Top 100 retailers failing to make the most of email marketing

According to Retail Touchpoints Exposed report from ExactTarget, only 2% of 2011 Top 100 US retailers, such as Amazon.com, Tiffani & Co, or Kroger, utilized in-store signage to promote digital engagement with customers via emails or text messages. Due to different business models, 5 retailers did not have offline stores, whereas 72 retailers had e-commerce websites.

After receiving first opt-in request from a customer via website, 74 retailers sent welcome emails. From the welcome emails, 67% provided value propositions of the retailers’ email programs, 35% provided incentives for potential future purchases (such as coupons), 26% requested customers to update their preferences for personalization, and 9% sent segmented emails using customers’ first names and recommended specific target products.

Including the welcome emails, total of 85 retailers (74 retailers that sent welcome emails + 11 retailers that did not send welcome emails, but offered first time purchase incentives to new subscribers) had very different email communication frequency: within 30 days of the first opt-in request, 13% sent no emails, 21% sent 1 to 4 emails, 34% sent 5 to 10 emails, 15% sent 11 to 15 emails, 8% sent 16 to 20 emails, 5% sent 21 to 29 emails, and 4% sent 30 to 35 emails.

For the retailers with offline stores and e-commerce websites that acquired customers’ emails, only 5% and 21% personalized and segmented the emails after in-store and online purchases, respectively. Also, only 22% of the retailers with e-commerce websites sent reminding emails when customers  abandoned shopping carts. Out of the 22% retailers, 69% sent the reminder once, 13% twice, and 19% three times.

Link: http://www.cmo.com/europe/insight/top-100-retailers-failing-make-most-email-marketing

As we discussed from last lecture, there are many roles of emails: emails can be used to acquire new customers, increase conversion rates, grow sales and revenues, retain existing customers, and re-activate left customers. In other words, many organizations can use emails as a marketing channel to achieve their goals.  

The statistics regarding sending welcome-emails show that many companies understand the importance of email marketing. However, it is surprising that only 2% of the Top 100 retailers are using in-store signage to promote email engagement. I believe that this could be due to many companies lacking answers regarding optimal utilization of email as a marketing channel. Specifically, the statistics regarding frequency of email communication within the 30 days of first opt-in show that many companies have very different approaches and perspectives. For example, 13% sent no emails, whereas 4% sent 30 to 35 emails! According to Q1 2009 Epsilon Email Trends and Benchmarks Data, 33% and 28% of respondents defined spam as “any email I receive that I don’t want, regardless of whether I subscribed” and “Emails from a company I have done business with but that come too frequently,” respectively. Therefore, in order to optimally utilize email marketing, I believe that companies must develop appropriate marketing strategies that are in alignment with customers’ perspectives by heavy investment in market research and customer surveys.