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Pinterest is the top social media traffic driver for retailer Websites; Amazon.com is the top source of traffic from social sites. According to new research from Experian Marketing Services, a global provider of integrated consumer insight, targeting, data quality and cross-channel marketing, social media Websites are playing an increasingly important role in driving traffic to other Websites, including retail Websites and even other social networking sites, at the expense of search engines and portal Websites. As of March 2014, social media sites now account for 7.72 percent of all traffic to retail Websites, up from 6.59 percent in March 2013. Further, Pinterest, more than Facebook or YouTube, is supplying the greatest percentage of its downstream traffic to retail sites. This trend, among others, is highlighted in Experian Marketing Services’ recently released 2014 Digital Marketer: Benchmark and Trend Report. The report is an annual go-to resource for marketers looking for key industry benchmarks, insights, technology trends and consumer data. “While search still dominates, social media is becoming a significant source of traffic across the Internet as consumers increasingly use sites like Facebook, Pinterest or YouTube more as discovery platforms,” said Bill Tancer, general manager of global research, Experian Marketing Services. “Many of today’s marketers are leveraging the power of social communities to increase customer engagement and expand their brand’s reach. For retailers, all eyes are on Pinterest.” According to the report, more retailers are directing their customers to social media within their email campaigns. Ninety-six percent of marketers now promote social media in their emails, and in 2013, Pinterest had the greatest year-over-year increase. Pinterest is now being promoted by 64 percent of brands within emails. Amazon.com is the top source of downstream traffic from Pinterest, Facebook and YouTube After visiting Facebook, YouTube or Pinterest, consumers are visiting Amazon.com more frequently than any other retailer Website. The top five retail sites downstream from Facebook: Amazon.com Walmart Zulily Target Beyond the Rack The top five retail sites downstream from Youtube: Amazon.com Walmart GameStop Crutchfield Target The top five retail sites downstream from Pinterest: Amazon.com Target Zulily Walmart Nordstrom “Social media continues to grow as an influential source of traffic for retail sites, and it’s important that marketers understand what is driving customers to their Web page,” said Tancer. “Amazon is clearly benefitting from this trend across all of the major social networks. Meanwhile, gaming and electronic retailers GameStop and Crutchfield are top downstream sites for YouTube, which is likely due to enthusiasts sharing videos of game performance and setup, and how-to videos for electronic enthusiasts.” Social drives more traffic to other social Websites In addition, social media Websites increasingly are responsible for driving traffic to other social sites. Upstream traffic from social networking Websites rose 20 percent in 2013 over 2012. Despite still driving the greatest share of traffic to social networking sites at 39.1 percent, search engines’ share declined 13 percent year-over-year. Upstream industries visited before social networking and forum sites 2013 versus 2012 Industry Click share 2013 Year-over-year difference Search engines 39.1% -13% Social networking and forums 15.1% 20% Email services 8.4% 18% Portal front pages 5.4% -41% Multimedia 5.0% 41% Games 2.5% 16% Software 1.6% 16% Television 1.6% 74% Reference 1.2% 28% Department stores 1.1% 48% Source: Experian Marketing Services’ 2014 Digital Marketer: Benchmark and Trend Report The 2014 Digital Marketer: Benchmark and Trend Report is available via a free download at http://ex.pn/PpijOx. The 2014 Digital Marketer webcast hosted by Bill Tancer can be viewed at: http://ex.pn/P2IFFd.

Ernst & Young audit provides Baker Hill® products with SSAE16 SOC 2 and 3 certification Experian®, the leading global information services company, announced that the American Institute of Certified Public Accounts’ (AICPA) has awarded the Service Organization Control (SOC) 2 and 3 level certification (formerly SAS 70 reports) for its Baker Hill® products — Baker Hill Advisor® and Baker Hill Origination®. These are the highest levels of certification that a company can receive from the AICPA. “We are very pleased to announce that Experian has received the esteemed AICPA SOC 2 and 3 level certification for the security, availability and confidentiality of our Baker Hill products,” said Charles Chung, president of Experian Decision Analytics. “Achieving certification offers important validation that Experian is deploying a sound approach to hosting our clients’ data that is consistent with the AICPA standards.” The SOC 2 and 3 certification assures Experian clients using the Baker Hill products the highest level of: Security — protection against unauthorized access (both physical and logical) Availability — available for operation and use as committed or agreed Confidentiality — information designated as confidential is protected as committed or agreed Baker Hill Advisor is a comprehensive business process service within Experian Decision Analytics designed to help financial institutions manage and enhance their profitability by integrating sales, portfolio and customer management so they can assess each relationship in their portfolio and create active client-focused strategies designed to increase profitability. Baker Hill Origination helps financial institutions to automate their origination and underwriting processes. More than 220 financial institutions nationwide — including more than 35 of the top 150 financial institutions — use the Baker Hill Origination products.

Over the years, one of the lessons that I’ve learned is, to prepare for the future you must understand the past. The same lesson can and should be applied to the automotive industry. As manufacturers, aftermarket companies and retailers continue to move their businesses into 2014 and beyond, it is always beneficial to take a moment and assess what happened in years past. For example, according to Experian Automotive’s Quarterly Report: A look back at the 2013 automotive market share trends, the overall automotive market decreased slightly, with approximately 900,000 vehicles taken off the road from a year ago. Additionally, there were 98 million vehicles within the aftermarket “sweet spot” (vehicles between model years 2002-2008), which means a good number of opportunities (vehicles out of warranty) are available for aftermarket companies. However, with a shortage of model year 2009 vehicles due to low sales volumes, we can expect this number to decrease next year. Register for quarterly updates: http://ex.pn/1lTNnTw Findings from the report also showed that total vehicle sales were up in 2013, increasing by nearly 3 percent from a year ago. Furthermore, new vehicles sales continued to increase its share of total sales, reaching 28 percent of vehicles registered in 2013, up 6 percent from last year. From a regional perspective, while all regions saw an increase in vehicles sales compared to last year, the Western region experienced the strongest growth, improving by more than 4 percent. Both the Southern and Northeast regions saw a 2.6 percent growth rate in sales, while the Midwest saw a 2.3 percent improvement. Additionally, General Motors emerged as the manufacturer of choice when it came to new vehicle purchases in the Midwest and Southern regions, while Toyota was the top manufacturer in the Western and Northeast areas. Other findings from the report include: • The top three states for hybrid vehicles were California (7.9 percent of all state registrations), Oregon (7 percent of all state registrations) and District of Columbia (6.9 percent of all state registrations) • Top five vehicle segments in the United States made up nearly 50 percent of all vehicles on the road in 2013 • In 2013, the average age of vehicles on the road was 10.4 years, remaining flat from last year • General Motors had the highest market share in 2013 at 17.9 percent, followed by Ford (15.6 percent) and Toyota (14.4 percent) • The Midwest was the only region to have domestic brands make up a larger percentage of its new vehicle registrations (62 percent); South (48 percent); Northeast (39.5 percent); West (38.4 percent)