Week-End Trends: Breast Cancer Awareness rises

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The RetailEmail Index rose 3% to 191 during the week ending Sept. 28, and is up 2% from where it was four weeks ago.


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

Last week, 88% of the retailers in the RetailEmail Index send out at least one email, down from 89% the week prior, and down from 93% during the 4-weeks-ago period.



Halloween (Oct. 31): The retailers in the RetailEmail Index sent 13 emails referencing Halloween last week, up from 9 the week before.

Christmas (Dec. 25): There were 12 emails referencing Christmas last week, up from 1 the week prior.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October): There were 6 emails referencing Breast Cancer Awareness Month, up from 1 the week before.

Back to School: There were no back to school references last week, down from 1 the week prior.

Other things referenced by retailers: fall, Halo 3, coats/jackets, football

Ping Time: The elements of an administration center

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

>>Loren McDonald talks about the value of administration centers and the elements that should be in there. >>Follow the ping

>>Mark Brownlow at Email Marketing Reports comments on Silverpop research that indicates that the sender line—that is, the sender’s reputation and relationship with the subscriber—far overshadows the subject line when it comes to determining open rates. >>Follow the ping

>>Email Karma talks about reactivating old subscribers and gives us six tips for doing it the right way. >>Follow the ping

>>Kevin Hillstrom at MineThatData argues that the email marketing industry doesn’t need to use its “meaninglessly” high ROI to beat down other marketing avenues. >>Follow the ping

>>VerticalResponse gives us six ideas for segmenting our email lists, including segmenting by clickers, non-responders and buyers/nonbuyers. >>Follow the ping

>>Silverpop releases “Taming Transactional Email: Tips to Gain Control and Determine if Outsourcing Makes Sense,” which explores maximizing the power of your transactional messaging. >>Follow the ping
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AM Inbox: Upselling options

>>Welcome Email Study released. Check out this second annual report on retailers’ welcome emails. Read the executive summary.

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

Harry & David, 9/27 — Go Deluxe and SAVE 10% + FREE Pears with select Fruit Clubs
This is a really interesting way of presenting an upsell. First, Harry & David offers subscribers 10% if they upgrade to one of the three “deluxe” gift collections. And second, they succinctly present how the deluxe gift differs from its non-deluxe counterpart.



Kmart, 9/27 — 3 Days of Free Shipping + Sneak Peek
Kmart has changed the way that it presents their Best of Blue deals. Whereas before the deal wasn’t known until you clicked through, giving Kmart the ability to change what different subscribers saw or change the deal based on inventory availability (see Aug. 6 AM Inbox), now they show subscribers the deal in the email itself. And they don’t appear to be varying the deals on a per-subscriber basis.



Walgreen’s, 9/26 — Are You Ready for Flu Season? Get Your Flu Shot at Walgreens
This is a great email that brings together several different elements:
1. Timeliness and Urgency, because flu season begins in October.
2. Multichannel, because it drives subscribers to stores for the service.
3. Education, because of the link to the Flu Center where you can learn more



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Oriental Trading, 9/26 — Get free shipping on the top Halloween costumes
Frederick’s of Hollywood, 9/26 — Ready for Halloween? Shop our sexy costumes and get $15 off .
Williams-Sonoma, 9/26 — Throw a Halloween Party with Haunting Style
CompUSA, 9/27 — Pink Sony VAIO Notebook to Support Breast Cancer Research - Limited Edition
Ralph Lauren, 9/26 — Introducing The Create Your Own Pink Pony Polo
Newegg, 9/26 — Newsletter Deals - Halo 3 Now Available, Printers and Scanners on Sale
CompUSA, 9/26 — Which iPod® are you?
Norm Thompson, 9/26 — Email perk: you see new fashions first!
J. Jill, 9/26 — Our newest catalog is online now. Plus, 25% off boots!
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Retail Welcome Email Benchmark Study: Executive Summary

Sponsored by: Premiere Global Services

Welcome emails have historically had significantly higher open rates than regular emails. These messages are key to setting expectations with new subscribers and communicating the brand promise. Yet, only 72% of major online retailers send out welcome emails. That’s the top line finding of the Email Experience Council’s second annual Retail Welcome Email Benchmark Study, which is a follow-on to our 2007 Retail Email Subscription Benchmark Study, which examined the subscription practices of 122 of the largest online retailers. In this Welcome Email Study, we looked at the welcome emails that were sent as a result of those subscriptions.

“Welcome emails should set the tone of the program and the expectations of the recipient from an aesthetics and content standpoint,” says Kara Trivunovic, director of strategic services at Premiere Global Services Inc., the sponsor of this study. “It is said that you never get a second chance to make a first impression—and that adage holds true to the email channel as well. Properly executed welcome messages actually create anticipation in the recipient for the next message.”

In 2006, only 66% of major online retailers sent welcome emails. With 72% sending welcome emails this year, it appears that more retailers are recognizing the value of these critical emails.

This report shows that many retailers are still missing out on the opportunity to use those emails as a selling vehicle and relationship-building vehicle.
Instead of engaging subscribers with incentives and links to products, departments, loyalty programs, catalogs and other shopping-related material, a great number of the largest online retailers simply say hello and leave it at that.

However, there was some improvement on this front over the past year. In 2007, 98% of retailers’ welcome email now containing a link to their shopping site (up from 88% last year), 33% containing store locators (up from 31%) and 14% containing links to catalog information (up from 6%).

Over the past year, more retailers have also made their welcome emails CAN-SPAM compliant. This year 58% of welcome emails were CAN-SPAM compliant in terms of including both a mailing address and unsubscribe method, versus 52% last year. While non-promotional emails are not required under the law to be compliant with the CAN-SPAM Act, we believe that all emails should be compliant.

This year, for the first time, we also tracked the passage of time between subscriptions and the delivery of welcome emails. The good news is that 61% of retailers deliver their welcome emails within 10 minutes of sign up, with most of those delivering within 3 minutes. The bad news is that 19% take more than 24 hours to deliver their welcome emails, with nearly a third of those taking more than a week to deliver. In the world of digital communications, that’s an eternity to wait for a welcome email.

Other key findings from the study include:

• 32% of welcome emails include a discount, reward or incentive, down from 34% last year. That’s in line with the results of our subscription study, which saw a move away from incentives during sign-up.

• 62% of welcome emails asked the subscriber to whitelist them by adding an email address to their address book, up from 49% last year.

• 79% of retailers sent out HTML welcome emails, up from 69% last. The remainder sent text-only welcome emails. That said, most of the HTML welcome emails were HTML “lite,” making extensive use of HTML text.

• 53% of welcome emails included links to the retailer’s privacy policy, up from 45% last year.

• 75% of the welcome emails include the retailer’s brand name in their subject lines, on par with last year. Including branding here helps the subscriber recognize the email as one that they requested.

Get the Full Report
Visit the Whitepaper Room to download the full 30-page report, which is free for eec platinum members, available at a discount to eec gold and silver members, and available for $199 for non-members. Not a member? Learn more about becoming a member of the Email Experience Council.

Other Research Reports Available:
The Guide to Gearing Up for the Holiday Email Season
Retail Email Subscription Benchmark Study
Animation in Retail Emails Study
Refer a Friend Benchmark Study
Send to a Friend Benchmark Study
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AM Inbox: Old Navy redesigns newsletter

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

Old Navy, 9/24 — Women's Fair Isle Sweaters, Plus Take $10 Off $75
Old Navy has redesigned their newsletter, making mainly cosmetic changes. Besides using different colors and a new logo, they’ve added a shoes and accessories department to the navigation bar.

Here’s the new design…


…and here’s the old design from a Sept. 17 email:


Coach, 9/24 — Introducing the Bleecker Collection: In Stores and Online Today
Coach is the latest retailer to announce store pick up of online orders. (Explore tag: Ship-to-Store Programs.)



RedEnvelope, 9/24 — Think Pink. Shop for the cure.
RedEnvelope pledges to donate 10% of the sales from their Think Pink Collection. We’ll see several other retailers take a similar approach as we get closer to the start of October.



Urban Outfitters, 9/25 — 50/50
This email is all about 50 favorites under $50, but you’d never know it from the cryptic subject line. Urban Outfitters is playful, but I would be careful about wasting your subscribers’ time with subject lines that don’t tell you anything about the content of your emails.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
PetSmart, 9/24 — Shop Howl-O-Ween & Free Shipping
Crate & Barrel, 9/25 — Make holiday plans now
Saks Fifth Avenue, 9/24 — A Taste-Tempting Offer [promoting holiday foods]
Dell, 9/24 — Dell's 10 Days of Deals Starts Today - A New Deal Every Day.
Sears, 9/25 — Hurry, Great Savings Start Now + Get Halo 3 Today!
Kmart, 9/24 — 70% Off Jewelry, Halo 3 Release & More
Backcountry, 9/25 — Backcountry Newsletter - Top 10 lists, trail run shoes, and how to score a season pass
Crutchfield, 9/25 — Now available: Xbox 360, PS3, DS Lite & more; + HDTV savings
Sam’s Club, 9/24 — The Hottest HDTVs For Football Season
Drs. Foster & Smith, 9/25 — 2-Week ONLY Fall Dog Treat Sale
Norm Thompson, 9/24 — FREE cute-as-heck shoulder bag with purchase! Email-only offer.
Orvis, 9/24 — 160 new items. Plus, FREE standard shipping with Orvis Rewards Visa.
Foot Locker, 9/24 — Play MONOPOLY at McDonald's® and Win Foot Locker Prizes
Linens ’n Things, 9/24 — Create a Luxe Bedroom for Less--Save 20% Off
Diamond.com, 9/24 — Color My World Purple. Save an Extra 20% plus FREE Shipping
CompUSA, 9/24 — Introducing the New Sony VAIO TZ Ultra-portable Notebook
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AM Inbox: 5-day vacation catch-up

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

Bloomingdale’s, 9/19 — Little Pink Book: Support BCRF In Its Fight Against Breast Cancer
Although the first reference to Breast Cancer Awareness Month came over a month ago (see Aug. 15 AM Inbox), this Bloomingdale’s email probably represents a truer start to these references since last year’s first reference came on Aug. 26 (see last year’s Season Finale).



Ralph Lauren, 9/20 — Introducing The New Rugby.com
Ralph Lauren introduces the new rugby.com. The email has a Flash-powered piece on how to wear the Rugby collection and a lifestyle video about places to go in New York. Interestingly, although Rugby has its own email newsletter, this email doesn’t encourage people to subscribe.



Neiman Marcus, 9/19 — ENTER TO WIN a prize for kids & mom!
Neiman Marcus is targeting moms with their new NM Kids email newsletter.



Urban Outfitters, 9/19 — Finally, Fall.
Urban Outfitters probably does the best job out of all the major online retailers of tying their blog content into their email newsletters and really capitalizing on the synergies between the two media.



1-800-Flowers.com, 9/20 — Give Autumn Gifts Under $50!
It would appear that the 1-800-Flowers promo in Blue Nile’s newsletter last week (see Aug. 18 AM Inbox) was a swap, with each retailer looking to get exposure to the other’s subscribers.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Orvis, 9/21 — See our new toy sneak preview now!
Neiman Marcus, 9/21 — Check out our exclusive anniversary ornaments + FREE SHIPPING
Petco, 9/19 — PETCO Give Your Pet a Halloween to Remember!
Oriental Trading, 9/19 — Get free shipping plus save up to $10 for Halloween
Brookstone, 9/19 — New pre-lit Halloween decorations
DisneyShopping, 9/19 — Additional 25% Off Already-Reduced Costumes & Accessories
Williams-Sonoma, 9/19 — Personalized Halloween Totes
CompUSA, 9/23 — Finish the Fight with Halo 3
ShopNBC, 9/19 — Fresh Ideas for Your Home
Chadwick’s, 9/19 — Over $40 in Savings For You...Click Here
Norm Thompson, 9/19 — Shop NEW FALL MARKDOWNS today! Prices go back up 9/24.
SmartBargains, 9/19 — Knock, knock. Who's there? Secret Sale.
Home Depot, 9/20 — Everything You Need for Game Day + 20% Off Rugs
Montgomery Ward, 9/20 — Web Only Top-Sellers + Deferred Billing
Victoria’s Secret, 9/20 — Fall Sweaters are In! Plus, Save Up to $150 Online. Details Inside.
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Meet me at DMA07 next month

Going to DMA07 in Chicago on Oct. 13-18? If so, visit me at the Email Experience Council’s booth (#2246), where I’ll be hanging out with other eec’ers. I’ll be at the booth most of Monday and Tuesday so stop by and say hello. I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have about my research, the campaigns that I track, the eec, or anything else. Hope to see you in Chicago.

AM Inbox: Product guides

>>Publishing hiatus. I’m off the next couple of days, but I’ll be back in action on Monday.

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

Backcountry, 9/18 — Fleece Guide from Backcountry.com
Email is a fantastic educational tool, so I love seeing emails like this one that explains how to select a product that’s right for me. Their fleece guide is good also because it’s clearly written by the retailer with the consumer in mind. So much of product descriptions and such come from suppliers that’s refreshing to see a strong, helpful retailer voice.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Crate & Barrel, 9/18 — Gather round the fall table [promoting dining chairs]
Drs. Foster & Smith, 9/18 — Dog Travel Tips & Essentials
Office Depot, 9/18 — Need an Office Makeover?
RedEnvelope, 9/18 — Sometimes the best occasion is no occasion at all.
Macy’s, 9/18 — Shop the intimates sale and get FREE gifts!
Nordstrom, 9/18 — Fresh for Fall: High-Heeled Oxfords
L.L. Bean, 9/18 — All the Comfort, Without All the Ironing [promoting wrinkle-free tropic-weigh pants]
Blair, 9/18 — September clearance event on now
Sportsman’s Guide, 9/18 — End of Summer Sale 2007... Valuable Guide Shipping Coupon
Bass Pro Shops, 9/18 — Fall Madness Sale at Basspro.com
Gap, 9/18 — This Just In: New Arrivals For The Season
Ralph Lauren, 9/18 — Shop Black Label Fall Arrivals
Coldwater Creek, 9/18 — 215 new items, plus $20 off $80...Fall is all about shine!
Musician’s Friend, 9/18 — Musician's Friend: 10% Price Cut - Entire Scratch 'N' Dent Inventory
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Season Finale: Labor Day 2007

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

Start to finish: The first reference to Labor was on Aug. 2 from Cabela’s and the last reference was on Sept. 4 from JC Whitney.

The distribution curve: Retailers sent the majority of Labor Day-themed emails after Aug. 31. The biggest days for Labor Day emails were Friday, Aug. 31, followed by Sunday, Sept. 2.



Surprises: I was surprised to see HSN changing up their standard subject line in a Labor Day email. Normally HSN uses the same ol’ subject line week after week for all their emails: “Your Featured Products of the Week.” While subscribers will recognize the subject line as that of an HSN email because it never changes, the subject line doesn’t include the HSN branding and doesn’t contain anything timely or specific to encourage opens. But in an Aug. 30 Labor Day email, they used the subject line “Your Featured Products for the Week: Pre-Labor Day Clearance Blowout”—which tells subscribers that they’re having a sale and adds urgency because the sale is connected to Labor Day.

Subject line trend: Of all the Labor Day emails that mentioned the holiday in their subject lines, half included “Labor Day” at or toward the beginning of the subject line, a quarter had those words in the middle somewhere, and a quarter had them at or toward the end. So there’s a pretty strong preference for mentioning Labor Day at the beginning of subject lines, which might indicate that subscribers respond better when they’re in that position within the subject line.

Standout subject lines:
Furniture.com, 9/3 — Take a break from the grill - This sizzling deal ends at Midnight!
SmartBargains, 9/3 — Just hours to go! Labor Day Weekend Sale ends soon
Sharper Image, 8/29 — Take $20 Off: Labor Day is Play Day!

Read previous Labor Day Season Finales: 2006

Read previous posts about Labor Day emails.
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AM Inbox: Add me to your safe sender list

>>Attending Mid Market eTail 2007, Oct. 22-24, at the Crowne Plaza in San Jose? EEC members, don’t forget to use your discount code when registering. Register now!

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

Blue Nile, 9/17 — Her New Favorite Jewelry
Many retailers include address book whitelisting instructions at the top of their emails, but Blue Nile is the only major retailer to include instructions for subscribers who use Outlook to add the retailer to their safe sender list.

This may also be the first Blue Nile email to include a partner promotion. I’m wary of including these. I see too many retailers that include random ads or random mentions of partners. I feel much better about it when the connection is very logical and when there’s some kind of event sponsorship involved. Marketers should be particularly wary when subscribers were given the opportunity to opt-in to receive messages from partners and decided not to.



Wal-Mart, 9/17 — Free Shipping on Thousands of Items
Here’s another big mention of Wal-Mart’s new site-to-store program. Wal-Mart is clearly educating subscribers in part in preparation for the upcoming holiday season.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
FTD, 9/17 — Exclusive Email Offer--Save 50% on Orange Roses and Get 6 Free!
Old Navy, 9/17 — Update Your Work Wardrobe With the Latest Fall Looks
Art.com, 9/17 — 25% Off Everything + ONLY at Art.com Exclusives
Dick’s Sporting Goods, 9/17 — Gear Up for the Run
Norm Thompson, 9/17 — i-morph travel bag goes small to huge in seconds!
Frederick’s of Hollywood, 9/16 — Triple your sex appeal and get $15 off your $100 order [promoting convertible top]
Tiffany, 9/17 — Delicious Colors from Tiffany [promoting Paloma’s Sugar Stacks and Tiffany Rainbow Drops]
Diamond.com, 9/17 — HOOPS Sale! SAVE an extra 25% plus FREE Shipping
Brookstone, 9/17 — Stay cozy and warm with our heated outerwear!
Road Runner Sports, 9/17 — Runner, Sneak A Peak: New Fall Favorites from Your Favorite Brands!
Sam’s Club, 9/17 — Work Wirelessly with Sam's Club
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AM Inbox: More victims of the Yahoo Mail Classic glitch

>>Attending Mid Market eTail 2007, Oct. 22-24, at the Crowne Plaza in San Jose? EEC members, don’t forget to use your discount code when registering. Register now!

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

Chadwick’s, 9/14 — Let's Celebrate! Take $50 OFF Your Entire Order
SmartBargains, 9/14 — Cast a glow. 3-day savings on lighting plus free shipping
Orvis, 9/14 — Get an extra sweepstakes entry and save $10 at Orvis
Furniture.com, 9/14 — Double Discount Days - You can save over 25%!
REI, 9/14 — Just Added - Patagonia, JanSport and more at REI-OUTLET
Norm Thompson, 9/15 — Email bonus: You get a FREE 100" PEARL NECKLACE!
Chadwick’s, 9/16 — Dear Customer, URGENT! Time Is Running Out...
TigerDirect, 9/16 — Exclusive: 7x Optical Zoom Samsung 7.2mp Camera $199
All of these emails were affected by the rendering glitch in Yahoo Mail Classic that appears to be related to Yahoo Shortcuts. See the update of Friday’s Alert for more details.

Ralph Lauren, 9/16 — Your Backstage Pass to the Spring Fashion Show
This is the most extensive display of video clips that I’ve seen in an email. The landing page mirrors the email (or vice versa) and is pretty slick.



Ross-Simons, 9/15 — Fun 3 Minute Celebrity Survey! Ross-Simons Wants Your Opinion.
Ross-Simons is polling their subscribers about their opinion about certain celebrities. They asked, among a few other things, who among the following celebrities you most admired and least, you trusted most, was the most fashionable, you would most like to have lunch with, had the best story to tell: Andie MacDowell, Angie Harmon, Christie Brinkley, Faith Hill, Reba McIntyre, Deborah Messing, Giada De Laurantiis, Jamie Lee Curtis, Norah Jones, Nicolette Sheridan, Valerie Bertinelli, Sarah Ferguson, Isabella Rossellini, Patricia Heaton, Linda Evans



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
DisneyShopping, 9/14 — FREE Shipping on Costumes & Accessories! Limited Time Only
Saks Fifth Avenue, 9/14 — NY Runway Wrap-up + Free Shipping
Neiman Marcus, 9/15 — Discover the HORCHOW SHOWROOM + FREE SHIPPING
eBags, 9/14 — It's here...T-Tech by Tumi - available now at eBags
Road Runner Sports, 9/14 — Are you prepared for Fall? Nike has the answer.
Home Depot, 9/14 — Tackle Fall Cleanup + Free Shipping on Tools!
Northern Tool, 9/14 — Chad, Fall Cleanup Sale At Northern Tool
Staples, 9/14 — See our clearance blowout in the Sunday circular and save up to 90%
Sharper Image, 9/14 — Free Delivery on select Massage Chairs!
Bloomingdale’s, 9/14 — Save 20% During Denim Days!
Coldwater Creek, 9/14 — 25% off all jackets, this weekend only! Plus...
Lands’ End, 9/13 — New! Great fall outfits start with the softest sweater.
Dell, 9/14 — Big Savings on Top Brand Electronics from Dell
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Week-End Trends: Fabulous Fashion Week references

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The RetailEmail Index rose 5% to 189 during the week ending Sept. 14, and is up 6% from where it was four weeks ago.


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

Last week, 88% of the retailers in the RetailEmail Index send out at least one email, the same as the week prior, but down from 90% during the 4-weeks-ago period.



Back to School: The retailers in the RetailEmail Index sent 6 emails referencing back to school last week, down from 7 the week before.

Labor Day (Sept. 3): There were no references to Labor Day last week, down from 26 the week prior.

Halloween (Oct. 31): There were 3 emails referencing Halloween last week, down from 11 the week before.

Christmas (Dec. 25): There was 1 email referencing Christmas last week, down from 2 the week prior.

Other things referenced by retailers: Fashion Week (I’ll start tracking this more precisely next time around), fall, football, iPods, pants, cashmere
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Ping Time: A rallying cry for HTML support standardization across email readers

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

>>David Greiner calls for HTML support standardization across email readers. >>Follow the ping

>>Return Path’s Matt Blumberg talks about the broad and lasting impact of an email, an impact that’s rarely measured currently. >>Follow the ping

>>The Email Marketer’s Club has compiled a list of email service providers per country, with 153 listed so far. >>Follow the ping (login required)

>>Reminding us to test every element of our emails, MarketingSherpa shares an internal A/B test where they tested three alternatives to their "Continue here ..." call-to-action for their articles. >>Follow the ping

>>Bill Nussey talks about “bacn”—email messages recipients want but typically don’t read immediately. >>Follow the ping

>>Wired Magazine gives us advice on how to “Write a Perfect Email.” (Shout out to Messaging Times for pointing it out.) >>Follow the ping

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Alert: Rendering problem in Yahoo Mail Classic

UPDATED 9/16, 9/21

There appears to be an incredibly serious but thankfully not common rendering problem in Yahoo Mail Classic. How serious? Take a look at these two emails that were affected:

1: 2: 3:

I know the screenshots make it impossible to see the fine details, but it’s easy to see that images—especially those toward the bottoms of these emails—were repeated several times. I’ve seen this problem affect emails from TigerDirect, Chadwick’s, PetSmart, SmartBargains, Norm Thompson, REI, Orvis, Furniture.com and ShopNBC.

The Issue: Bob Cahill (see comment below) says that the problem is related to Yahoo Shortcuts, which is turned on by default, and that if the recipient turns this feature off then the problem goes away. I tried it and it worked. But the question remains: How do we code around this issue? That’s hopefully easier than getting all of our Yahoo Mail Classic users to turn off Yahoo Shortcuts.

Interestingly, if affected emails are forwarded, the issue also resolves itself.

ExactTarget sent an internal alert to staff telling them that “Emails that use some style tags (still trying to discover what causes the problem) show up in Yahoo as a scrambled messages (duplicated content, layout all strange.) This appears to be related to the Yahoo preferences and their use of Ajax in Yahoo e-mails.” ExactTarget confirms that the if Yahoo Shortcuts are turned off that the problem resolves. (Thanks for the heads up, Jean Jimenez Greenwell.)

Coding Fixes: Two people have suggested to me that putting style tags 'inline' might avoid the issue (see comment below). If someone tries this, let me know if it works.

If anyone has any other insights into how to code around this issue, please comment below or email me at chad@emailexperience.org.

AM Inbox: Damage control

>>Back from a couple of days off with this triple-edition of AM Inbox.

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

Toys “R” Us, 9/13 — A Child Safety Message from Toys"R"Us, Inc Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
With three toy recalls in quick succession from Mattel, Toys “R” Us felt the need for some damage control of their own. So they sent this email, which is signed by CEO Gerry Storch, announcing several steps to improve the dissemination of product recall and other safety information, including a microsite and an email notification system for product recalls.



FTD, 9/11 — Remember Those You Love with FTD's Purple Passion Bouquet
Coming on 9/11 and with the word “remember” leading off the subject line, this email subtly tries to tap into sentiments of that dark day.

Sports Authority, 9/11 — Fall Fitness Sale & other Great Deals
Starting with an Aug. 28 email, Sports Authority has been using a new vertical department/product category navigation bar in their emails.



KB Toys, 9/11 — Free Offers and New Arrivals
Let the free shipping offers begin. In this email, KB Toys offers free shipping on hundreds of items through Dec. 5.

Crutchfield, 9/11 — Free stands or wall mounts with Samsung HDTVs
I thought this creative was just too fun and eye-catching not to share. Very creative and on message.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Ralph Lauren, 9/11 — Straight From The New York Runway: Spring 2008 Fashion Show
Backcountry, 9/11 — Winter Gear is Here - See What's New
Eddie Bauer, 9/11 — The Perfect Pants Event - take 20% off your entire purchase.
Victoria’s Secret, 9/13 — Risk Free Pants Offer! Plus, Save Up to $150 Online. Details Inside.
Abercrombie & Fitch, 9/13 — It's Time To Get Into Our Sexy Jeans.
Brookstone, 9/12 — It's true! Bamboo towels are softer than cotton!
Hallmark, 9/12 — Vote Today for Your Favorite Singer [promoting their Summer Sing-Off]
Bed Bath & Beyond, 9/13 — Keep your family safe [promoting emergency preparedness]
Sephora, 9/11 — TOOL SCHOOL: Fall's Must-Have Beauty Gadgets + Free Cell Phone Mirror
Finish Line, 9/11 — Be A Woman. Be A Fan. [promoting NFL Women’s apparel]
Finish Line, 9/12 — It's A Whole New NFL Season! Get Your Gear Now!
Walgreen’s, 9/11 — Get a Free Ink Cartridge Refill - Sept. 12 Only
Target, 9/12 — Free Shipping on select Furniture and on your $50 Home order.
FTD, 9/12 — Save 40% on the All New FTD Silk Floral Collection!
Neiman Marcus, 9/12 — COMPLIMENTARY $25 Gift Card when you open an NM account!
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AM Inbox: Critique-a-video day

>>Free Webinar on Gearing Up for the Holiday Email Season. This 1-hour webinar features yours truly discussing Ring-Cha-Ching, Hear Them Ring: The Guide to Gearing Up for the Holiday Email Season and other topics. View this free webinar now.

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

Neiman Marcus, 9/10 — Happy birthday Neiman Marcus! Celebrate with FREE SHIPPING
Neiman has been doing a lot of video lately. This video birthday card had a lot of potential, but I found it a bit off-putting and even alienating. Now granted, I’m certainly not a frequent Neiman shopper, so I’m not their ideal target, but the video feels like an inside joke—and I’m on the outside. The video features many designers and other fashionistas wishing Neiman a happy 100th birthday. There were several big names in there that I recognized, but there were lots that I didn’t and Neiman didn’t give me any help because they didn’t use captions with the people’s names. Again it made me feel like since I didn’t know who all these people were that I shouldn’t be watching the video, and I think the whole point of using video is to engage people, to be inclusive. So this was a good idea gone awry for me.



Bluefly, 9/10 — Get Ready for Fall with L.A.M.B., Alice & Olivia, Chaiken, Tory Burch & More...
Bluefly continues to use YouTube to host their videos, allowing people to find the videos via that massive video portal. I don’t know how many additional views they get from distributing it via YouTube, but I would assume that it’s significant. Anyway, in their latest video, they have models from Ford Models talking about and trying on the latest fall fashions that they like. I can’t recall them ever working with Ford on videos before so they’re probably testing this out to see how it goes. This video is a not super high in production value, but it feels very personal and conversational.



Art.com, 9/10 — DOUBLE OFFER INSIDE: 20% Off PLUS Free Shipping
Art.com has done these Featured Artist boxes before (and has even featured Klimt before), but this time they’ve added a trivia question for more interactivity. (The answer: Siouxsie and the Banshees’ album’s art “A Kiss in the Dreamhouse.”)



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
eBags, 9/10 — Closing Bell: 20% Off your purchase across all categories [promoting back to school]
PetSmart, 9/10 — Toys to keep pups playing plus tour the new PetSmart.com
Macy’s, 9/10 — Introducing The Martha Stewart Collection only at Macy's
Kmart, 9/10 — Introducing Abbey Hill
Wal-Mart, 9/10 — Score Big on HDTVs and Home-Theater Essentials
Sears, 9/10 — All TVs on Sale + Great Deals on Appliances, Tools, and MORE!
Old Navy, 9/10 — The Knits You Need: Get the Season's Must-Have Silhouettes
Gap, 9/10 — What's The Deal? New Reduced Prices On Fall's Greatest Styles
Montgomery Ward, 9/10 — New Fitness Items + Free Shipping on Engagement Rings
Cooking.com, 9/10 — Exclusive: Free Shipping on $59 + Fall Favorites
Nascar, 9/10 — 4-hours Only! Save 20% on your total purchase
Sam’s Club, 9/10 — Sam's Club has all the rage for the Digital Age
Urban Outfitters, 9/10 — Buy boots, get free shipping.
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Free Webinar on Gearing Up for the Holiday Email Season

Last Thursday I did a webinar about getting ready for the holiday season with John Lawlor of Webinar Academy and Karen Talavera, the Direct Marketing Association's designated email marketing educator. The webinar, which lasted an hour, was based in part on Ring-Cha-Ching, Hear Them Ring: The Guide to Gearing Up for the Holiday Email Season, but we also talked about other trends in email marketing along the way.

View this free webinar now.

AM Inbox: A picture shouldn’t say it all

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

Kmart, 9/7 — Savings Reward + Kitchen Helpers + Secret Sale
Kmart’s emails are unusual in that they don’t like to use product descriptions, instead relying solely on the pictures of their products. Target and other retailers that use this popular three-across product arrangement include a brief product description under the image that usually includes the brand name of the product. I would assume that including brand names would give subscribers another entry point, another detail that would catch their attention and entice them to click through. For instance, in this email, the grill on the second row is a Foreman Grill. Now $25 is a good price for a Foreman Grill, but if it were some no-name grill then it wouldn’t be nearly as interesting—to me at least. The other issue here is that when images are blocked, subscribers don’t have a product description, just the prices, which are in HTML text. Kmart doesn’t even use alt tags.



TigerDirect, 9/8 — Hi Def Discounts...
In the latter half of last month TigerDirect began adding a refer-a-friend link to the tops of their emails next to their RSS link. There are only a handful of major retailers that use refer-a-friend programs currently, including Blue Nile and 1-800-Flowers.com. (See Refer a Friend Benchmark Study.)



Hallmark, 9/7 — Fall fun, healthy eats and MORE!
Looking to protect their subscribers—and their brand name—Hallmark included a link to instructions to tell fraudulent E-Cards from the real thing in their latest email.



Avon, 9/8— Get the Force to LIFT & FIRM + FREE Ship on ANY eRepresentative Order
This is the 13th time this year that Avon has offered subscribers a “free ship” in one of their subject lines.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Brookstone, 9/7 — Halloween and harvest decor for your home-from Brookstone
KB Toys, 9/7 — What's New + Halloween Special Offer
Dick’s Sporting Goods, 9/9 — Check Out New Fall Apparel
Bloomingdale’s, 9/7 — Introducing Lauren Ralph Lauren
J. Jill, 9/7 — New boots for fall! Plus, $25 off a future purchase.
Sharper Image, 9/7 — Breathing Room: Save 50% on your second Air Purifier.
Neiman Marcus, 9/7 — JIMMY CHOO: What's the most exotic handbag yet?
Frederick’s of Hollywood, 9/7 — Go boy crazy. Snap up our sexiest boy shorts, with a special offer.
Victoria’ Secret, 9/7 — Try Our Pants Risk Free! Plus, Save Up to $150 Online. Details Inside.
Northern Tool, 9/7 — Chad, Find The Right Pressure Washer With Our New Comparison Tool
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AM Inbox: We’re moving to a new location

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

Blair, 9/6 — Today's Red Tag Deal is just $9.99
Given the importance of whitelisting, changing your email address is like changing the address of one of your stores—you’d tell your customers ahead of time that you’re moving. Yet very few retailers do this, presumably because they’re confident of the reputation of that new domain. Blair is one of the few retailers that I’ve seen announce that they’re changing their sender address and ask subscribers to whitelist the new address.



Peak Running, 9/6 — Improve your running with $1 - Guaranteed
Who the heck is Peak Running and why are they emailing me? Who gave them my email address? Oh… I see by the cross promotion at the end of the email that Road Runner Sports has been handing out my email address without my permission. This was done totally backwards. My relationship is with Road Runner Sports, so they should have included a cross-promotion of Peak Running in their emails. They shouldn’t have sold my address to Peak Running and have them cross-promote Road Runner Sports. This makes me think less of Road Runner Sports, since they don’t care about protecting my privacy, and it hurts Peak Running because many recipients will mark them as spam since they never received permission to email Road Runner Sports’ subscribers.




Saks Fifth Avenue, 9/6 — The New SAKS.COM
Saks announces a website redesign, but even cooler is the fact that they are doing a serial video series for Fashion Week. The production quality on the first video in the package is really good. EB Games recently launched a serial video series around the launch of Halo 3, releasing a new video from Red vs. Blue each week (see Aug. 1 AM Inbox). But they really didn’t follow through in their emails; I think they only mentioned the video series one time beyond the first. Hopefully Saks will carry through and mention the future installments of the video series in their upcoming emails to drive interest in the next email.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Foot Locker, 9/6 — $15 off $50 -- last chance to save on back to school
Brookstone, 9/6 — Most wanted collectibles for the sports fan!
Alloy, 9/6 — one week only - 20% off denim & pants
Eddie Bauer, 9/6 — Your return is free if you don't love our pants - it only happens twice a year.
Circuit City, 9/6 — See the new iPods at Circuit City
Macy’s, 9/6 — 25-75% savings storewide + Season's Lowest Prices at Macy's One Day Sale!
Nascar, 9/6 — Celebrate the King of Rock 'n Roll with NASCAR!
Barnes & Noble, 9/6 — Online Exclusive -- Free Book Light Offer
Newegg, 9/6 — [Newegg.com] Deals on TVs and More! Sharp 37" 1080p HDTV, $32.99 Philips 20X DVD Burner,...
Urban Outfitters, 9/6 — Prints & patterns for your place...
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AM Inbox: Watch those text links and background colors

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

Diamond.com, 9/5 — Pearls of Wisdom! SAVE 20% Plus Free Shipping
I’m happy to see Diamond.com using more HTML text instead of having their text imbedded in their images as they did for a long while, but they have to be careful with their background color choices. In this email the background color is nearly identical to the color of the text link for “Diamond.com,” which makes it difficult to read. J. Crew, which also likes to use lots of different background colors in their emails, sometimes commits this mistake as well.



Saks Fifth Avenue, 9/5 — Christian Louboutin Gift!
Emphasizing that their new shoe department at their flagship store is so large that it has its own zip code, Saks has released a set of limited-edition stamps featuring couture footwear.



Overstock, 9/5 — 60% OFF SALE
Apparently Overstock saw success with a tactic they used in an Aug. 13 email to get subscribers to read CEO Patrick Byrne’s blog posts (see Aug. 14 AM Inbox) because they’ve now created a banner for the incentive offer. As I said before, this makes me very uncomfortable. If you’re saying something worthwhile, people will want to read it on their own. And if what you’re saying is really, really worthwhile, then people will pay to hear what you have to say. Regardless, I still believe that Overstock shouldn’t be pushing what is a shareholder and regulatory issue onto their customers because it weakens and confuses their brand.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
KB Toys, 9/5 — Free Shipping on the Most-Wanted Costumes
Sephora, 9/5 — Free Diorshow Mascara Sample + Best of Sephora 2007 Winners
SmartBargains, 9/5 — Subscribers only. AeroBed(R) mattress savings & free shipping
Coach, 9/5 — Best Bags For Fall: New Leather Handbags
Norm Thompson, 9/5 — Look SLIMMER in JEANS - ours work like magic.
Lands’ End, 9/5 — The Lands' End Field Coat, from $49.50. Back by popular demand!
Road Runner Sports, 9/5 — Your New Fall Running Gear Has Arrived!
Macy’s, 9/5 — Free Shipping with $100 INC apparel purchase
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AM Inbox: Promoting online-only collections

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

Gap, 9/4 — Limited Edition European Collection: Chic New Styles
The Gap has a history of using their online store to introduce new clothing lines to see if they are successful enough to add to stores. Maternity apparel is the best example of this. Now it appears that they are testing out a European-inspired collection online and promoting it in this email. Email marketing is used routinely to promote online-only sales and products, so we should expect to see more emails promoting this new European line. And if all goes well, who knows, we may soon see European collections in stores next year.



Norm Thompson, 9/4 — Apologies for technical problems yesterday. 20%-OFF IS STILL AVAILABLE!
Norm Thompson explains in this email that a surge in traffic in response to their 20%-off sale caused technical problems. If you had performance issues over Labor Day, I only hope you can get things in order in time for the Christmas rush. Anyway, extending the sale another day is an appropriate response and will hopefully ease some of the ill will generated by the problems over Labor Day.



Ralph Lauren, 9/4 — Men's Back To Business & Free Shipping
This is an interesting adult twist on the back-to-school season, suggesting that just as kids are refreshing their wardrobes, adults should do the same. With annual reviews on the horizon, this message may resonate with folks.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Spiegel, 9/4 — Labor Day Savings Extended! Take 20% OFF For One More Day!
JC Whitney, 9/4 — Take Up To $50 Off Your Order During Our After Labor Day Sale!
Drs. Foster & Smith, 9/4 — Halloween Dog Costumes are Here!
Oriental Trading, 9/4 — Create the ultimate Halloween scene & get free shipping
Hanna Andersson, 9/4 — Boo! Halloween Hannas Are Here
Hallmark, 9/4 — Send a $29.95 Rose Plant for Grandparents Day
CB2, 9/4 — high dining you can afford [promoting high dining tables]
RedEnvelope, 9/4 — Thank you. Congratulations. I love you. [promoting gifts for different occasions]
Saks Fifth Avenue, 9/4 — Our Editor's Vision...
Banana Republic, 9/4 — The trench reigns supreme + Fall's best boots
Chadwick’s, 9/4 — FREE JG Hook Jacket With Any Order. Details Inside
Tiffany, 9/4 — Charmed by Tiffany [promoting charms]
JCPenney, 9/4 — BIGGEST Home Sale of the Year + Free Shipping
Bluefly, 9/4 — Be the First to Shop our New Fall 2007 Collection...
Brookstone, 9/4 — Laundry room essentials for your home!
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The Most Popular Posts during August 2007

The posts, tags and archives that were visited the most during the month:

10. Reportlet: Retail Email Subject Line Study
9. AM Inbox: The dark side of send to a friend
8. AM Inbox: Sears tweaks email design further
7. Reportlet: Retailers Missing Opportunities by Shunning Onboarding Emails
6. Reportlet: Retailers Say the Dirtiest Things
5. AM Inbox: Discount codes in subject lines
4. AM Inbox: Climb out from behind your assortments
3. Tag: AM Inbox
2. Season Finale: Labor Day
1. Retail Email Subscription Benchmark Study: Executive Summary

Looking to get a jump on ideas for this month? Then check out the September 2006 archive for inspiration and trends from last year.
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AM Inbox: Loads of Labor Day subject lines

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

CompUSA, 8/31 — Shop Early In-Store - 2 Day Pre-Labor Day Sale 8/31 & 9/1
CompUSA was the only major I saw that tried to tie Labor Day shopping into the holiday season.



CompUSA, 8/31 — CORRECTION: 2 Day Pre-Labor Day Sale 8/31 & 9/1
Unfortunately, CompUSA wrote down the model number on the lead product highlighted in that email, an HP laptop, so they sent out this quick, simple correction. I wonder if, instead of sending out a correct on this, they could have just changed the landing page, adding a message about the error and then a redirect to the correct deal. Anyone have any thoughts on a different way of handling this mistake?



Urban Outfitters, 9/1 — Get a job.
Urban Outfitters is the latest retailer to tap their subscriber rolls for potential employees. (Explore tag: Recruiting.)



Neiman Marcus, 9/1 — FREE SHIPPING + It's OK to embellish a little...
Neiman Marcus, 9/1 — Want to get noticed? It's all in the details + FREE SHIPPING
Neiman Marcus was doing some A/B testing on the subject line for this email, not only testing the language but also the position of “FREE SHIPPING.”



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Ralph Lauren, 9/3 — Happy Labor Day From Polo Ralph Lauren
Furniture.com, 9/3 — Take a break from the grill - This sizzling deal ends at Midnight!
HSN, 9/3 — Up to 70% Off New Markdowns: Labor Day Clearance
Sears, 9/2 — Labor Day Savings on Appliances, Clothing, and MORE!
Office Depot, 9/2 — Labor Day Sale! BIG Tech Blowout!
Circuit City, 9/2 — Exclusive coupon for Labor Day, 2 days only
Linens ’n Things, 9/2 — Labor Day Sale Event Starts Now + Extra 20% Off
SmartBargains, 9/1 — Labor Day Sale: extra 20%-50% off & free shipping.
Bluefly, 9/1 — Hobo Style Handbags + Labor Day Sale
Eddie Bauer, 8/31 — Prices start at just $6.99 - it's our biggest Labor Day Sale ever.
JC Whitney, 8/31 — Valued customer, Take 15% off Everything This Labor Day Weekend!
Old Navy, 8/31 — Labor Day Sale is This Weekend - Great Buys In Stores & Online
Bluefly, 8/31 — Labor Day Sale: Extra 20% off Friday-Monday
Chadwick’s, 8/31 — Labor Day Clearance SALE + Extra 15% off the Entire Site!
TigerDirect, 8/31 — Labor Day Weekend Blowout...19" LCD $119 & More
REI, 8/31 — Last chance - REI Labor Day Sale Ends Monday
Spiegel, 8/31 — Clearance Labor Day Weekend Savings: Extra 20% OFF!
Dick’s Sporting Goods, 9/3 — Free Shipping on NFL Apparel and Jerseys
Sports Authority, 9/2 — Get Ready for Kickoff [promoting NFL products]
Williams-Sonoma, 8/31 — A Taste of Italy: Pesto Ligurian-Style
Alloy, 9/1 — NEW fall arrivals: denim, sweaters + free shipping!
AbeBooks, 9/3 — Celebrating 50 Years of Jack Kerouac's 'On the Road': Rare Copies, Interviews and More!
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Week-End Trends: Working those Labor Day sales

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The RetailEmail Index rose 6% to 186 during the week ending Aug. 31, and is up 10% from where it was four weeks ago.


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

Last week, 91% of the retailers in the RetailEmail Index send out at least one email, up from 89% during the week prior, and up from 87% during the 4-weeks-ago period.



Labor Day (Sept. 3): The retailers in the RetailEmail Index sent 35 emails referencing Labor Day last week, up from 4 the week before.

Back to School: Last week there were 19 emails referencing back to school, down from 27 the week before.

Halloween (Oct. 31): There were 9 emails referencing Halloween last week, up from 4 the week before.

Christmas (Dec. 25): There was 1 email referencing Christmas last week, down from 2 the week prior.

Thanksgiving (Nov. 22): Last week we had our first Thanksgiving reference.

Other things referenced by retailers: football, fall
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