Ping Time: Twitter email sign-ups, IP address reputation, etc.

My latest spin around the mediasphere turned up the following nuggets:

>>Kyle Henderick of Yesmail shares some advice for using Twitter to gain email subscribers. >>Follow the ping

>>Laura Atkins of Word to the Wise posts a primer on IP address reputation. >>Follow the ping

>>@JasonKapler: Everyone thinks they're funny, everyone believes they're good kissers and everyone says they're data driven decision makers.

>>Anna Yeaman of Style Campaign looks at ASCII art in email. >>Follow the ping

>>@MarkOfford: I hate emails that start 'We miss you...' No you don't, you miss my money.

>>And now for a bit of horn tooting: For the fourth time in a row, Responsys has been recognized by Forrester Research as the leader in email marketing. >>Follow the ping to download the Forrester Wave report for free
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BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

AM Inbox: Pointing out omnipresent links

>>2011 Halls of Fame: Oopsy Hall of Fame and Subject Line Hall of Fame

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Buy.com, 1/26 — Big Savings + Free Shipping | Samsung 21.5" LCD Monitor $129.99,....
Like many retailers, Buy.com has social community links at the top of every email that they send. Links like these can blend into the background because they are outside of the body copy block and because they’re always there. But in this email, Buy.com draws attention to these links by running a sweepstakes promo whose call-to-action is to click on that Facebook community link. It appears inspired by Facebook page designs, which sometimes use arrows to point to the page’s “Like” button.


View this email full-sized.

Ann Taylor, 1/25 — Love At First Sight...Our New Weddings & Events Collection Is Here!
In the Father’s Day 2011 Season Finale, I talk about a Finish Line email whose chief goal is to be forwarded on to the fathers of their subscribers. This Ann Taylor email is very similar, except that it provides a forward-to-a-friend mechanism instead of just asking subscribers to use their email client to forward.


View this email full-sized.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Lands’ End, 1/25 — Tutu not required: new Ballet Flats
Norm Thompson, 1/25 — Luggage that's flyaway light! SHIP FREE
Brookstone, 1/25 — Just in! Pat and Giants gear for the big game.
Bed Bath & Beyond, 1/25 — Score big on game day.
JCPenney, 1/25 — Spoil Them Rotten!
Victoria’s Secret, 1/26 — Introducing Our Top 10 Valentine's Day Gifts! Drumroll Please...
Lane Bryant, 1/25 — Fun, Flirty Fashion Especially For Your Valentine
Saks Fifth Avenue, 1/25 — Valentine's Day is almost here: wrap up something special
SmartBargains, 1/26 — We <3 you! Up to Extra 60% off inside. Barnes & Noble, 1/26 — 15% Off One Item -- Weekend Savings to Fall in Love With! Fingerhut, 1/26 — Fingerhut: Shop the Gift Finder and Get Something Perfect for Your Valentine! Sam’s Club, 1/26 — Charms to personalize her perfect bracelet Tiffany & Co., 1/25 — Perfect Valentine’s Day Gifts for Him NikeStore, 1/26 — Updated for Spring: Jackets, Tees and Hoodies Bloomingdale’s, 1/25 — Polo Ralph Lauren For Men: Spring 2012 Neiman Marcus, 1/26 — kate spade new york: The Spring Shoes _____________________ BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

Oopsy Hall of Fame: 2011 Inductees

This is the kind of fame that nobody wants, but highlighting the email marketing slips and gaffes by some of the world’s largest online retailers drives home the importance of being careful with your brand in a medium that’s high volume and lightning fast. 2011’s inductees should be a reminder that you need to be on your guard, temper speed with meticulousness, and be diligent with your pre-flight checklists. (Hopefully some of these oopsies will also make you feel better about some of the mistakes that you might have made last year.) Here’s an abridged selection of oopsies:

SUBJECT LINE SLIPS
As usual, subject lines proved to be fertile ground for oopsies, which is unfortunate since they play such a strong role in determining whether the recipient opens and engages further with the email.

Linens ’n Things, 11/28 — Cyber Monday Deals + Free Shipping Sitewide
Linens ’n Things, 11/28 — Last Chance: Cyber Monday Deals End in 60 Minutes
And then 4 hours later they send this email:
Linens ’n Things, 11/28 — Last Chance: Cyber Monday Deals End in 60 Miutes
And then 2 hours later they send this email:
Linens ’n Things, 11/28 — Oops! Sorry for the Typo: Cyber Monday Deals End in Minutes!‏
Ignoring the credibility issues around when the sales was ending, there’s no reason to apologize for a simple typo, even if it’s in the subject line.

Kmart, 11/11 — KZ4FRIM123: Save $70 on a Panasonic HDTV + more offers inside
The code in the subject line appears to be a bizarre broken first name personalization, as there was not a custom discount code in this email matching this.

Toys “R” Us, 11/2 — A quick question, .
A lack of a default value led to a blank first name personalization in this subject line.

Cooking.com, 10/21 — TEST Butterscotch Dessert Recipes + Holiday Meal Planning
It looks like this subject line was a “TEST” that misfired or that the placeholder text simply wasn’t removed before the email was sent.

Macy’s, 12/20 — Last one before Christmas! Enjoy web busters + free guaranteed delivery
Per the preheader text and body copy, it appears this subject line was supposed to say, “Last one-day sale before Christmas!...”

Lands’ End, 12/18 — 8 days to Christmas, 2 fun ways to save: 40% off your order + free shipping
This email, which arrived in the morning, incorrectly counted the days till Christmas. It was 7 days till Christmas, not 8.

Cooking.com, 4/19 — Mother's Day is May 9th - Our Top Gift Ideas for Mom‏
Mother’s Day was on May 8 last year.

Costco, 9/21 — Safely Store Your Valuables And Save $200 On A Canon Safe At Costco.com
“Cannon” was misspelled in the subject line, but was correct in the body copy. Special attention should always be paid to getting proper nouns like brand names spelled correctly. (Hat tip to James Gardner for pointing this out to me.)

TigerDirect, 1/24 — HDTV Super Week Starts Now: 50" - 73" starting at $549...$100 Cashback from Paypal & Much More‏
“PayPal” is misspelled.

Babies “R” Us, 6/9 — Free $10 Gift Card with CARS 2 Kimberly Clark Purchase!
“Kimberly-Clark” is misspelled.

Spiegel, 2/19 — Outwear SALE, NEW MARKDOWNS! Wear-Now Styles From $29!‏
“Outerwear” is misspelled in the subject line, but is correct throughout the body of the email.

Musician’s Friend, 5/19 — Musician's Friend: Pre-Memorial Day Sale Is On--Save Up To $500 For A Limited Tim‏
“Time” is misspelled.

JCPenney, 2/1 — Click Til You Drop! Super Hot Buys Are Back‏
“Til” isn’t a word, but “until,” “till” and “’til” are.

Walmart, 6/6 — Shop Low Prices on Top-Selling Electronics + 97 Shipping on All Laptops‏
It’s missing “cent” (or a “c”) after “97.”

Ross-Simons, 7/26 — _Today's Super Deal - Italian Tri-Colored Multi-Strand Flex Necklace - From $325
There appears to be inadvertent underscore at beginning of this subject line.

B&H Photo Video, 5/11 — B&H Newsletter: Wednesday May, 11, 2011‏
There’s an unnecessary comma after “May.”

Chadwicks, 7/14 — 15% off from 12-3pm, ET only
There’s an unnecessary comma after “pm.”

J. Jill, 2/9 — Style. be mine: 20% off companion sweaters, plus $10 off jeans!‏
I think they intended it to say, “Style, be mine”—so it should be a comma instead of a period.

Buy.com, 4/10 — Get ready for Spring with big savings on bags, shoes, sandals and kid's toys.
It should be “kids’ toys.”

Babies “R” Us, 7/7 — Save 20% ANY High Chair, Swing, Bouncer & More Plus Our Biggest feeding Sale!
They probably intended to capitalize “feeding” since all the other words are at least initial caps.

Sports Authority, 2/4 — Congratulations Green Bay On Your 2010 Championship Win! - Championship Gear Now Available‏
There should be commas after “Congratulations” and “Bay” since the subject line is addressing Green Bay.

NFLshop, 10/9 — Summer Is Over New York- Get The NEW 2011 Cold Weather Gear And Avoid The Winter Blitz
There should be a comma after “Over” since it’s addressing New York.

Neiman Marcus, 9/8 — Happy Birthday Michael Kors!
There should be a comma after “Birthday” since it is addressing Michael Kors.

Ralph Lauren, 6/1 — Congratulations Luke Donald And Tom Watson‏
There should be a comma after “Congratulations” since this is addressing Luke Donald and Tom Watson.

Walgreens, 1/10 — Beauty Sale + New Years Resolution Savings | 20% OFF Contact Lenses‏
“New Year’s” should have an apostrophe.

Sam’s Club, 11/26 — A season of savings awaits! Check out TV's, electronics and more‏
Kmart, 10/19 — Save on featured TV's + 30% OFF Halloween greeters
Kmart, 10/5 — All TV's on sale + FREE SHIPPING on Halloween costumes
There’s no apostrophe in “TVs.”

Barnes & Noble, 9/19 — Tony Bennett's Latest! Plus Emmy Award Winning DVD's
The plural of “DVD” is “DVDs”—no apostrophe.

Lands’ End, 10/23 — New styles, big savings! 30% off all regularly-priced styles
“Regularly priced” shouldn’t be hyphenated (because of the -ly ending).

Sam’s Club, 7/18 — Study-up on great savings; Back to College done right
There shouldn’t be a hyphen in “study up.”

Bloomingdale’s, 9/30 — Enjoy 20% Off With Friends& Family – Now Online & In Store!
There needs to be a space before the ampersand.

J. Jill, 5/16 — Summer softness never felt so great. Plus,15% off!‏
It’s missing space after the comma.

Chadwicks, 9/6 — Buy a JACKET get PANTS half off!
It’s missing a comma after “Jacket.”

Northern Tool, 3/28 — Customer Top Rated Products Now On Sale‏
Northern Tool, 5/19 — Top Selling Outdoor Equipment Now On Sale‏
Dell, 7/12 — The reviews are in - shop our top rated products
“Top-rated” should be hyphenated.

Bloomingdale’s, 12/21 — Forgot to Buy Gifts? SAVE 25-50% + Last Minute Gift Ideas!
Sam’s Club, 6/13 — Last minute Father's Day gifts: Grills, electronics and more!
Sam’s Club, 5/2 — Great Last Minute Gift Ideas for Mother's Day‏
Sam’s Club, 2/7 — Last Minute Valentine's Day gifts from Sam's Club‏
“Last-Minute” should be hyphenated.

Buy.com, 9/1 — Last Minute Back to School PRICE DROPS!
“Last-Minute” and “Back-to-School” should be hyphenated.

Walgreens, 8/31 — Award Winning Mobile App | Refill Prescriptions, Order Prints & Browse Our Weekly Ad
“Award-Winning” should be hyphenated.

Neiman Marcus, 7/16 — Wants, needs, must haves! Our Fashion Director dishes
“Must-haves” should be hyphenated.

Finish Line, 1/28 — Cupid Approved Kicks for You & Yours!
“Cupid-Approved” should be hyphenated.

DEPLOYMENT MISHAPS
Oopsies in the deployment sphere ranged from duplicate emails to botched A/B tests to segmentation gone astray.

Lowe’s, 1/9 — Sorry we are a little late, but great values like these are worth waiting for.‏
Lowe’s has apparently uncovered a glitch that kept them from fulfilling some of their email sign-up requests. The account where I received this email was used to subscribe to Lowe’s emails more than two years ago. I signed up via their homepage with this account so my guess is that source was not properly integrated into the email system. Best Buy suffered a similar problem a couple of years ago (hopefully fixed now). The takeaway here is to take an inventory of all of your signup sources (homepage, checkout, etc.) and audit them regularly and in the wake of any major email system changes.


View this email full-sized.

J&R, 2/27 — Weekend Sale -- Last Day to Save!‏
TigerDirect, 3/25 — March Black Friday...72-Hour Deal Event!‏
RitzCamera, 3/29 — Top 10 DSLR accessories: create your best outfit‏
TigerDirect, 4/26 — April Black Friday...72-Hour Deal Event!‏
The Company Store, 6/29 — Outdoor Living at its Best!
Spiegel, 6/30 — You're Invited... VIP Sale from $4‏
Lane Bryant, 8/22 — Get Your Shine On In Sequin Tops + BOGO 50% Jeans, $10 Bras And More
Chadwicks, 8/29 — Shhhh...Secret Clearance Web Sale, save up to 80%!
Montgomery Ward, 10/12 — Winter Wise: Classic Coats + 300 New Arrivals
TigerDirect, 12/18 — 50 Gifts Under $50...Perfect Stocking Stuffers
Each of these emails was sent twice to at least some subscribers.

Crate & Barrel, 11/25 — Top 10 gourmet items up to 30% off. This weekend only.
Crate & Barrel, 11/25 — Black Friday Deals: This weekend only up to 30% off our top 10 gourmet items.‏
I received this email twice with different subject lines, so apparently they were doing some A/B subject line testing and there was a glitch in the segmentation. I always look forward to these mistakes because it’s insightful to see which elements they are testing and how.

TigerDirect, 11/25 — 300+ BLACK FRIDAY Deals from TigerDirect!
TigerDirect, 11/25 — 300+ BLACK FRIDAY Deals from TigerDirect
It appears that this was a subject line A/B test that wasn’t segmented properly, since both of these emails had the same creative and were sent very close together.

ShopNBC, 4/8 — ONCE ONLY, FINAL HOURS‏
ShopNBC, 4/8 — Yikes! Time is running out for our best deals‏
Looks like ShopNBC was doing some subject line A/B testing and didn’t set up their segments correctly as at least some subscribers got both emails.

Fingerhut, 9/20 — Fingerhut: Ahoy! What is Your Treasure? Find Out NOW!
Talk Like a Pirate Day is Sept. 19, not the 20th. Fingerhut was using a new sender address so it’s possible that the delivery of this email was delayed by ISPs.

Urban Outfitters, 5/5 — You're Invited to a Special Event at Your Local UO (Details Inside)
Urban Outfitters, which knows that I live on the East Coast, experienced a geo-segmentation misfire with this email. I received the correct version of the email later in the day.


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J. Jill, 2/8 — Important changes to your J. Jill credit card account.‏
Probably exciting subscribers’ fears that they were being phished, J. Jill erroneously sent this email about credit card changes to some non-cardholders, like me.


View this email full-sized.

CODING & IMAGE ERRORS
Mistakes in coding and image formatting made for some of the most spectacular errors of 2011. There’s no missing these.

Lane Bryant, 6/10 — $20 Off $40 This Weekend + Last Weekend For 30% Off Dresses And $15 Tees‏
Every year there seems to be a hiccup in a retailer’s email design that results in the preheader and footer text rendering in white text on a white background, which makes the mailing address invisible and the unsubscribe instructions confusing if not impossible to understand. Either one of those puts you in violation of CAN-SPAM. In 2008, Sports Authority made this mistake (see 2008 Oopsy Hall of Fame); in 2009, J&R (see 2009 Oopsy Hall of Fame); in 2010, Ralph Lauren (see 2010 Oopsy Hall of Fame); and in 2011, Lane Bryant with this email. In this case, Lane Bryant also had a problem with their header and logo. Here’s the email (left) next to the same email highlighted so you can see the white-on-white text:



Cooking.com, 5/26 — You Voted For the Top 5 Summer Cookout Recipes!
Inexplicably, there’s the URL of video-sharing site http://www.dailymotion.com/us right above the No. 5 item.


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Lands’ End, 11/16 — Limited time! Take 40% off any one item
Some of the code is showing in this email.


View this email full-sized.

Crate & Barrel, 3/6 — Save big with Deals of the Week: exclusive luggage, new outdoor collections and more.‏
There’s code showing at top of this email.


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Kmart, 3/11 — All patio furniture & gas grills on sale + save on outdoor playsets‏
In addition to the 150 pixels of fixed margin on either side of the design, there’s some code showing at the top of this email.


View this email full-sized.

Home Depot, 10/27 — View Your Local Ad, Plus save up to 60% in Every Room with Overstock Values
There’s code showing at top of this email.


View this email full-sized.

Gilt Groupe, 6/27 — Highland, Fourth of July Style, Gilt MAN Essentials, Jiun Ho, Baron Wells, Mason's & John Smedley, Tailgate & Rxmance, Toy Watches and more Starts Today at Noon ET
Their mailing address is repeated outside of the frame of the email.


View this email full-sized.

Bluefly, 1/28 — Yes, We're on a MAN HUNT‏
The radio buttons in this email didn’t work, as support for them is inconsistent. A simpler design would have been to have a “Man” and a “Woman” button that the subscriber would click. It’s one fewer click for the subscriber and simpler to code. Of course, the more directly actionable question is, “What are you most interested in: men’s apparel or women’s apparel or both?” Bluefly used radio buttons again in Mar. 3 and July 14 emails.


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Kmart, 4/20 — Save on ALL patio furniture & gas grills, plus $60 off an HDTV‏
The Easter-themed background image was accidently flipped so that “hop” is backward and reversed.


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B&H Photo Video, 5/3 — Apple's New iMac - Available for Pre Order‏
The call-to-action buttons are out of alignment with the rest of the email.


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Brookstone, 12/15 — ONLY HOURS LEFT to Save up to $50! Mystery Coupon Inside
There are image gaps around the HTML text unique discount code. As more and more retailers use unique discount codes to track subscriber activity, I’m seeing this issue more often each year.


View this email full-sized.

OfficeMax, 5/10 — Limited Time $30 Coupon + Free Shipping‏
There were image alignment issues caused by the HTML text discount code.


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Cabela’s, 6/29 — Cabelas.com ships your order for pocket change!
There were image alignment issues caused by the HTML text discount code.


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Buy.com, 3/6 — Did You Know We Sell Wine?
The images in this email should have been all left-justified like usual.


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Omaha Steaks, 4/20 — 48 HOURS ONLY - Try Omaha Steaks for $5 a steak!
There’s a vertical image alignment problem that’s most evident with the dot-whack text.



Coldwater Creek, 12/14 — An EXTRA 20% OFF Jackets & Sweaters in Outlet
The image alignment in this email was breaking up. I still see lots of retailers struggling with image alignment issues caused by Gmail (see Why are HTML emails suddenly breaking in FF/Safari/Chrome in Gmail?) and the combination of Hotmail-Firefox (see Majority of Retailers Fail Hotmail-Firefox Rendering Test).


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TigerDirect, 3/14 — Lucky Deals: Save up to 40% Off‏
Extra space around the images in this email caused them to not fit on the width-defined rows.


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B&H Photo Video, 3/8 — B&H Photo Newsletter: Tuesday March 8, 2011‏
When I opened this email, B&H was probably having image server issues or else a ton of wrong image URLs. But this oopsy illuminates the fantastic “defensive designing” that they’ve done, using lots of HTML text and alt text to maintain the integrity of the message when images are blocked. Truly impressive.


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Musician’s Friend, 9/6 — Extended for One Day Only! Save Up to $100 On the Gear You Need + Free Shipping!
Image has wrong alt text.


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LANDING PAGE DISCONNECTS
A seamless transition from email to landing page will hugely benefit conversions. With these emails, something went wrong along the way:

Chadwick’s, 1/3 — We think you would really like these!
I fairly regularly run across product images that link to the retailer’s homepage or to the wrong product page, but this email from Chadwick’s wins the prize for most misguided links. All eight of the product images linked to the wrong products. And while a couple of the landing pages were for tops that were similar, the rest were items like scarves, mittens and leggings that were way off.


View this email full-sized.

Buy.com, 10/30 — WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?
Clicking on the “East” call-to-action generated an otherwise blank page with an “Invalid URL” error message.


view this email full-sized.

Barnes & Noble, 2/14 — Save 45% and Make Staying Indoors Fun‏
All of the submessages (“Cookbooks,” etc.) has the same “Sorry. We did not find any results.” landing page.


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Dick’s Sporting Goods, 3/31 — Introducing Koppen - Technology for Planet Earth‏
Three of the six product calls-to-action resulted in a “Your search for "" returned O results.” error.


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Macy’s, 5/22 — New Rwanda baskets + Free Shipping!‏
The banner on Haitian products linked to the landing page for the Rwandan products.


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Spiegel, 9/14 — Have The Last Fashion Hurrah! Lowest Markdowns Ever, from $4.
The leather satchel was nowhere to be found on the landing page (which made the headline of the email slightly ironic).


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Yoox, 9/15 — Top Picks - Free Shipping
The Dsquared2 shorts were nowhere to be found on the landing page.


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Sam’s Club, 9/26 — Get ready for fall with savings on fall outdoor and décor
The Angry Birds costume highlighted in this email wasn’t anywhere to be found on the landing page.


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CONTENT, SPELLING & GRAMMAR MISTAKES
Including the wrong content, misspelling words and using poor grammar diminishes your credibility and distracts from what you’re trying to say.

J&R, 8/30 — The New MacBook Air - Starting at $999
There are lots of spelling, punctuation and style errors in the “at a glance” copy—at least 10 errors by my count.


View this email full-sized.

ShopNBC, 2/10 — 4+ ValuePay Jewelry Event‏
The Chinese New Year was on Feb. 3, not Feb. 10 as indicated in this email.


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Fingerhut, 5/17 — Fingerhut: You Could WIN $25,000 + Get 5 Automatic Entries with Your Order!
Fingerhut was still promoting Mother’s Day gifts more than a full week after Mother’s Day, which as on May 8.


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Dell, 4/1 — March Super Sale! Up to 70% off top-brand electronics‏
Given the timing, it appears that it should have read “April Super Sale!”


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Ross-Simons, 4/25 — Chad, 30% Off Sitewide - Mother's Day Sale!
Misspelled “iPad” and “iPhone,” and mistakenly refers to iPod touch as “iTouch.”


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Costco, 9/7 — Online-Only Coupon Offers Ending Sunday, 9/11/11
“Pairs” should be “Pears.” The title in Costco Connections had it correct.


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Ann Taylor, 3/29 — THE SPRING SUIT GETS A PROMOTION: 30% Off Your Purchase Of A Full-Price Jacket & Matching Bottom!‏
“Limited” was misspelled in this banner.


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AbeBooks, 1/26 — Avid Reader Coupon – Save 10%
It should be “$15,” not “15$.”


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HOW TO AVOID & RESPOND TO OOPSIES
Mistakes are practically unavoidable in this industry, but you can put processes in place to minimize them and to respond appropriately when they occur. Some tips:

1. Avoid production processes that invite errors, such as using placeholder sender names or subject lines.
2. Develop a pre-flight checklist and follow it every time.
3. One word: Spell-check.
4. Check all the links in the email, especially key calls-to-action.
5. View a test send in accounts from all the major email clients and browser combinations, or use a rendering tool, to ensure consistent rendering across platforms.
6. Have someone else look over the email before it goes out. It’s difficult to catch your own errors.
7. If you make a mistake in an image, simply correct the source file.
8. If you make a mistake with a link, see if you can get it redirected to the correct page.
9. If the error is significant, see if you can halt the send. You may be able to reduce the number of intended recipients that receive the erroneous email.
10. Consider using social media to address confusion caused by email errors and to stress the correct information.
11. Don’t resend emails that contain minor mistakes. Only resend those where the mistake has significantly impaired the message or could cause significant brand damage. During 2011, of the more 18,000 retail emails I tracked, only 33 were apology emails—and most of those were for site outages, not email errors.
12. Develop a protocol for your apology emails so you can respond quickly when serious mistakes happen or your website suffers a substantial outage.
13. Consider holding periodic post-deployment debriefings to review what went right and wrong during the email development and deployment.

>>Check out the Oopsy Halls of Fame from past years: 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2006

>>Also check out the other Halls of Fame: Subject Line Halls of Fame and Design Halls of Fame.
_____________________
BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

AM Inbox: Free shipping trends continues to evolve

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

OfficeMax, 1/24 — Free Shipping No Minimum + Online Only Tech Event
During the holiday season I talked about how free shipping was evolving from limited-time offers to “every day free shipping” to no codes to no minimum to plus free return shipping (see Alert: As Free Shipping Day approaches, majority of retailers already offering free shipping. During December, most retailers were trending toward the “every day free shipping” node on the evolution curve, but on Free Shipping Day (see Dec. 19, 2011 AM Inbox) a significant number of retailers offered free shipping with no minimum. In recent weeks I’ve seen several retailers offer no minimum free shipping, including Blair, Coldwater Creek, JC Whitney, Lands’ End, OfficeMax (in this email), L.L. Bean and Staples—with those last two offering it year-round. This year I expect more retailers to adopt “every day free shipping” policies, more retailers to experiment with no codes and no minimums, and more upscale retailers to offer free return shipping.

Kohl’s, 1/24 — Valentine's Day is Coming Soon. Get Your Gifts Now!‏
Kohl’s has been a big user of gift services footers outside of the holiday season (see Apr. 8, 2011 AM Inbox), demonstrating that some of the design elements and tactics that retailers use in November and December can also be effective in promoting other holidays. In this email, Kohl’s tries a dedicated holiday navigation bar, which is another design element that sees very little use outside of the holiday season.


View this email full-sized.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Fingerhut, 1/24 — Fingerhut: Thanks for being AWESOME - Take 10% off your next order! [promoting National Compliment Day]
Ross-Simons, 1/24 — Explore the Exotic - Shop Jade for Chinese New Year
Newegg, 1/24 — Celebrate The Year Of The Dragon With Major Savings!
Northern Tool, 1/23 — Husqvarna - Tough Name, Tough Equipment
Oriental Trading, 1/23 — It's down to the final 2. Cheer on your team with FREE shipping
Crutchfield, 1/23 — Step up your game - save up to $900 on a Samsung TV
NFLshop, 1/23 — Get Ready For Super Bowl XLVI!
TigerDirect, 1/24 — 7 Super SONY HDTV Deals for the Super Game...HDTV Week Continues
J&R, 1/24 — Big Deals on Big TVs for the Big Game!
Bloomingdale’s, 1/24 — Great Gifts She's Sure To Love
Tiffany & Co. 1/23 — The Keys to Her Heart
Frederick’s of Hollywood, 1/23 — Last day for 20% off dresses. New Valentine's lingerie. Plus, free shipping.
Costco, 1/23 — Surprise Your Valentine with Beautiful Roses - Starting at $75.99 Delivered with Vase!
Oriental Trading, 1/24 — The nominees are in! Party like a movie star, pay $0 shipping
Office Depot, 1/23 — Tax Season Is Almost Here: Organize Your Finances & Save Up To 35%
Wayfair, 1/24 — 57 days until spring. Can't wait?
Lands’ End, 1/23 — Ironing Bored? Wear these right from the dryer...
Lane Bryant, 1/23 — Work It – Pinstripes And Peep Toes For The Office
_____________________
BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

Season Finale: Veterans Day 2011

A look back on seasonal trends, email activity and standout B2C marketing:

Start to finish: The first reference to Veterans Day was on Sept. 11. The final reference was on Nov. 15.

The biggest day for Veterans Day emails was Veterans Day itself, Friday, Nov. 11. Retailers sent the majority of their Veterans Day-themed emails after Nov. 10.



Year-over-year comparison: With the U.S. withdrawing all the troops in Iraq by the end of last year in accordance with the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement that President George W. Bush signed in 2008, I wondered if Veterans Day would suddenly take on greater prominence this year—and it did, relatively speaking. It’s not a major selling season by any stretch, but in 2011 there were roughly twice as many references to Veterans Day by top retailers.

Most interesting emails: Veterans Day doesn’t get much attention from retailers for a variety of reasons, so it’s unusual to see retailers sending emails with primary messages that directly speak to veterans and their friends and family members. First, Dell sent an Oct. 1 email asking subscribers to nominate veterans to receive one of 250 PCs that they were giving away to “help military families stay connected.” Considering the attention that soldiers reading books to their kids got last year, this seemed like a timely campaign.


View this email full-sized.

And second, in an Oct. 24 email, JCPenney targeted returning soldiers with a sweepstakes to win $200 in gift certificates so they can get new clothes for work or school.


View this email full-sized.

Standout subject lines:
Dell, 10/1 — Nominate a soldier to win a free PC from Dell
JCPenney, 10/24 — Calling All Heroes! Over 6000 IAVA Vets Will Win

Explore Veterans Day tag.
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AM Inbox: Two shades of editorial content

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

J. Jill, 1/21 — This look never takes a rain check. Plus up to 70% off.
Presenting products with an editorial bent is a major trend, but there’s a huge spectrum of editorializing that goes from the high end of newsletters (see Jan. 13 AM Inbox) to the low end where it’s more about presentation than articles and videos. That’s where this J. Jill email lands, borrowing a presentation style from fashion magazines that shows products in the context of other products to form a fully composed outfit with purpose.


View this email full-sized.

Sephora, 1/22 — Cult Favorites + Sale
This Sephora emails is also at the lower end of the editorial spectrum, promoting a newer products from a brand by pairing it with a long-time successful product from that brand. It’s a simple story, but one that’s a step well above just promoting the newer product on it’s own.


View this email full-sized.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
NFLshop, 1/22 — The New York Giants Are The 2011 NFC Champions!
Crate & Barrel, 1/20 — Everything you need to host halftime + 15% off Media Event.
Sony, 1/20 — Up to $1,200 Off HDTV Bundles For the Big Game + More Offers | Don’t Miss Out
TigerDirect, 1/20 — Championship Deals: NEW 60" HDTV under $1000...4GB Core i3 Computers from $399...ASUS Transformer Tab $299 and more
Buy.com, 1/20 — Super TV Deals Just in Time for the Big Game
ShopNBC, 1/21 — Big game party headquarters
TigerDirect, 1/22 — HDTV Week Kicks Off w/ Big Screen Blowouts! + Free Shipping on Econoship Orders Over $50
Tiffany & Co., 1/20 — Picture-perfect Valentine’s Day Gifts
OfficeMax, 1/20 — Preview Our January 22 Ad + Big Deals for Tax Season
Ralph Lauren, 1/20 — Shop Now: Winter Boots At The Best Prices Of The Season
Orvis, 1/20 — Add a warm layer - our best-selling men's sweatshirt.
Crate & Barrel, 1/22 — The easiest spring color to live with + 15% off Media Event.‏
Jill, 1/20 — Jet. Set. Go--to the J.Jill Resort Shop. Plus, save up to 70%.
Lands’ End, 1/20 — New Resort Collection: 9 staples for your suitcase
Blair, 1/20 — Click to reveal a special buy and free shipping.
Musician’s Friend, 1/20 — Day 2 Live From NAMM 2012: Pre-Order The Hottest Gear Now!
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Week-End Trends: Valentine's Day messaging suppressed by more 'Big Game' messaging

Email activity and seasonal trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index: The top online retailers sent each of their subscribers 3.6 promotional emails on average during the week ending Jan. 20, 2012. That’s down 2% week-over-week, down 32% from where it was four weeks ago, and up 24% year-over-year.



The Retail Email Participation Rate: Friday was the most popular day to send retail emails last week.



The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: Last week we got our first reference to Easter, which is on Apr. 8 this year, a couple of weeks earlier than in 2011. Valentine’s Day is off to a slower start this year compared to past years, seemingly suppressed by more “Big Game” messaging than usual.



Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14): 2011 Season Finale
Presidents’ Day (Feb. 20): 2011 Season Finale
Leap Day (Feb. 29): Leap Day campaigns from 2008
St. Patrick’s Day (Mar. 17): 2011 Season Finale
Easter (Apr. 8): 2011 Season Finale
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