AM Inbox: Have a Happy New Year!

My family and I are hopping on a plane tonight to head to Seattle to have Christmas 2.0 with my parents and brother so my next post won't be until the new year. But when I'm back on Jan. 3, I'll have some big news and some special farewell to 2006 posts.

Since there will be no Week-End Trends this weekend, let me give you a quick update on where we're at this week: It looks like the RetailEmail Index will fall about 35% this week, with email volume way down, especially late in the week. However, email volume on Tuesday was huge—in fact, it was the biggest of the year, with 53% of retailers sending out emails on that day. That easily bested Cyber Monday's 44% participation rate, and its echoes, which reached as high as 49% on Monday, Dec. 11. Most emails this week focused on either after-Christmas/year-end sales or on New Year's.

So with that I leave you with my final check of the inbox during 2006. From my family to yours, have a very happy New Year (with outstanding click-through rates)!

-Chad

RetailEmail.Blogspot monitors the email marketing campaigns of nearly 100 of the top online retailers. Here are highlights from our inbox this morning:

Sephora, 12/28 — NEW YEAR, NEW YOU: Brilliant Beauty Resolutions
This is another nice execution on the New Year's resolution theme, with Sephora cleverly tying resolutions to beauty products.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Lands' End, 12/29 — First resolution: Shop Winter's End Savings Event
Petsmart, 12/28 — Thank you and best wishes for 2007
DisneyShopping, 12/29 — Savings Up to 70% Plus Exclusive Shipping Offer
TigerDirect, 12/29 — All RAZR's, All Colors...FREE w/ Service Agreement...Ends 12-31
Art.com, 12/29 — 25% Off Ends TONIGHT - Last Chance to Save This Year!
Spiegel, 12/29 — Last Day to Enjoy an Extra 25% OFF Any Purchase!
Overstock, 12/29 — Year-End Liquidation + Free Shipping

AM Inbox: Resolving to be more relevant

RetailEmail.Blogspot monitors the email marketing campaigns of nearly 100 of the top online retailers. Here are highlights from our inbox this morning:

Palm, 12/27 — 2007 New Year Resolutions
In this email, Palm (which has abandoned its usual, more complex newsletter format) has pitched its software products in a highly relevant way, relating them to typical New Year resolutions like losing weight.



Crutchfield, 12/27 — Top tips for new toys, plus great savings on home A/V
Crutchfield is burnishing its image as a high-touch retailer with this email about its 1st Annual Tweak Week, when it gives its customers tips on how to familiarize and get the most out of their holiday toys.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Crate & Barrel, 12/27 — 50% off Storewide Sale Starts Today
Sportsman's Guide, 12/27 — Announcing The Guide's After Christmas Sale! Coupon...
EBags, 12/27 — Exclusive Savings on select items already 70% Off
FTD, 12/28 — Ring in the New Year and Save
Circuit City, 12/28 — Save BIG today—holiday dreams can still come true
Nordstrom, 12/28 — Handbags & Shoes for Spring Save Up to 50%: Online Winter Savings
Lillian Vernon, 12/28 — Save up to 85% at our Big After Christmas Sale
Polo, 12/28 — Just In: New Arrivals for Resort Collection

E-gift Card Promotions: Executive Summary

In addition to overnight shipping, in-store pick-up and store promotions, the other lever that many retailers pulled in the final days before Christmas was promoting e-gift cards. During the week leading up to Christmas, plus Christmas Day itself, 24% of the emails sent by the major retailers that I track promoted e-gift cards, and 27% of those emails mentioned e-gift cards in their subject line. Of all the retailers that sent emails during this period, 29% promoted their e-gift cards in their emails. The Thursday before Christmas was the peak for highlighting e-gift cards.



(Note: I only counted emails if they mentioned “e-gift,” “online” or “virtual” cards or certificates, or gift cards or certificates that could be emailed. Other retailers promoted “gift cards,” but if it wasn't clear from the email whether they were e-gift cards, I didn't count them.)

Ralph Lauren was the first to promote their e-gift cards as the primary topic of an email, featuring it in a Dec. 18 email (Just in Time for the Holidays - The Online Gift Certificate).



Lands’ End was the last to promote its e-gift cards during this time period, sending its email on Christmas Day, gunning for unrepentant procrastinators.



Unlike Lands’ End, a number of retailers—including Saks Fifth Avenue, REI, Crutchfield and Orvis— placed a Dec. 24 deadline on ordering e-gift cards in time for Christmas delivery. Polo noted in an email that delivery can take up to “24 hours”; Sports Authority “in just a few hours”; and Musician's Friend “within the hour.” Meanwhile, Nordstrom described delivery as “immediate” and Bass Pro Shops as “almost instantly.”

While most retailers assumed you wanted the e-gift card delivered ASAP, Cooking.com allowed you to select a delivery date in the future if you wanted. I thought that was a nice additional service, especially for traditionalists that may want their e-gift card to arrive on Christmas Day but know that they won’t have the time that day to buy the card. Other retailers may offer this convenience, but Cooking.com was the only one to make it a selling point in their emails.



Emails Mentioning E-Gift Cards in their Subject Lines:
Polo, 12/18 — Just in Time for the Holidays - The Online Gift Certificate
Sephora, 12/20 — Don't Panic! Send an online gift certificate
Cabela's, 12/20 — It's Not Too Late - Get a Cabela's E-mail Gift Certificate
Drs. Foster & Smith, 12/20 — Order Your E-Gift by Dec 24th!
ShopPBS, 12/20 — Last Minute Gift Certificates
Bass Pro Shops, 12/21 — Out of Time? Email a Bass Pro Gift Card!
NFLshop, 12/21 — It's never too late to order an NFL Gift Certificate
Crutchfield, 12/21 — Need a present? Problem solved: e-mail gift cards
Nordstrom, 12/22 — There's Still Time for the Perfect Gift Virtual Gift Card
Lands' End, 12/22 — E-gift Card: The Ultimate last-second gift.
Sharper Image, 12/22 — Online Gift Certificates - As Quick As Email!
Saks Fifth Avenue, 12/23 — Short on time? Send A Virtual Saks Gift Card!
Buy.com, 12/25 — Buy.com Gift Certificates

AM Inbox: First reference to spring

RetailEmail.Blogspot monitors the email marketing campaigns of nearly 100 of the top online retailers. Here are highlights from our inbox this morning:

Coach, 12/26 — Introducing Carly
Coach gives us our reference to spring in this email, which encourages subscribers to redeem their gift cards. In addition to Coach, several other retailers reminded subscribers to put their gift cards to good use during after-Christmas sales, including Foot Locker (12/26 — End of the Year Clearance Sale + Free Shipping), Victoria's Secret (12/26 — Semi-Annual Sale Is Online Now. Plus, Free Shipping & Handling Offer. Details Inside.), Cabela's (12/26 — Inventory Clearance Sale @ Cabelas.com) and Sears (12/26 — Shop for Yourself & Save).



Lands' End, 12/27 — Save Big at the Winter’s End Savings Event
Lands' End is the first major retailer to address the return of unwanted gifts in an email to subscribers. Messages like this show subscribers that you're dedicated to customer service and customer satisfaction. Returns—especially for apparel retailers—have always been a sore spot, so it's smart to give some extra attention to the matter.



OfficeMax, 12/26 — $30 Coupon Enclosed -- Save Today Through Friday!
OfficeMax, 12/26 — $15 Coupon Enclosed -- Save Today Through Friday!
It looks like OfficeMax was doing some A/B testing on a coupon offer. These two emails are identical except for the amount of the discount.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Abercrombie & Fitch, 12/26 — Spring Preview - an exclusive look at our new spring styles at abercrombie.com
Alloy, 12/26 — save up to 75%: end of season clearance
Hallmark, 12/26 — Save up to 75% at After-Holiday Sales
RedEnvelope, 12/26 Do you hear what I hear? Save up to 70%.
Omaha Steaks, 12/26 — AFTER CHRISTMAS SAVINGS...Save 70% PLUS Get 3 Free Gifts
Northern Tool, 12/26 — RetailEmail.Blogspot, Inventory Reduction - Save Up To 70 Percent
Orvis, 12/26 — Save up to 70%. Orvis Winter Sale.
Williams-Sonoma, 12/26 — Save up to 60% at Our Winter Sale
Old Navy, 12/26 — Holiday Sale-Save Up to 50% on the Gifts You Missed!
TigerDirect, 12/28 — End of Year Liquidation...Ends 12/31
Musician's Friend, 12/26 — Musician's Friend: Get What You Really Wanted for Christmas!
Target, 12/27 — Our huge clearance event: Everything goes, so everyone saves

AM Inbox: Reeling in gift card dollars

RetailEmail.Blogspot monitors the email marketing campaigns of nearly 100 of the top online retailers. Here are highlights from our inbox this morning:

Bass Pro Shops, 12/25 — $3.95 Shipping when you redeem your Bass Pro gift card
While Linens 'n Things, Petsmart, Gap and Wal-Mart also urged subscribers to use their gift cards in emails yesterday and today, Bass Pro was the only one to create urgency by tying the use of gift cards to a discounted shipping deal. Bass Pro is also the only major retailer thus far to mention the redemption of gift cards in a subject line.



Lands' End, 12/25 — Sneak Peek: Enjoy post holiday savings today!
Just like on Thanksgiving Day, some retailers with online operations tried to take advantage of the fact that their offline competitors were closed. Lands' End was among the many retailers pushing subscribers to take advantage of post-Christmas sales on Christmas Day.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Circuit City, 12/24 — Don't panic! Buy online, pick up in-store 12/24
Sears, 12/22 — The Really, Really Late SALE
Staples, 12/22 — The go-to place for last-minute gifts.
Abercrombie & Fitch, 12/22 — Your search is over - visit an Abercrombie store for the best Christmas gifts
Sharper Image, 12/25 — Happy Holidays: Save Up To 70%
Abebooks, 12/22 — Holiday Greetings from AbeBooks!
Home Depot, 12/22 — Shop Our Blizzard of Savings Event - Hurry, Ends 12/26!
L.L. Bean, 12/22 — Special Sale Preview--Save up to 60%
RadioShack, 12/25 — Celebrate the Holiday with Big Savings
TigerDirect, 12/25 — After Christmas Blowout: 32" LCD $649...Athlon 64 PC $299...1gb Mp3 $9
Bed Bath & Beyond, 12/25 — 50% off Christmas Merchandise In-Store
Lillian Vernon, 12/26 — Save up to 80% at our Big after Christmas Sale
Banana Republic, 12/26 — Winter Sale starts today: Save up to 50%, online and in-store!
Toys “R” Us, 12/26 — Big, After Season Savings - up to 50% Off!
Coldwater Creek, 12/23 — 50% off EVERYTHING on our website!
CompUSA, 12/24 — HDTVs starting at $599.99 during the After Holiday Sale
Saks Fifth Avenue, 12/24 — GET DRESSED! Pop the cork in festive styles for her & him

Week-End Trends: Introducing the RetailEmail Index

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

This week I’m introducing a new metric to Week-End Trends: the RetailEmail Index. This index is a general measure of the email volume generated by the top 100 online retailers. While the index is based on the same data that I’ve been running in months past, it is not comparable.

The RetailEmail Index fell 8% to 225 during the week ending Dec. 22, after rising for each of the eight weeks prior. However, the index is still 25% higher than it was four weeks ago.


*The RetailEmail Index is a general measure of the email volume generated by the top 100 online retailers.

Last week, 92% of the retailers in the RetailEmail Index sent out email, down from 95% the week prior, but up from 88% from the 4-weeks-ago period



Christmas/Holidays: Like the week before last, there were so many emails about the holidays last week that I’ve given up trying to keep track of them all. That said, a number of retailers have turned their attention to after-Christmas sales and normal promotional activities. As indicated by the RetailEmail Index, the peak in holiday-related email was clearly the week before last.

New Year's: There was 1 email about New Year's last week, up from none the week prior.

AM Inbox: Guaranteed not to arrive in time for Christmas

RetailEmail.Blogspot monitors the email marketing campaigns of nearly 100 of the top online retailers. Here are highlights from our inbox this morning:

Overstock, 12/22 — WAREHOUSE CLEARANCE
With all but overnight shipping now out of the question, Overstock has adopted a tactic that I haven't seen yet this year: Have your gift delivered after Christmas, but send them an e-card gift announcement letting the recipient know that a gift is on its way.



Victoria's Secret, 12/21 — Be the First to Shop Semi-Annual Sale. Plus, Free Shipping & Handling Offer. Details Inside.
While still half-heartedly promoting deliveries by Christmas, Victoria's Secret has moved on to the after-Christmas selling period, offering subscribers an early shot at deals that won't be available in store until Jan. 3.



Orvis, 12/21 — Same-day delivery. Perfect last-minute gifts.
This is an email about e-gift cards/certificates, but you wouldn't immediately know it from the subject line. While lots of retailers are mentioning e-gift cards in their subject lines (see Scanner below), I thought this was a bit more intriguing—Really, I can send gifts and they arrive the same day? —and probably generated better than average open rates. You don't want your subscribers to feel like they were tricked into opening your emails, but I think there's plenty of latitude to be clever with subject lines depending on your audience.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Bass Pro Shops, 12/21 — Out of Time? Email a Bass Pro Gift Card!
NFLshop, 12/21 — It's never too late to order an NFL Gift Certificate
Crutchfield, 12/21 — Need a present? Problem solved: e-mail gift cards
Nordstrom, 12/22 — There's Still Time for the Perfect Gift Virtual Gift Card
Lands' End, 12/22 — E-gift Card: The Ultimate last-second gift.
Sharper Image, 12/22 — Online Gift Certificates - As Quick As Email!
Crate & Barrel, 12/22 — Last Minute Holiday Orders: Call Our Stores
Polo, 12/21 — What's Still on Your Wish List? Holiday Sale Begins Today

AM Inbox: Turbo-charging Santa's sleigh with free overnight delivery

RetailEmail.Blogspot monitors the email marketing campaigns of nearly 100 of the top online retailers. Here are highlights from our inbox this morning:

Blue Nile, 12/20 — Guaranteed Christmas Delivery with Free FedEx Overnight
While many retailers—including The Sportsman's Guide and ShopNBC—are offering discounted express shipping, Blue Nile is offering free overnight shipping. They're one of the few retailers I've seen do this—and probably one of the few that can afford to. Blue Nile normally offers free 2-day shipping so this isn't that much of a step up. They can do this because their average order size is hundreds of dollars, so offering even free overnight shipping isn't a big hit to their margins. Moreover, December is prime time for engagements. Blue Nile wants to be quick to respond to any marriage impulses.



Gloss, 12/21 — TODAY ONLY FROM 11-2 PM ET: Free Overnight Shipping from Gloss.com
Gloss is the other retailer that I've seen offering free overnight shipping (with a $50 purchase). Their offer comes in the form of a lunchtime deal targeting office workers.

Circuit City, 12/21 — It's not too late! Buy online, pick up in the store.
While other retailers have mentioned their in-store pickup option, Circuit City is the first to highlight it as their primary message.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Bluefly, 12/21 — Fashion Forward: Extra 20% off Dresses & Suits for the New Year
Sephora, 12/20 — Don't Panic! Send an online gift certificate
Cabela's, 12/20 — It's Not Too Late - Get a Cabela's E-mail Gift Certificate
Drs. Foster & Smith, 12/20 — Order Your E-Gift by Dec 24th!
ShopPBS, 12/21 — Last Minute Gift Certificates
Target, 12/21 — Wrap up your shopping fast with Target GiftCards
Macy's, 12/21 — Why wait? Save 10-65% now, plus values!
CompUSA, 12/21 — 2 Day Sale - Stores Open 6am - Midnight Friday & Saturday
Bloomingdale's, 12/21 — Give More, Get More...Sale Starts Today!
Williams-Sonoma, 12/20 — Great Gifts in a Hurry
Brookstone, 12/21 — Tomorrow's your last chance for guaranteed holiday Next-Day delivery!
Art.com, 12/20 — 12 HOURS Left - Get it by Christmas + 20% Off - Order Now
Musician's Friend, 12/20 — Musician's Friend: Last Chance for Christmas Delivery!
Petco, 12/20 — PETCO It's Not Too Late - Get Your Gifts Delivered On Time!
RedEnvelope, 12/20 — Delivery in time for Christmas? Yes!

AM Inbox: First after-Christmas sale reference

RetailEmail.Blogspot monitors the email marketing campaigns of nearly 100 of the top online retailers. Here are highlights from our inbox this morning:

E-gift cards have seen heavy mentions over the last 24 hours, with most retailers guaranteeing delivery within 24 hours, if not much less. Some of the retailers to mention them include: JCPenney, TigerDirect, Blair, Nordstrom, Lands' End, Foot Locker, Dick's Sporting Goods, Nike, Wal-Mart, Saks Fifth Avenue and ShopPBS.

DisneyShopping, 12/20 — After Christmas Sale Starts EARLY! Savings Up to 70% Off
With online shopping a tougher sale down the home stretch toward Christmas, DisneyShopping is the first to switch to a post-Christmas strategy with this email announcing its early after-Christmas sale.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Nike, 12/19 — Nike Digital Gift Cards for last minute shoppers.
Finish Line, 12/19 — Finish Line Gift Cards Fit Everyone's Style
American Eagle Outfitters, 12/20 — Free upgrade to FedEx shipping at ae.com
KB Toys, 12/20 — Express Shipping Extended to Wed. 12/20 at 8:59 p.m. PST
Brookstone, 12/19 — Tomorrow's your last chance for guaranteed holiday Express delivery!
Overstock, 12/19 — Free Express Shipping - Last Minute Gift Ideas
Saks, 12/19 — Free Shipping until tomorrow! LAST-MINUTE SANTA ALERT
JCPenney, 12/20 — Need It in Time to Go Under the Tree?
JC Whitney, 12/19 — There's STILL Time
Wal-Mart, 12/19 — It's Not Too Late to Send Great Gifts
Abercrombie & Fitch, 12/19 — Two Days Left, Order by December 21 for Christmas!
RedEnvelope, 12/19 — Oh, Deer! Running late?
Blair, 12/19 — The last-minute gift, recipes, wrapping and more

AM Inbox: Transitioning to e-gift cards and stores

RetailEmail.Blogspot monitors the email marketing campaigns of nearly 100 of the top online retailers. Here are highlights from our inbox this morning:

Target, 12/19 — No time? No problem. Kiss your to-buy list 'Good-Bye.'
Most retailers have now made the shift from free standard shipping to some kind of expedited shipping offer. And now we're seeing the next shift: to promoting e-cards and stores. In this email, Target cleanly lays out the three options shoppers have at this point.



Ralph Lauren, 12/18 — Just in Time for the Holidays - The Online Gift Certificate
Ralph Lauren decided to play up e-cards as the primary topic of this email. They're the first major retailer that I've seen do so. Cooking.com also highlighted e-gift cards in a Dec. 18 email (Get It by Christmas with $9.99 Express Shipping), but they did so with a small secondary box. Dick's Sporting Goods also mentioned e-gift cards in a Dec. 18 email (3 1/2 Days Left to Shop for Delivery by December 22nd).



Sports Authority, 12/18 — There's Still Time! Guaranteed Holiday Delivery!
To help its customers visualize the time remaining on the various shipping options, Sports Authority included this color-coded calendar in an email yesterday. While plenty of retailers have included charts that list the cutoff dates, this is the first that I've noticed that includes a calendar. Visual-thinkers, rejoice!



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
ShopPBS, 12/19 — Free Overnight Delivery
Overstock, 12/18 — FREE EXPRESS SHIPPING - 15,000 gifts you can get by Christmas
AllPosters, 12/18 — 48 Hours Only: 20% Off + FREE UPGRADE to 2-Day Shipping
Art.com, 12/18 — 48 Hours Only: 20% Off + FREE UPGRADE to 2-Day Shipping
Coach, 12/18 — Free Shipping Upgrade: Get it there on time
Snap-On Tools, 12/18 — Last Minute Snap-on Gift Ideas, 10% Off!
Petsmart, 12/18 — Free Shipping Plus Gift Cards for Last Minute
Orvis, 12/18 — Last chance. Christmas Delivery. Order by Dec. 22
Gap, 12/18 — Today is the Last Day to Ship Your Gifts
REI, 12/18 — $20 Coupon Savings - Last Day for Holiday Delivery!
Old Navy, 12/18 — 1 Day Left To Shop for 12/24 Delivery, Plus Free Shipping!
RedEnvelope, 12/18 — Still time to get it under their tree.
FTD, 12/18 — Ho Ho Ho - Save 40%
TigerDirect, 12/18 — Stocking Stuffers: 8mp Camera $139...Smartphone $89...1gb MP3 $9

AM Inbox: Elfishly good fun

RetailEmail.Blogspot monitors the email marketing campaigns of nearly 100 of the top online retailers. Here are highlights from our inbox this morning:

OfficeMax, 12/15 — Catch the Elf Yourself Buzz Before It Ends
It's not quite the same without the motion, but here's the result of the elfamorphosis of yours truly courtesy of OfficeMax's Elf Yourself. Enjoy!



American Eagle Outfitters, 12/15 — AE Winter Break...show us how you breakaway this Holiday
Looking to tap into the online video craze, AE has put the call out for winter break videos.



Lands' End, 12/15 — Last Call for Monogrammed Gifts!
At a time that most retailers are cutting off standard shipping (if they haven't already), Lands' End is still allowing monograms. That's an impressive turnaround.



Gloss, 12/17 — EMAIL EXCLUSIVE: 2nd Day Shipping + Gift Wrap + Holiday Beauty Kit!
Gloss is upping the ante once again. In Thursday's AM Inbox I pointed out how they were offering free 2nd day shipping and free gift wrap. Well now they've thrown in a holiday beauty kit.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Toys “R” Us, 12/17 — TMX Elmo available in Toys"R"Us stores 12/18
TigerDirect, 12/15 — 72 Hour Sale...Just in Time for Christmas!
Overstock, 12/16 — Free Shipping Ends Tomorrow
KB Toys, 12/15 — Holiday Blowout Sale - Up to 60% Off
Coldwater Creek, 12/15 — FREE SHIPPING ends Monday
Harry & David, 12/15 — Last Day! Order Today for Standard Shipping
ShopNBC, 12/15 — Free Shipping with No Minimum Order, Guaranteed Christmas Delivery Through Sunday
Finish Line, 12/15 — Order by Dec. 19 for Christmas Delivery
Alloy, 12/15 — order by monday, 12.18 & get it for Christmas - only $5 more
Petsmart, 12/15 — Only 3 Days Left to Guarantee Your Order by Christmas!
Musician's Friend, 12/15 — Musician's Friend Reminder: Order by 9:00am Monday for Christmas Delivery
Ross-Simons, 12/15 — Last Chance to Save 20% for the Holidays. Guaranteed Christmas Delivery.
Finish Line, 12/16 — Best Gift: Nike+ iPod Footwear & Accessories
NFLshop, 12/16 — Save 50% on Express Shipping - Guaranteed Delivery
Polo, 12/16 — Two More Days for Free Shipping by Christmas
Drs. Foster & Smith, 12/16 — Order as Late as Dec 24th
Brookstone, 12/17 — Tuesday the 19th is your last chance for holiday Standard delivery!
Target, 12/17 — This is it: Last chance for shipping on just-in-time gifts.
Spiegel, 12/17 — Save up to 55% during our 3-Day Last Minute Gift Sale!
Lillian Vernon, 12/17 — It’s Not Too Late to Finish Shopping – Free Standard Shipping
Avon, 12/17 — FREE Shipping & Our LAST DAY of Guaranteed Christmas Delivery
Sharper Image, 12/17 — Save $20 – Only Two Days Of Holiday Shopping Left!
EBags, 12/17 — Final 2 Days: FREE 2nd Day Air upgrade
Sam's Club, 12/18 — Order by December 18th to receive it by December 22nd.

Week-End Trends: Massive surge in email volume as shipping deadline nears

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The 97 top retailers actively tracked by RetailEmail.Blogspot sent out 233 emails during the week ending Dec. 15 as part of their core email marketing campaigns. That was an increase of 15% compared to the week before, and up 40% compared to the 4-weeks-ago period. Ninety-four percent of the retailers tracked sent out emails last week, up from 93% the week prior, and up from 92% during the 4-weeks-ago period.



Christmas/Holidays: Like the week before last, there so many emails about the holidays last week that we’ve given up trying to keep track of them all.

New Year's: There no emails about New Year's last week, after we had our first email about New Year's the week prior, courtesy of Oriental Trading.

Ping Time: Email Insider Summit redux

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

>>EROI’s Email Wars blog has had several posts about the sessions at the Email Insider Summit over the past week. >>Follow the ping

>>Internet Retailer talks about how Lake Champlain Chocolates has driven up sales stemming from marketing campaigns by 50% by identifying recipients who declined to open a promotional email and re-sending them the same creative weeks later. >>Follow the ping

>>EmailChimp’s Blog contains a link to email benchmarks (average open rates, average click rates, average soft bounces, average hard bounces, and average abuse complaint rates) across multiple industries, including retail, based on over 30 million emails delivered by their system. >>Follow the ping

>>Campaign Monitor alerts us to the fact that Gmail has launched MailFetcher, which allows people to check all of the POP accounts using the Gmail interface, which may lead to image rendering problems. >>Follow the ping

>>Alan Sharpe, of Sharpe & Direct, gives us 15 tips on improving email deliverability. >>Follow the ping

AM Inbox: Don't let your gift cards go naked

RetailEmail.Blogspot monitors the email marketing campaigns of nearly 100 of the top online retailers. Here are highlights from our inbox this morning:

Bed Bath & Beyond, 12/14 — Fun Ways to Give the Perfect Last Minute Gift
There's a contrarian logic to this that I really like. Normally you'd buy a gift card for someone when you don't know what they want. In this email, Bed Bath & Beyond says, buy them a gift card, but get them something to go with it. Growing up, my mother always said never give someone an empty purse, wallet or bag as a gift; always put something in it. Bed Bath is turning this around as a way to pitch products. That's refreshing out-of-the-box thinking.



Reebok, 12/15 — Limited Time - Free Shipping and Returns
This is the first major retailer that I've seen try to alleviate return concerns—which are, of course, considerable when you're buying apparel for a friend or family member.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Dell, 12/15 — Hurry! Free next business day shipping on select Dell notebooks.
EBags, 12/14 — FREE 2nd Day Air upgrade: Gifts under the tree by 12/23
Blue Nile, 12/14 — Free FedEx 2Day Shipping at Blue Nile
Sephora, 12/14 — Free Shipping Upgrade on All Orders!
ShopPBS, 12/15 — Free 3-Day Shipping
Cooking.com, 12/15 — Get It by Christmas with $9.99 Express Shipping
Wal-Mart, 12/14 — Order by Monday, 12/18 for Standard Shipping
Target, 12/15 — Feel the rush: Free shipping on 10,000 gifts ends Dec. 18!
Art.com, 12/15 — 20% Off + Free Shipping - Ends Monday 11am EST
AllPosters, 12/15 — 20% Off + Free Shipping - Ends Monday 11am EST!
Polo, 12/14 — 4 Days Left to Shop for the Holiday
Alloy, 12/14 — Order by Friday for free shipping by Christmas
Crate & Barrel, 12/14 — Free Shipping ends tomorrow, 12/15
Orvis, 12/14 — Guaranteed Christmas delivery - order today
Hallmark, 12/15 — Save on last minute gifts delivered by Christmas
RedEnvelope, 12/15 — Holiday Blockbusters. Last chance ground shipping.
Lillian Vernon, 12/15 — Get These Last Minute Gifts by Christmas & Free Shipping
FTD, 12/14 — This Weekend ONLY - 1/2 Off
JCPenney, 12/15 — SATURDAY ONLY! 18 Hour Holiday Blowout in Stores

AM Inbox: I see your free shipping and raise you free gift wrap

RetailEmail.Blogspot monitors the email marketing campaigns of nearly 100 of the top online retailers. Here are highlights from our inbox this morning:

Gloss, 12/14 — LUXURY GIFTS + Free Shipping & Gift Wrap from GLOSS.com
Over the last week or so, retailers' emails have steadily shifted from being product-oriented (top 10 lists, featured products, etc.) to service-oriented (free shipping, free expedited shipping). In this email, Gloss has anted up free gift wrap in addition to free shipping, which practically everyone else is offering. Besides upping the ante, Gloss is likely targeting last-minute shoppers who will be shipping their gifts directly to the recipients. If you find at a certain point that more of your shoppers are shipping directly to others, free gift wrap may be an effective incentive as well.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Jo-Ann, 12/14 — 50% off coupon or free 2-day express upgrade.
Ross-Simons, 12/13 — 2 Days Only! 20% off Jewelry Plus Free Express Delivery Upgrade!
Cooking.com, 12/14 — Ends Tonight! Last Chance Free Shipping for Christmas Arrival
Drugstore.com, 12/14 — Last Chance - get Free Shipping
Old Navy, 12/14 — Last Chance for $10 Deals & Free Shipping on $50!
Gap, 12/14 — Last-Minute Gifts. Now on Sale.
Coldwater Creek, 12/14 — 4 days left for Free Shipping
CompUSA, 12/14 — Ship Now - Only 3 Days Left for Free Shipping
Bass Pro Shop, 12/14 — 3 Days Only - $3.95 Standard Shipping at basspro.com
Dick's Sporting Goods, 12/14 — Guaranteed To Get There by December 22nd
KB Toys, 12/13 — Free Standard Shipping + Lots of Holiday Savings
Petco, 12/13 — PETCO FREE Shipping on Gifts for Your Favorite Pets!
Spiegel, 12/13 — 12 Days of Shopping: 20% OFF Stocking Stuffers + Pay Nothing Until March!
Cabela's, 12/13 — E-mail Only Christmas Sale @ Cabelas.com
Sportsman's Guide, 12/14 — Winchester Multi-Tool Set, Under 15 Bucks, More Gift Deals from The Guide!

AM Inbox: Belated countdown

RetailEmail.Blogspot monitors the email marketing campaigns of nearly 100 of the top online retailers. Here are highlights from our inbox this morning:

Blair, 12/12 — Finish your holiday shopping with this special offer
Blair has started running a 12 Deals of Christmas campaign, but they've waited until 12 days before Christmas, which means that the last few days of the campaign won't mean much since they won't be able to ship orders in time. Perhaps the last few days will promote after-Christmas sales.



Avon, 12/13 — Give a Gift from Avon & get FREE Shipping on ANY Order
On the other hand, Avon is running an excellent 12 Days of Christmas campaign. The emails, which they've been sending each day since last Wednesday, all have a consistent look, with each featuring the same woman, a deal in an ornament-shaped box and a square tag with the details. Avon usually sends an average of three emails a week, so sending an email for 12 straight days is about twice as much as normal, but we think since the campaign makes it clear when the extra emails will stop (after 12 days) and because it's the run-up to Christmas, subscribers will understand. The other really interesting feature of this campaign is that they've coordinated it so that it's a countdown to the end of guaranteed Christmas delivery, which makes a lot of sense if their peak selling period was here toward the end anyway. Some other retailers have already wrapped up their 12 Deals of Christmas campaigns, indicating that their customers are inclined to shop earlier in the season.



Hallmark, 12/13 — A Very Merry Trio Holiday Greeting and Rockin' Gift Ideas
Hallmark is sending its subscribers one of its e-cards with a holiday greeting. They're also included a forward-to-a-friend link prominently, hoping its customers will help spread the word about Hallmark's e-cards.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Lands' End, 12/12 — Great Gifts That Will Warm Their Hearts (and Their Toes).
Oriental Trading, 12/12 — Limited time only - $5.95 express delivery for Christmas
Bass Pro Shops, 12/12 — Time's Running Out for Standard Shipping at Bass Pro!
Abercrombie & Fitch, 12/12 — Order by noon on December 14th to get it by Christmas
Hanna Andersson, 12/12 — The Time Is Now: Dec. 15 for Regular Delivery
MLB, 12/12 — Order gifts until Dec. 21st to get them there in time.
Sony, 12/12 — Shop Sony Style now for delivery by December 23
Bellacor, 12/12 — Friend, Free Shipping on last-minute gifts - Save up to 50%
DisneyShopping, 12/13 — 40% Off Sitewide - Our Last-Minute Holiday Gift to You!
KB Toys, 12/12 — Gift Ideas for Gamers
Saks Fifth Avenue, 12/12 — Timely Gifts for Everyone + FREE SHIPPING
L.L. Bean, 12/12 — FREE $10 Gift Card + The Gift of Organization
Foot Locker, 12/12 — Last Chance for Holiday Savings -- Take $20 Off
Drugstore, 12/12 — Get Free Shipping and top gifts
RedEnvelope, 12/12 — Today ONLY. Top 10 Gifts for Her- save up to 50%
Nordstrom, 12/12 — The Best Stocking Stuffers Gift Cards Free Shipping (Details Inside)
Target, 12/13 — This gift's for you: Spend $50 and get a $10 e-GiftCard

AM Inbox: Deadline for personalized gifts

RetailEmail.Blogspot monitors the email marketing campaigns of nearly 100 of the top online retailers. Here are highlights from our inbox this morning:

RedEnvelope, 12/11 — Today ONLY. Top 10 Gifts for Guys – save up to 40%.
Retailers including RedEnvelope, Williams-Sonoma, Polo, Orvis, Dick's Sporting Goods and The Sports Authority have offered personalized or customized gifts this holiday season. Because these gifts take time to modify or assemble, the shipping deadline is earlier than normal products. RedEnvelope ran up against its deadline yesterday. They are the first to mention a cutoff for having personalized gifts arrive in time for Christmas.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Ross-Simons, 12/11 — 20% off Jewelry Plus Free Express Shipping! First Time Ever!
Victoria's Secret, 12/11 — Gifts Up to 40% Off - Exclusive Email Collection. Plus, Free 2nd Day Express Delivery Offer. Details & Offer Code Inside
Abebooks, 12/11 — News Flash: Guaranteed Delivery by Dec. 24 & Penguin Designer Classics Auction
Alibris, 12/11 — Book Lover, only SIX more days to save on holiday shipping.
Lillian Vernon, 12/12 — Hurry – Free Shipping by Christmas the Next 2 Days Only
Cooking.com, 12/12 — KitchenAid Sale Ending + Last 2 Days Free Shipping*
Petsmart, 12/11 — Only One Week Left to Guarantee Your Order by Christmas!
Home Depot, 12/11 — Make Sure Your Holiday Gifts Arrive On Time
Orvis, 12/11 — Christmas delivery guaranteed. Order now.
Staples, 12/11 — Incredible last-minute gift deals and email exclusives
ShopNBC, 12/11 — Free Shipping and Special Holiday Gift Ideas
J. Crew, 12/11 — Get free shipping, give gifts
Gap, 12/11 — The Really Big Sale is Here-Up to 50% Off
TigerDirect, 12/11 — Widescreen Canon Camcorder $199...Kodak 4mp Camera $89...More Christmas Cameras...
Dick's Sporting Goods, 12/11 — Great Sports Deals in the Gift Center
Coach, 12/11 — Give her a 'Must-Have Handbag' from Coach
Williams-Sonoma, 12/11 — Plan the Perfect Holiday Party: Recipes & Tips
Wal-Mart, 12/11 — Top 10 Toys
Blue Nile, 12/11 — Top 10 Gifts + Special Holiday Savings at Blue Nile
Saks Fifth Avenue, 12/11 — Beat Winter's Chill in Style + FREE SHIPPING

AM Inbox: Free shipping soon won't be

RetailEmail.Blogspot monitors the email marketing campaigns of nearly 100 of the top online retailers. Here are highlights from our inbox this morning:

RedEnvelope, 12/8 — FREE shipping. And we do mean free.
The overwhelming message from retailers during the Friday afternoon to Monday morning time period was: Time is running out on free shipping. You can see in the Scanner below that many retailers included that message in their subject lines. For the majority of retailers, Dec. 15 or 16 is their cutoff for guaranteed delivery for Christmas with standard shipping. In this email from RedEnvelope, they're also touting their free shipping, but they're already laying the ground work for the shift to expedited and express shipping with the message: “Shop now and receive Free Ground Shipping, 2-Business Day shipping for $8 (regularly $16.95) or Next Business Day shipping for $18 (regularly $26.95) per address.” In an email from Victoria's Secret on Thursday, we saw them be the first major retailer to make the shift to free expedited shipping.

Saks Fifth Avenue, 12/9 — Support St. Jude Thanks & Giving
We've seen lots of retailers include banners in their emails asking for support for their favorite charities, but this is the first time during December that we've seen an entire email dedicated to a charity.



Lands' End, 12/9 — A Lands' End Exclusive: Visit Santa's Website!
Lands' End is pulling out the big guns: the celebrity endorsement. In this case, Santa Claus. In addition to their joint holiday website with Sears and Kmart, readysetholidy.com, Lands' End has set up hisanta.landsend.com.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Alloy, 12/9 — Last chance for Christmas delivery at no extra charge
Crutchfield, 12/8 — Special Free shipping offer: Now thru Dec. 11
REI, 12/8 — $2.99 Shipping for Subscribers Only 'Til Dec. 14
Macy's 12/10 — Free Shipping at the Ready Set Gift Sale - it ends Tuesday!
Finish Line, 12/9 — Last Call for Free Shipping!
CompUSA, 12/10 — FREE Shipping All Week Long 12/10 - 12/16!
Target, 12/10 — Free shipping on 15,000 gifts ends soon: Not a merry moment to waste
Lillian Vernon, 12/10 — Hurry, Shop Now to Get it by Christmas & Save 15%
Circuit City, 12/10 — Hurry—time is running out for holiday shopping!
RedEnvelope, 12/10 — Last Chance. FREE Shipping expires tonight.
Petco, 12/10 — PETCO Shop Online To Get Your Gifts On Time + FREE Shipping
JCPenney, 12/11 — Wrap up Your Holiday List with Free Shipping!
Old Navy, 12/11 — Wrap Up Your List With 10% Off Last-Minute Gifts!
ShopPBS, 12/11 — Holiday Shipping Guide - Get it there in time!
Dick's Sporting Goods, 12/10 — Act Now! Biggest Golf Event of the Year!
Bed Bath & Beyond, 12/8 — 1001 Best Gifts
Crate & Barrel, 12/8 — Hundreds of Holiday Gifts for Kids.
Hanna Andersson, 12/8 — Special Savings On Lots Of Best-Loved Gifts
Saks Fifth Avenue, 12/10 — SAKS SELECTS: The very best gifts for women & men!
Toys “R” Us, 12/10 — 12 Deals of Christmas: Day 1 Our deals have just begun

Week-End Trends: On the first day of Christmas my true love sent me email...lots of email

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The 95 top retailers actively tracked by RetailEmail.Blogspot sent out 200 emails during the week ending Dec. 8 as part of their core email marketing campaigns. That was an increase of 14% compared to the week before, and up 25% compared to the 4-weeks-ago period. Ninety-three percent of the retailers tracked sent out emails last week, up from 91% the week prior, and up from 85% during the 4-weeks-ago period.



Christmas/Holidays: Like the week before last, there so many emails about the holidays last week that we’ve given up trying to keep track of them all.

Thanksgiving: There were no emails about Thanksgiving, down from 4 during the week prior. And we had our Season Finale for Thanksgiving on Thursday.

New Year's: We had our first email about New Year's last week, courtesy of Oriental Trading.

AM Inbox: A bit quick on expedited shipping

RetailEmail.Blogspot monitors the email marketing campaigns of nearly 100 of the top online retailers. Here are highlights from our inbox this morning:

Victoria's Secret, 12/7 — Free Slippers with PJ Purchase. Plus, Free 2nd Day Express Delivery Offer. Offer Codes & Details Inside.
Vicky is first to pull the trigger on free expedited shipping, and we’re not really sure why since there’s still almost a full week where standard shipping will do the trick just fine. It would appear that they’re giving away margin unnecessarily. One issue may be that they tend to email subscribers only once a week, usually on a Thursday or Friday—although this week they sent out emails on both Tuesday and Thursday—so perhaps they feel that waiting until next week is too late. The answer there seems to be to have another extra email early next week. We expect to see many more offers of free expedited shipping, but not until mid to late next week.



HSN, 12/8 — FREE SHIPPING Today Only
HSN is also doing something a little strange with their shipping offer. They’re offering free shipping on everything you buy, but only after you pay shipping for one item. It’s complicated; even after drilling down into the offer, we weren’t really clear on how it worked. Our advice is to stick with shipping offers that people are used to: make it free with a minimum purchase, or make the shipping cost a flat rate (Overstock likes $1 shipping, for instance).



CompUSA, 12/7 — Free 2GB iPod nano with purchase of any HDTV $1799 & up!
As we get closer to Christmas, gift cards will become a bigger sell, as procrastinators look for gifts. The downside to gift cards is that some perceive them as generic and unimaginative. CompUSA tackles those perceptions by allowing people to customize the card with an image and text, using a photo gift card service provided by Cardways. (Of course, you can also choose one of the 10 ready-made CompUSA designs as well). This offering is a particularly good fit with CompUSA as it should resonant with its tech-savvy customers, most of whom are sure to have plenty of digital photos at the ready.



Toys “R” Us, 12/8 — 2 -Day Sale and New Store Hours!
In an email clearly designed to drive shoppers to its stores, Toys “R” Us alerts subscribers to the fact that its stores will be opening at 7am on Saturday, Dec. 9, 16 and 23, plus its stores will be open until midnight between Dec. 8 and 23.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
JCPenney, 12/7 — Just in the Nick of Time: Our Biggest Sale + Free Shipping
L.L. Bean, 12/7 — FREE $10 Gift Card with $50 Purchase
Staples, 12/8 — Unexpected Gifts, a Staples Specialty!
Orvis, 12/7 — Top 10 Holiday Gifts. Guaranteed Delivery.
Abercrombie & Fitch, 12/7 — You Know They Want It. Give Them Abercrombie...Abercrombie.com
Musician's Friend, 12/7 — Musician's Friend: Find the Perfect Gift and Save up to $150!
Spiegel, 12/7 — One Day Holiday Sale: Up to 75% OFF Over 100 gifts & more!
ShopNBC, 12/7 — Free Shipping Starts Today, Plus Holiday Gala Gift Ideas
Nordstrom, 12/8 — Holiday Beauty Gifts FREE Shipping Offer (Details Inside)
Petco, 12/7 — PETCO Great Gift Ideas + Free Shipping!
Foot Locker, 12/7 — Last Chance - Free Shipping ends Monday!
Harry & David, 12/7 — Cool gifts to warm their hearts
Sony, 12/7 — Let Sony Style help you find the perfect gift.
Crate & Barrel, 12/7 — Last week for Free Shipping
Home Depot, 12/7 — 20 - 50% Off Select Holiday Decor Online

AM Inbox: Embracing your inner Goofy

RetailEmail.Blogspot monitors the email marketing campaigns of nearly 100 of the top online retailers. Here are highlights from our inbox this morning:

DisneyShopping, 12/6 — Goofy Coupons Are Back with Savings Up to 42%
This email is an excellent example of using your brand to do differently what everybody else does. Just about every retailer is offering discounts on products or product categories right now, but DisneyShopping has branded their discount coupons, calling them Goofy Coupons. And then playing off the Goofy character, they've made the coupons irregular shapes and of irregular values. The last time DisneyShopping offered Goofy Coupons was in a Nov. 14 email (Check Out Our Goofy Coupons With Savings Up to 40%), which had the same design, but featured discounts in round numbers like 20%, 30% and 40% off and free shipping on orders over $100. This time they have made them “goofier than ever,” with discounts of 22%, 36% and 42% and free shipping on orders over $88. Of course, few retailers have a stable of characters like Disney, but most retailers can put their own spin on discounts. For example, Bluefly has its Blue Room specials.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Avon, 12/7 — FREE Shipping with ANY Order, plus Holiday SAVINGS on Kisses
J. Crew, 12/6 — Big holiday sale + free shipping
Overstock, 12/6 — Top 10 Holiday Gift Ideas + $1 Shipping
Banana Republic, 12/7 — New holiday reductions + the best dresses of the season
Bluefly, 12/7 — Our Gift to You: Extra 10% off our Holiday Gift Guide - Today Only
Sears, 12/6 — Exclusive 50% Savings thru Thursday
Bellacor, 12/6 — Friend, 3 Day Holiday Clearance Sale - Free Shipping and Save up to 50%
Circuit City, 12/7 — Hurry—blowout sale ends soon at Circuit City
Costco, 12/7 — Hot Electronics - Cool Prices Only Online At Costco.com

Season Finale: Thanksgiving 2006

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

Start to finish: The first reference to Thanksgiving was by Linens ’n Things on Oct. 6. The last reference was by RedEnvelope on Nov. 27.

The count: The 97 retailers that we tracked during this period sent out 77 emails about their Thanksgiving sales and products. That’s an average of 0.79 Thanksgiving emails per retailer.

The distribution curve: The week ending Nov. 24 accounted for more than half of all emails referencing Thanksgiving, and included Nov. 22 and 23, which were the busiest days by far. However, the emails arriving the week of Thanksgiving were all for Thanksgiving sales. Emails targeting Thanksgiving-related purchases stopped around Nov. 16, when Thanksgiving deliveries became very difficult. (As always, don't pay attention to the magnitude of the curve. Rather, take note of the shape of the curve and the timing of the emails.)



Most interesting email: Our favorite Thanksgiving email was Williams-Sonoma's 11/16 email (Simplify Your Thanksgiving). Our regular readers know that we think highly of Williams-Sonoma’s email program. This email is just another great example of their work, which does a fantastic job of combining their products with recipes and advice. Here we’re given links to eight short articles about Thanksgiving-related topics, each accompanied by lists of related products. Our favorite: The Thanksgiving Timeline.

For its fun quotient, we also liked JC Whitney's Nov. 21 email (Turkey Surprise), which included a game of 3-turkey monte.



Standout subject lines:
Linen ’n Things, 11/22 — Free Shipping Thanksgiving Day + Preview 2-Day In Store Doorbusters
Williams-Sonoma, 10/31 — What Every Thanksgiving Cook Needs
Williams-Sonoma, 11/8 — Peek Inside Our Thanksgiving Pantry
Crate & Barrel, 11/14 — The modern turkey table

Surprises and notable trends: Cooking.com, Crate & Barrel and Harry & David all included charts that listed the last day for orders to arrive by Thanksgiving with the various shipping options. Already, these shipping charts have been much more popular with retailers’ Christmas/holiday campaigns.

Previous emails about Thanksgiving:
12/3 — Week-End Trends: Cyber Monday boom
11/27 — AM Inbox: Making the most of leftovers
11/25 — Week-End Trends: Cornucopia of emails
11/23 — AM Inbox: The early bird doesn’t catch any Z’s
11/22 — AM Inbox: Post-Thanksgiving sales on Thanksgiving Day
11/18 — Week-End Trends: Home stretch for Thanksgiving
11/1 — AM Inbox: Turkey via ground, air or rocket?
10/6 — AM Inbox: First Thanksgiving reference

AM Inbox: First New Year's reference

RetailEmail.Blogspot monitors the email marketing campaigns of nearly 100 of the top online retailers. Here are highlights from our inbox this morning:

Oriental Trading, 12/5 — Finish holiday shopping & get free shipping, plus save 15%
After promoting its stocking stuffers, Oriental Trading gives us our first reference to New Year's.



Overstock, 12/5 — 12 Days O Christmas - Pirates of the Caribean for $9.99
As we countdown the last 12 days or so during which gifts will arrive in time for Christmas, Overstock and a few other major retailers are rolling out their 12 Days of Christmas-themed specials. Overstock cleverly brands their countdown the “12 Days O Christmas” to capitalize on all their O branding.



RedEnvelope, 12/5 — Today ONLY– 50% off Holiday Food Gifts.
RedEnvelope is not quite doing a 12 Days of Christmas promotion, but it's similar. The interesting thing about their approach is that it looks like they will have a back-looking component to their promotion, where they will list past deals in the list on the right-hand side of their email. We assume the tactic here is to remind them of how great past deals were in order to excite them about not wanting to miss the next deal, as their list also reminds folks to check back tomorrow for the next deal.



Orvis, 12/5 — Save up to 65% on great gifts now. Why wait?
Just like some retailers dangled Black Friday deals a day or two before Black Friday, Orvis is the saying that it's offering after-Christmas deals now, saying: “Right now, you can save up to 65% on fantastic apparel and gifts—savings normally reserved for after the holidays—and still get it in time for Christmas.”

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Harry & David, 12/5 — We've got the Pears ... who really wants the partridge or tree?
Abebooks, 12/5 — The Avid Reader: Stocking Stuffers under $10.00
Hanna Andersson, 12/5 — Over 50 New Holiday Sale Items For Gifts And Gatherings
TigerDirect, 12/5 — 100 Holiday Gifts Under $100
Bass Pro Shops, 12/5 — Free Shipping at basspro.com for 2 Days!
OfficeMax, 12/5 — Save $150 on Our Exclusive HP Tech Package
Crutchfield, 12/5 — Save up to $400 on HDTVs, plus get free delivery
Northern Tool, 12/5 — Chad, Offer Extended, Free Gift Card with Purchase
Nordstrom, 12/5 — Knit Gifts: Sweaters, Scarves & Hats XBOX 360 FREE Shipping Offer (Details Inside)

AM Inbox: Recipes include reindeer

RetailEmail.Blogspot monitors the email marketing campaigns of nearly 100 of the top online retailers. Here are highlights from our inbox this morning:

Cooking.com, 12/4 — Great Gifts that Ship Free
Lands' End, 12/4 — Falling prices, in time for falling temps
One of online's biggest handicaps is that it's difficult to browse—hence the constant stream of “Top 10 Gift” emails and the heavy promotion of gift-finder features. While those tactics are tried and true, Cooking.com and Lands' End are trying another tactic to get shoppers to explore their websites: Let's call it “the hunt.”

Cooking.com has unleashed a Rascally Reindeer. Browse its recipes and when you find the reindeer icon and click on it, you have a chance to win a prize. The rules are pretty complicated, but the idea is good.



Lands' End has it's own spin on the hunt. At its Hi Santa site, one of its games is a scavenger hunt that encourages you to explore landsend.com and find things that Santa has lost—and who wouldn't want to help Santa out of a jam? These are fun ways to encourage exploration, and probably appeal most to the young and the young at heart.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Victoria's Secret, 12/5 — Watch The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Dec.5th. Plus Free Lip Gloss with Purchase. Offer Code & Details Inside.
FTD, 12/5 — Holiday Cheer 15% Off
Coldwater Creek, 12/4 — Save Santa a trip with Free Shipping, plus 25% off jackets!
Crate & Barrel, 12/4 — Frosty gift ideas
Coach, 12/4 — From stocking stuffers to the perfect bag...
JC Whitney, 12/5 — Stocking Stuffers
Williams-Sonoma, 12/4 — New for the Holidays: Railway Cakes
Saks Fifth Avenue, 12/4 — Free Shipping + New RALPH LAUREN for kids
Home Depot, 12/4 — The Perfect Gift for Every Budget
Harry & David, 12/4 — These 10 Gifts are Tops – Save 10%* now!
L.L. Bean, 12/5 — 10 Gifts That Top Their List
JCPenney, 12/4 — Free Shipping on the Best Gifts to Give & Get
American Eagle Outfitters, 12/4 — Get Gifted and get Free Shipping with $100 purchase
Staples, 12/4 — An exclusive email deal and a 7-Day Online Savings Event

AM Inbox: Midnight maddness

RetailEmail.Blogspot monitors the email marketing campaigns of nearly 100 of the top online retailers. Here are highlights from our inbox this morning:

Sears, 12/1 — Free Shipping + Extra Savings
Dick's Sporting Goods, 12/4 — After Hours Sale Wednesday Online Only!
On Black Friday, shoppers demonstrated that they are willing to sacrifice sleep in order to get a great deal. Recognizing that, Sears and Dick's Sporting Goods are offering subscribers a shot at deals starting at midnight. Sears' sale runs midnight to noon, while Dick's runs midnight to 7am. Just like with 5am doorbuster deals, there's excitement and an air of exclusivity with having to stay up late to get these deals. They can also help time-shift some of your site's daytime traffic to the middle of the night when your servers aren't as taxed.



Gloss, 12/4 — Make Your Holidays a Little Merrier with 2 EXCLUSIVE GIFTS! Only at Gloss.com
During the holiday season, offering free shipping can seriously dent the bottom line, but it's a necessary evil because of its effectiveness. But why not offer customers an alternative. Gloss does just that in this email, offering customers the option between free shipping and a sample of Gloss Holiday Favorite and a makeup bag. Giving them the free shipping offer put you on par with every other retailer that's offering it, but then you give them the option to have something else that's attractive but less expensive. (We're assuming that the samples cost less than shipping on average, otherwise this is not a smart option to give shoppers.) The samples would make a great stocking stuffer, so this offer should be pretty effective during the holiday season, since small gifts like that can be hard to come by.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Target, 12/3 — Free shipping on top gifts. Ready. Set. Go 'Ho, ho, ho'
Banana Republic, 12/3 — Special Holiday Offer for you + thoughtful gifts for everyone on your list...
Coldwater Creek, 12/2 — Oh what fun ~ 25% off jackets & Free Shipping all the way!
Lillian Vernon, 12/1 — Save $15 Now, Plus, Tell Santa What You Want for Christmas
Saks Fifth Avenue, 12/1 — FREE SHIPPING + Gourmet Gifts & New Electronics
Staples, 12/1 — FREE photo printer when you buy a camera.
Old Navy, 12/1 — Get Free Shipping on $60, Plus New Steal, Deal & Unreal Savings!
Finish Line, 12/1 — Our Gift to You, Free Shipping
Spiegel, 12/1 — Perfect Party Looks + FREE SHIPPING!
TigerDirect, 12/1 — Tiger's Top 40 Holiday Gifts
Dell, 12/1 — Experience the convenience of shopping with Dell.
Sports Authority, 12/1 — Give Her The Gift of Columbia!
Bed Bath & Beyond, 12/1 — MIKASA BONUS GIFT CARD
RedEnvelope, 12/1 — Today ONLY - 1/2 off our best-selling gift.
ShopPBS, 12/1 — 20% off ShopPBS Best Sellers of 2006
Sharper Image, 12/1 — Free Shipping. No Minimum. Happy Holidays!
Crutchfield, 12/2 — Sony HD: Explore the possibilities
CompUSA, 12/3 — Wrap up the best toys - Media Center PC for only $249.99
Dick's Sporting Goods, 12/3 — Act Now! Biggest Free Shipping Event of the Year!
Nordstrom, 12/4 — Cozy Gifts: Sleepwear + PJ's for the Family FREE Shipping Offer (Details Inside)
RadioShack, 12/4 — Hot Sounds for the Holidays.

Week-End Trends: Cyber Monday boom

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The 96 top retailers actively tracked by RetailEmail.Blogspot sent out 176 emails during the week ending Dec. 1 as part of their core email marketing campaigns. That was flat compared to the week before, but up 12% compared to the 4-weeks-ago period. Ninety percent of the retailers tracked sent out emails last week, up from 88% the week prior, and up from 84% during the 4-weeks-ago period.

As we reported in Tuesday's AM Inbox, Cyber Monday has been the most active email marketing day for retailers that we've seen, with 44% of retailers sending out an email. Friday's 37% participation rate was also the busiest Friday we've measured. Clearly retailers were targeting weekend shoppers, a trend that should continue through Christmas.



Christmas/Holidays: Like the week before last, there so many emails about the holidays last week that we’ve given up trying to keep track of them all.

Thanksgiving: There were 4 emails about Thanksgiving, down from 40 during the week prior.

Fall: There were no emails about fall last week, down from 2 emails the week before.

AM Inbox: Mirth and pith

RetailEmail.Blogspot monitors the email marketing campaigns of nearly 100 of the top online retailers. Here are highlights from our inbox this morning:

Target, 11/30 — Get in the gifting groove: Free shipping on 15,000 presents
Target has had some snappy headlines in their holiday emails lately. In this one they say, “Ring the doorbell with your elbow. Great surprises for everyone on your list.” For those versed in poetics, there’s great consonance (having the same consonant sound) in that first line between the B and L sounds in “doorbell” and “elbow.” In a Nov. 26 email (Get it all together: Our biggest free shipping event for toys), they use the headline “Find them quick. Hide them quick.” In this case they use strong parallel structure, repeating “them quick,” and use “find” and “hide,” which share both consonance with the D and assonance (having the same vowel sound) with the long-I sound. Many of its headlines are more straightforward—a Nov. 24 email (Free shipping on 25,000 gifts including everything they're wishing for) uses “Toys, toys and more toys.”—but there are some lyrical gems in there.

CompUSA, 11/30 — 3 Day Online Only Specials 11/30 - 12/2
There’s a banner toward the bottom of this email that proclaims “Bonus In-Store Only Offers.” There are two things about this that were confusing: First, clicking on the banner lands you on CompUSA’s homepage, where you have to find the link to the Bonus In-Store Only Offers again. It would have been more user-friendly to just link it directly to the page with the offers. Second, the offers weren’t in-store only. You could add to the product to your shopping cart and have it delivered, or pick it up from your nearest store. When we first saw this, we figured it was a tactic to drive subscribers to stores, but in the end that didn’t appear to be the primary concern at all.



Crate & Barrel, 11/30 — Gourmet chocolates ready to give
In their email yesterday, Crate & Barrel had a nice little gift guide index, which included a link to Hanukkah Favorites. This is the first reference that we’ve seen about Hanukkah, which starts at sundown on Dec. 15 this year.



OfficeMax, 11/30 — Save $20 on Logitech Portable Speakers
Hoping to generate a little viral buzz, OfficeMax included a link to a bunch of wacky holiday games and shorts. We didn’t have time to play them all, but arm wrestling the reindeer was fun and the short with the mistletoe in the elevator was pretty funny. Enjoy.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Home Depot, 11/30 — Top 10 Gifts of the Season
Cabela’s, 11/30 — Top 10 Holiday Gift Ideas from Cabelas.com
Williams-Sonoma, 11/30 — Now in Season: Holiday Wreaths
Sephora, 12/1 — HOLIDAY SAMPLER: Get 10 Get-Gorgeous Samples for Free!
JCPenney, 11/30 — Use Our Associate Discount: One Day Only!
Alloy, 11/30 — 20% off your entire order - limited time
Finish Line, 11/30 — Free Shipping on Nike & Timberland
Avon, 11/30 — FREE Shipping on ANY Order, plus Holiday Sale: Up to 75% OFF
Nordstrom, 11/30 — Outerwear for the Family FREE Holiday Shipping (Details Inside)
Harry & David, 11/30 — Gifting made easy – use our Holiday Gift Guide
Art.com, 12/1 — Up to 30% Off: Giving the Gift of Art