Start to finish: The first reference to back to school was Abercrombie & Fitch on June 29. The last reference was from Coldwater Creek on Sept. 20.
The count: The 89 major retailers that we tracked during this period sent out 115 emails about back to school.
The distribution curve: There was a pretty smooth escalation and drop off in back-to-school emails, with the lion’s share sent between mid-July and the end of August. The height of the back-to-school season was the week ending Aug. 11.
Most interesting emails: From a visual merchandising point of view, L.L. Bean had the most interesting email, making excellent use of animation in a July 25 email, The Best and the Brightest--Our Largest Pack Selection. This was by far the most eye-catching email of the season.
But Office Depot promoted the coolest tool for back-to-school shoppers. In an Aug. 2 email, Office Depot promoted computer recommendations based on official requirements from hundreds of colleges and universities. To pull it off, they partnered up with HP, which is why the service only recommends of HP and Compaq PCs and laptops. Clicking through you find an alphabetized listing of schools, and when you click on a school, three computer systems are recommended. We’re assuming that HP did the heavy lifting on this and gathered all the school requirements, which is why only HP systems are included; but it could also have something to do with the involvement WebCollage, since HP is a customer of theirs. Even with only HP systems included, this is a smart and different way of shopping for a computer for college—and a smart feature to promote in their email marketing.
Standout subject lines:
CompUSA, 7/30 — Help pay for school with CompUSA's $10,000 A Day Giveaway
Sam’s Club, 8/7 — Show Your Dorm Room Style with SAM'S CLUB!
Previous emails about back to school:
9/16 — Week-End Trends: Fall cooling down
9/2 — Week-End Trends: Working the Labor Day emails
8/19 — Week-End Trends: Fall retakes the lead from back to school
8/3 — AM Inbox: Joint pep rally
7/29 — Week-End Trends: Back-to-school drives volume higher
7/6 — AM Inbox: First back-to-college references
6/30 — AM Inbox: Summer’s almost over, kids
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