Scoot Over, Stilettos -- Americans Choose Comfort Over Calluses; Shopzilla Survey Reveals Footwear Fashion Favorites.

LOS ANGELES -- The trends and styles for consumers' feet change as quickly as the seasons, but comfy fashion is bucking the fickle footwear trend as Uggs, sneakers and sandals are topping Shopzilla's (http://www.shopzilla.com) most popular searches. According to a BizRate Research study of 1,172 online shoppers conducted for leading comparison shopping search site Shopzilla, the two most popular styles of shoes purchased by online shoe buyers are tennis shoes (50%) and fashionable sandals (46%).

In fact, according to the NPD Group, Inc., consumers are looking for value, comfort and function when it comes to their feet. Dollar sales of "dress" footwear for women and men are down five and nine percent respectively, December 2002 to November 2003 versus the same time a year ago. Dollar sales for casual shoes for women and men are up 11 and 22 percent, respectively, for the same period.

Tastemakers Love Uggs

Uggs may seem like a hot new trend in footwear but these boots have actually kept the feet of Australians warm for more than 200 years. According to a Shopzilla survey, home, school and airplane rides are acceptable settings for Uggs (58%, 49%, 40% of all respondents chose these settings, respectively). These sheepskin boots have won over A-Listers like Kate Hudson, Sarah Jessica Parker and Oprah Winfrey. In fact, Ugg has come out with footwear product extensions from shoes and mules to flip flops to even handbags.

From Flip Flops, Loafers to Sneakers

When it comes to popular footwear, flip flops are on top. Who knew flip flops were all the rage? The Shopzilla survey revealed 64% of respondents think that flip flops are worn by people of all ages. Flip flops are a convenient type of footwear. Casual gatherings and running errands are the most popular settings where people wear flip flops. Men find flip flops ideal for going to the beach (33%) or in casual situations (27%), while women throw them on to run errands (39%). Although flip flops are a perennial favorite, 74% of respondents who work in an office say that they would not wear flip flops to work because they're inappropriate.

According to the survey, both men and women preferred loafers (42% and 55%) when it came to footwear for work. Fashionable sandals and high heels followed suit for women, (50% and 49%), while men liked tennis shoes and boots (29% and 26%) after the favored loafer.

Casual dress rules office and social attire. In fact, 94% of respondents feel that people are dressing more casually in both professional and social environments.

"Shopzilla's top searches reflect the casualization of American footwear and the new fashion thinking is less pain more gain," said Helen Malani, chief shopping expert, Shopzilla. "With more than 19 million visitors a month, top casual brand and category searches on March 12, 2006, were as follows: #4 - sandals, #6 - Puma, #8 - Nike, #11 - jeans, and #24 - Uggs - all casual categories."

About The Study:

The study, conducted by BizRate.com, a division of Shopzilla Inc., was based on a point-of-sale survey of 1,172 online buyers from March 24-27, 2006.

About Shopzilla, Inc.:

Shopzilla, formerly BizRate.com, is the most powerful and easiest-to-use shopping search site on the Web. With an index of more than 30 million products from more than 67,000 stores, Shopzilla uses ShopRank, a proprietary patent-pending algorithm, to help shoppers instantly find virtually anything on sale from anyone, anywhere on the Web at the best price. Shopzilla also features powerful comparison tools and BizRate consumer reviews of stores and products, the Web's largest and most trusted consumer feedback network. Every week Shopzilla prepares millions of shoppers to make smarter, more confident purchases and sends them directly to the checkout page of thousands of online merchants. Shopzilla also operates the BizRate consumer feedback network, which collects approximately 1 million fresh reviews per month. Shopzilla powers shopping search for many of the Web's largest consumer sites including AOL, Lycos, Time Warner's RoadRunner, and many others. Founded in 1996, the Los Angeles-based company also operates sites in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. Shopzilla is owned by The E.W. Scripps Company (NYSE:SSP), a diverse media concern with interests in national television networks, newspaper publishing, broadcast television stations, TV retailing and licensing and syndication. For more information, visit www.shopzilla.com, the smarter way to shop.