Retail Email Volume Grows 8% Annually in August
Top online retailers sent each of their subscribers 2.6 promotional emails on average during the week ending August 27, 2010,
according to Chad White, research director at
Responsys and author of the Retail Email Blog. That’s down 8% week-over-week, down 3% from where it was four weeks ago, and up 8% year-over-year.
Except for a notable spike during the week ending August 20, when top online retailers sent an average of more than 2.8 promotional emails to each subscriber, volume remained fairly steady during the month. The final rush of July 4th-themed promotional messages caused a notable spike in volume during the first week of July 2010, with an even more pronounced drop the following week.
Back-to-School Emails Peak
In terms of seasonally-themed emails, August was a relatively quiet month. Back-to-school emails peaked the week ending August 13, with more than 20% of retail emails sent that week mentioning the back-to-school selling season, but sharply subsided the last two weeks of the month. Only a little more than 15% of retail emails had a back-to-school theme during the week ending August 27.
Labor Day-themed emails (September 6, 2010) picked up from virtually nil the first two weeks of August to account for around 2% the second two weeks of the month. These emails are expected to have reached their peak the week ending September 3, 2010. A slight spike in otherwise minuscule Halloween-themed emails occurred the week ending August 13, and holidays/Christmas and Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October) also had slight upticks in the second half of August.
Friday Leading Day for Promotional Email
Email Index August 2010
Friday, August 27 was the most popular day of the week for retailers to send promotional email in the last full week of August 2010, with 48% of top online retailers doing so. This was closely followed by Monday, August 23 and Wednesday, August 25 (41% each). The fewest online retailers sent promotional email on Saturday, August 21 (11%).
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. Overall, 57% of global consumers say they are more likely to buy a product in a store after receiving a marketing email about it. Thirty-seven percent are less likely to buy and 6% are not affected. In the U.S., 51% of consumers are more likely to make an in-store purchase as a result of a marketing email, with 42% less likely to buy and 4% not affected.
