AM Inbox: Dell’s deal-a-day RSS feed

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

Dell, 6/12 — Days of Deals Start Today - Get an XPS 410 for only $899
Dell is yet another retailer running a deal-a-day promotion, theirs lasting 10 days. But what’s interesting and different is that they’ve RSS-enabled their program—that is, you can subscribe to their deal-a-day promotion via your RSS reader. It’s a good idea, providing your subscribers another way to interact with you…



…however, when you click on the RSS button to subscribe to the feed, this is what comes up:



Now I’m not a huge RSS user (I only subscribe to about 20 feeds through Outlook 2007), but I’ve never seen a feed page like that. There didn’t appear to be any way to subscribe. After consulting Outlook 2007 help, I was able to subscribe only to discover that Dell’s feed pretty much just gives you a subject line. You have to click through to see anything, which is annoying. I realize they are trying to show you the most current information, which is why they make you click through, but I think RSS feeds should be as informative as emails. If you received an email that contained only a “View article…” link, how successful do you think that email would be?

Lillian Vernon, 6/12 — Save $10 on Festive 4th of July BBQ Supplies
It appears that Lillian Vernon did some A/B testing on this email yesterday, sending two different creatives that each used the same subject line.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Blair, 6/12 — Celebrate the red, white and blue with savings
FTD, 6/12 — A sweet Drive on Route 66 - Just in time for Father's Day.
Crutchfield, 6/12 — Get Dad more TV for the money: Flat-panel savings & more
MLB, 6/12 — Still haven't shopped for dad? We'll help with 50% off expedited shipping.
Saks Fifth Avenue, 6/12 — NEW PRADA MEN'S COLLECTIONS: A Look at Fall
Banana Republic, 6/12 — The Summer-perfect little black dress + sexy new shoes are here
Avon, 6/12 — NEW Hot Shine for Summer + FREE Shipping on ANY eRepresentative Order
L.L. Bean, 6/12 — The Perfect Polo + Our Summer SALE Continues
PetSmart, 6/11 — Clean Up & Lawn Repair, Whiskas Promotion and More