYSE: NMG.A), Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN), Overstock.com (NasdaqNM: OSTK), Robinsons-May (NYSE: MAY), Ross (NasdaqNM: ROST), Saks Fifth Avenue (NYSE: SKS), Sam's Club (NYSE: WMT), Sears (NYSE: S), Target (NYSE: TGT), TJ Maxx (NYSE: TJX), Toys R Us (NYSE: TOY), Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT).

About This Research

Adjoined Research randomly selected over 5,000 US consumers primarily assembled by hand-outs (in grocery, c-stores, airports, retailers and restaurants), mailings and word of mouth across the US. All respondents were at least 18 years old. Respondent data was then weighted for Age, Gender, Income and Geographic Region to accurately reflect the US population according to the latest Census 2000 data available. As part of its quarterly studies across 6 sectors, Adjoined Research conducts over 100,000 independent interviews with consumers every year. Adjoined Research (www.demand3d.com) is the independent research division of Adjoined Consulting, Inc.

About Adjoined Consulting

Adjoined Consulting is an industry-focused, full-service management consulting, technology services and outsourcing firm that offers strategic operational consulting, leading-edge technology integration, outsourcing solutions and original, independent research. With more than 200 Global 2000 companies as clients, Adjoined focuses on solving business challenges for clients in the consumer packaged goods and retail, life sciences, industrial products, financial services, communications, media and entertainment, and travel and leisure industries. Headquartered in Miami, Adjoined Consulting also has offices in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Tampa and outsourcing data centers in Boston and Phoenix. For more information on Adjoined Consulting visit www.adjoined.com.

Copyright (C) 2005 Adjoined Consulting, Inc. All rights reserved.

Adjoined Consulting and the Adjoined logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Adjoined Consulting, Inc. Other product or company names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.

Full Disclosure

Adjoined Research asserts that no companies or associations sponsored this research and no executives directly hold stock in any of the companies measured, nor have they traded any of their stocks in the last year. Adjoined Research is not a registered investment advisor or broker/dealer. The information provided by Adjoined Research is for information only and not to be construed as an offer to sell or a solicitation or an offer to buy the commodities or any securities herein named.