VeriSign Online Merchants Now Top More Than 100,000
and Process More Than 30 Percent of Current North American eCommerce
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA., December 19, 2003 -- VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq:
VRSN), the leading provider of critical infrastructure services for
the Internet and telecommunications networks, announced today that online
payment transaction volumes for its more than 100,000 online retailers
are up by 39 percent over 2002 during the busiest portion of the holiday
shopping season.
Since Thanksgiving through December 16, 2003, VeriSign
Payment Services has processed more than 23.6 million Internet merchant
payment transactions totaling approximately $3.54 billion in online
sales volume. During the same period last year, VeriSign processed 16.9
million transactions totaling approximately $2.89 billion in online
sales volume.
The average size of a single consumer transaction
during this year’s holiday season is also up by more than 16 percent
at $142 per transaction, versus approximately $122 per transaction last
year. In addition, total sales volumes for all VeriSign payments merchants
combined increased by more than 22 percent over the same holiday shopping
period during 2002. So far, the single busiest online holiday shopping
day of the year for VeriSign payment merchants was the Monday following
Thanksgiving, when VeriSign processed 1.68 million of their online transactions.
“We’re seeing record numbers of online shopping
activity across the board this holiday season,” said Trevor Healy, vice
president of VeriSign’s Payment Services. “We’re seeing bigger average
transactions, more overall transactions, and more overall customers
using the Internet to purchase merchandise online this year. The Internet
continues to serve growing numbers of consumers and businesses who recognize
it as a safe, convenient method for transacting and online shopping
is therefore slowly grabbing a larger share of the overall holiday economy.”
The graph below shows Internet payment transaction
volumes processed by VeriSign during the peak holiday shopping periods
of 2002 and 2003. It also shows the percentage increases, day by day,
over last year’s volumes during the same period. From Thanksgiving through
December 16, 2003 transaction volumes for VeriSign merchants increased
by more than 39 percent over the same period during 2002. Mondays remain
the busiest transaction day for online shoppers. As the graph below
indicates, transaction volumes peak on Mondays during the holiday shopping
season as consumers often window shop in the malls over the weekend
and then go online Monday to seek the best Internet price before purchasing
their merchandise.
VeriSign Payment Services serves more online retailers
than any single online payment processing service. VeriSign merchants
include small, medium and large companies such as: The Dallas Cowboys
Pro Shops, Robert Mondavi Winery, THE SAK, and Anaconda Sports.
VeriSign also secures Web sites for many of the
leading Internet retailers. Web sites distinguishing themselves as real
and trusted online businesses by displaying the VeriSign trust mark
include: Circuit City, Omaha Steaks, CompUSA, and Godiva Chocolatier.
VeriSign merchants' online transaction revenues
provide the industry's single most extensive snapshot of overall commercial
Internet transactions and serve as one of the Internet's most prominent
industry benchmarks for evaluating online shopping trends during the
holiday season.
About VeriSign
VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN), delivers critical infrastructure services
that make the Internet and telecommunications networks more intelligent,
reliable and secure. Every day VeriSign helps thousands of businesses
and millions of consumers connect, communicate, and transact with confidence.
Additional news and information about the company is available at http://www.verisign.com .
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,
VeriSign's limited operating history under its current business structure;
uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and potential fluctuations
in quarterly operating results; the ability of VeriSign to successfully
develop and market new services and customer acceptance of any new services;
the risk that VeriSign's announced strategic relationships may not result
in additional products, services, customers and revenues; increased
competition and pricing pressures; and risks related to potential security
breaches. 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,
2002 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. VeriSign is a registered trademark of VeriSign, Inc.
Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Media Contact:
Media Relations: Patrick Burns, pburns@verisign.com , 703-948-4471
Investor Relations: Kathleen Bare, kbare@verisign.com , 650-426-3241
