June Email Volume Grows 9% Anually
Top online retailers sent each of their subscribers 2.6 promotional emails on average during the week ending June 25, 2010,
according to Chad White, research director at
Responsys and author of the Retail Email Blog. That’s down 4% from 2.7 promotional emails the week ending May 28, 2010 and up 9% from about 2.4 promotional emails year-over-year.
Promotional email volume was flat for the first two weeks of June 2010, followed by a sharp increase the third week and a significant drop the final week. In contrast, during June 2009, promotional email volume steadily increased the first three weeks of the month and had a more moderate decline the final week. In both May 2010 and May 2009, promotional retail email volume declined sharply during the first three weeks of the month before rebounding in the final week.
Friday Leading Day for Promotional Email
Retail Email Index
Friday, June 25 was the most popular day of the week for retailers to send promotional email in the last full week of June 2010, with 45% of top online retailers doing so. This was closely followed by Monday, June 21 (42%) and Thursday, June 24 (41%). The fewest online retailers sent promotional email on Saturday, June 19 (16%).
July 4th Surges, Back-to-School Lurks
Promotional emails mentioning the July Fourth holiday surged from virtually none the first two weeks of the month to more than 5% of total volume the final full week of the month. July Fourth promotional emails were expected to further spike the week of June 27-July 3 and then quickly tail off.
The percentage of promotional emails mentioning Father's Day peaked at 35% the week ending June 11 and then plummeted to 5% the week ending June 25. Back-to-school promotions, which were virtually non-existent in June, are expected to rise in July and then peak in mid-August.
Email Drives Consumer Purchases
Half of U.S. consumers have made an in-store or telephone purchase after receiving a promotional email,
according to a new study from digital marketing firm
e-Dialog.
Results of “Global Perspectives” indicate that 58% of consumers worldwide have made an in-store or phone-based purchase as a result of a promotional email. In the U.S., this figure is 51%.
e-Dialog advises retailers to capitalize on the generally high offline promotional email conversion rates with cross-channel initiatives such as honoring email discounts in stores and in call centers.
