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Online Merchants and Service Firms Discover Gold Lining When Their Customers See the Green Address Bar

Mountain View, Calif. – July 28, 2008 – Around the world, online businesses are reporting measurable – and substantial – bottom-line benefits resulting from their deployment of Extended Validation (EV) Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificates from VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world.

Metrics reported by some of these organizations include an 87 percent increase in registration rates, a 30 percent climb in sales conversions, a more than 13 percent drop in abandoned carts, and a 48,000 percent ROI.*

VeriSign® EV SSL helps online businesses build trust with their customers by offering an effective safeguard against phishing scams that lure unsuspecting consumers to sites designed to appear almost identical to genuine Web pages. Identity thieves use these fraudulent pages to capture credit card numbers, passwords and other valuable personal information. When visiting sites protected by an EV SSL Certificate, Internet users using compatible high security browsers see a green address bar. The green address bar tells consumers they have reached a Web site whose authenticity has been verified according to certain rules.

From North America to Europe and beyond, online merchants and service providers are among the more than 5,000 online businesses that protect their Web sites with VeriSign EV SSL Certificates (including VeriSign®, GeoTrust®, and thawte® brand Certificates). And in the process, they are watching their Web sites perform at unprecedented levels. Among the recent success stories:

North America
Paper-Check.Com LLC, a San Francisco-based company that offers online document editing and proofreading services, especially to academic users. Results: In tests, the company found that visitors who see the trusted green address bar are 87 percent more likely to complete the company's online registration process--the key step in becoming a customer. View case study: http://www.verisign.com/papercheck

Central Reservation Service (CRS) provides a free hotel reservation service that offers attractive rates and special deals on both independently owned and familiar brand hotels and resorts, with no prepayment and no booking, change, or cancellation fees. Results: Tests showed that customers who saw the green bar converted to purchase 30 percent more often than those who didn't see the green bar, far exceeding the company's expectations. View case study: http://www.verisign.com/crshotels

Europe
Dwell.co.uk markets a wide range of excellently priced contemporary furniture throughout the United Kingdom, with rapid delivery for in-stock items. Results: The company reports that the EV SSL green address bar boosted conversion rates by 13.8 percent and monthly sales by £18,000 (more than $35,000). That increase represents an astounding 48,000 percent return on the company's investment in VeriSign EV SSL. View case study: http://www.verisign.com/dwell/

Fitness Footwear, Ltd. is the largest independent footwear retailer in the UK and the No. 1 supplier of several name brands, with its Web site accounting for 95 percent of its sales. Results: VeriSign EV SSL protection delivered a 13.3 percent drop in cart abandonment and a 16.9 percent increase in conversions to sales. View case study: http://www.verisign.com/fitnessfootwear/

Scandinavian Design Online AB, part of the Design Online Group, is one of the leading Web sites selling home and garden, interior design and décor to a worldwide audience across multiple Web sites. View case study: http://www.verisign.com/sdo/ Results: Two months after EV SSL implementation, the company saw an 8 percent increase in online conversion rates.

Pacific Rim
SISTIC, Singapore's No. 1 leading ticketing agency, sells tickets for more than about 90 percent of Singapore's arts, entertainment and sports events. SISTIC has an extensive ticket distribution network in Singapore and beyond in Malaysia and Indonesia. Results: After deploying VeriSign EV SSL Certificates, SISTIC recorded a 14 percent increase in sales.

"The Internet is a fantastic tool, but customers are concerned about security on Web sites," said Richard Theobald, IT manager at dwell. "Our use of the VeriSign Secured Seal and EV certificates is one of our most important ways of instilling confidence in customers and assuring them that their information is secure when they do business with dwell."

In addition to seeing bottom line results from EV SSL, VeriSign customers are also seeing uplift from the VeriSign Secured® Seal. U.S.-based Proof-Reading.com LLC, a provider of high quality business document proofreading and editing services, recently reported a 36 percent increase in registrations after it switched to the VeriSign Secured Seal, citing VeriSign's globally trusted brand as a major driver of the uplift. View case study: http://www.verisign.com/proof-reading/

"When a company makes the effort to provide a trusted online experience, customers respond – and so does the bottom line," said Tim Callan, vice president of SSL product marketing at VeriSign. "From soaring revenues and conversion rates to meaningful reductions in abandoned shopping carts, these online merchants are realizing real-world benefits from their reliance on VeriSign EV SSL Certificates. As these results show, EV SSL protection is an investment that keeps paying dividends."

When a Web site uses an EV SSL Certificate to identify itself, browsers including Internet Explorer 7 (IE7), Firefox 3, and Opera 9.5 display easily understood visual cues to provide tangible assurance of a site's authenticity. The browser adopts the "green glow," a highly visible green background on or adjacent to the browser's address bar. This green area contains the authenticated name of the organization that owns this site and can also indicate the name of the security provider that issued the certificate, such as VeriSign.

As the most respected and trusted SSL authority on the Web, VeriSign is the EV SSL Certificate provider of choice for more than 5,000 Internet domains, representing greater than 75 percent of the entire EV SSL Certificate market worldwide. In fact, over 95 percent of the Fortune 500 and the world's 40 largest banks secure their sites with SSL Certificates sold by VeriSign.** To learn more about VeriSign EV SSL, visit http://www.verisign.com/EV-SSL/.

* Your company's results may vary. Contact VeriSign today to talk about how VeriSign can best address your company's security needs. ** Includes VeriSign's subsidiaries, affiliates and resellers.

About VeriSign VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) is the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world. Billions of times each day, VeriSign helps companies and consumers all over the world engage in communications and commerce with confidence. Additional news and information about the company is available at www.verisign.com.

Contacts Media relations: Christina Rohall, crohall@verisign.com, 650-426-5219 Investor Relations: Nancy Fazioli, ir@verisign.com, 650-426-5146

Statements in this announcement other than historical data and information constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause VeriSign's actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results due to such factors as the inability of VeriSign to successfully develop and market new products and services and customer acceptance of any new products or services, including VeriSign EV SSL solutions; the possibility that VeriSign's announced new services may not result in additional customers, profits or revenues; and increased competition and pricing pressures. More information about potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial results is included in VeriSign's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. VeriSign undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.

Shopcreator catch up with founder and owner Dave Clayton to chat about his fast track success seen with Shopcreator's Transact and Retailer platform.

SC: Can you tell me a little bit about Big Laces?
BL: Big Laces (originally Tha Lace Place) started out on eBay in 2006 with the intention of providing retro shoelaces to a niche market. Sales grew, the range expanded and we now aim to provide a large range of shoelaces to an increasingly diverse customer base, whilst still retaining control of the retro shoelace market.

SC: Did you look at any other e-Commerce platforms aside from Shopcreator?
BL: Our original eCommerce provider was 1&1 Internet. We had a brief overlap of a few months to compare them and Shopcreator side by side but their customer service level and usability of the admin system fell far short of SC's so we decided to make the switch as soon as was practicable.

SC: Why did you choose Shopcreator for the Big Laces Site?
BL: From the free months trial we experienced very good looking site templates, a great admin system (although the manual could do with updating as not all aspects are covered in it), and very quick and thorough customer service which for an SME like us is invaluable.

SC: You initially began on our free Transact platform .Why did you decide to upgrade to the Retailer platform?
BL: We realised quickly that Shopcreator would provide us with a medium/long term solution for our exact needs. Although it costs a bit more per month, the added bonuses of the extra site features (FTP and discounts particularly) meant Retailer was a viable alternative to Transact.

SC: Why do you feel the need to sell online?
BL: To reach a niche market it was really the only way to do it.

SC: What were your online aim and objectives of the site?
BL: To provide an easy experience for the customer and in the not too distant future offer a valuable resource for information about shoelaces.

SC: Did you have any specific requirements for the site?
BL: Nothing above the usual requirements – the ability to display a good range of pictures and easy path through to sale.

SC: How did you find the Retailer platform in terms of usability and content management?
BL: Excellent. Other than needing explanations on a few of the aspects that are missing from the manual, it is very intuitive and extremely user friendly.

SC: What are the main benefits the site provides you with?
BL: Ease of use for amending pages/products etc.

SC: Have you ever needed much assistance and support from Shopcreator?
BL: Quite a bit in the early days when getting to grips with the basics of the system and the speed and quality of the responses we got were one of the main reasons we decided to go with SC in the longer term.

SC: What marketing activity do you carry out to promote the sites (if any)?
BL: Google PPC, Specialist site advertising, but mainly word of mouth......

SC: Do you track traffic to the website using the built in analytical tools?
BL: Yes, and we also use Google Analytics.

SC: What are Big Laces' future plans going forward?
BL: We aim within 5 years to be the leading online Business to Person shoelace retailer in the UK. Our medium term goal is to improve our site to increase conversions by 100% in 2 years, and we will expand our product range to help achieve this.

You can view Big Laces website at www.biglaces.com

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As we approach midway through the 2nd quarter of what is predicted to be a tough year for many, the British Retail Consortium have published promising figures for retailers in light of the recession.

UK retail sales saw an overall 4.5% increase in April 2009 compared with 2008, whilst online retail grew 12.5% on a like for like basis. The year on year increase is thought to be largely down to the warm Easter weather which has boosted food and non-food sales. The largest non-food sector seen to benefit has been clothing, footwear and outdoor leisure.

Matthew Briggs, Project Leader at Shopcreator has recently setup a new business venture called The Traditional Shaving Company using Shopcreators very own Retailer platform. Alex from Shopcreator's marketing team catches up with Matt to find out more.

Alex: Why did you feel the need to sell online?
Matt: I wanted to start a business selling traditional shaving products. Because this is a niche market and wouldn't be a full time business it wasn't practical to open a bricks and mortar shop. By going online I had very little start-up costs and gained immediate international exposure.

Alex: : Whilst you work for an ecommerce company, did you look at any other platforms on the market?
Matt:I have looked at other e-commerce platforms in the past but I knew Shopcreator's Retailer product would support everything I needed. It didn't make sense to look elsewhere.

Alex:Why did you choose Shopcreator?
Matt:Because it is a hosted service it took much less effort to setup than it might have done if I had needed 3rd party hosting. I also had very strict requirements on how I wanted the site to appear visually and with the flexible, customisable template system I was able to completely reproduce my concept designs.

Alex:Did you have a specific aim/objective you wanted to achieve with the website?
Matt:I wanted a professional looking and easy to navigate site and the feedback I have had so far suggests I have achieved this. I also wanted to get good Google rankings as I believe that will drive a lot of my sales but it will take a bit of time before I know if this has been successful.

Alex:How many products do you sell online?
Matt:At the moment the site has about 120 products online but I hope to add more and more as the site grows.

Alex:What kind of functionality has been integrated into your website?
Matt:I have advanced order status management so that my customers are emailed when their orders have been picked and again when they are despatched. I also have product features that allow customers to customise their product details on certain products. Other than that I have kept the site very simple to use so I didn't really need anything else.

Alex:Have you carried out any marketing or SEO activity to drive traffic to the site?
Matt: I have tried to build my pages in a SEO friendly way by using clean HTML and appropriate use of header tags. I have also tried to add as much content to the site as possible as this is the number one thing to do to get good rankings in Google. When the site has become more established I plan to experiment with Pay Per Click campaigns to see what benefits they provide.

Alex: Do you track traffic to your site?
Matt: Yes I use the integrated Google Analytics tool. It's been great to see exactly where in the world my traffic has been coming from. Almost half of my traffic has been from the US and I have had visitors from all around the world including Japan, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and all throughout Europe.

Alex: Have you required any support from the team here?
Matt: Working for Shopcreator I had a huge amount of support internally from the rest of the team. My normal Shopcreator role does not involve setting up new websites so I needed advice on how to setup the templates and how to write SEO HTML code. Luckily for every question I had, so the team always had a good solution.

Alex: Are there any features/benefits that you find particularly useful/beneficial for your new venture?
Matt: The admin system is a great way for me to track my orders and keep on top of the progress and status of each one. I also use Shopcreator to store my stock levels so it manages a lot of my business for me.

Alex: What are your plans going forward for the future?
Matt: My immediate plans are to establish a solid online presence and reputation. Over the next few months I also want to increase the range of products that I offer. And if things go really well then I might think about branching out into other similar retail areas.

Great – thanks for your time Matt and Good Luck!

As we nervously await Darling's 2009 budget announcements following headlines that the recession is more deepened than initially predicted, there is some good news for e-tailers according to IMRG's Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index published yesterday.

Market figures show that consumers are still heading online to beat the credit crunch and get the best possible value for money as the latest report shows:-
- Online sales up by 19% compared to March last year
- Month-on-month sales rise by 9% as online shoppers defy the recession
- Sales of gifts rise by 18% as families splash out for Mother%u219s Day

Despite these encouraging figures, it has been noted that this growth is slower than previous years, although given the current status of the economy, ecommerce is still proving to show resilience whilst other industries struggle.

Mike Petevinos, Head of Consulting for Retail for Capgemini UK, said: Online is proving to be a key battle ground for the retail sector during these tough times. Retailers that have developed their online offering have been able to reap the benefits of growing trade online and have also increased their influence over high street trading, as consumers turn to the internet to support their purchase decisions. The clothing, footwear and accessories sector continues to be a strong performer with 26% year on year growth. This reflects the improved quality of the offering e-retailers are providing for this segment.

You can view further information and sector splits of March's retail sales index ot the IMRG website at www.imrg.org