Wednesday, December 31, 2008

AM Inbox: Should we be paying more attention to discount codes?

>>Merry Email Marketing MAD LIBS. Enjoy them with your colleagues, friends and family. Download some festive fun.

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

Sephora, 12/30 — 6 Big Deals, 1 Deluxe Sample
During the holidays there are a lot of “MERRY,” “HOLLY” and “XMAS” discount codes, but it’s probably worth paying special attention to them even between seasonal selling occasions. For instance, this Sephora email is themed around some short, on-brand discount “code words.” They put some extra thought into it and made it fun. Email marketers (hopefully) routinely A/B test subject lines and calls-to-action, but I haven’t ever heard of anyone testing discount codes. For instance, does a seasonal code like “MERRY” outperform a generic code like “SALE”? And how do those stack up against unique discount codes served up to individual subscribers? Anyone heard of this being tested before?

Click to view this Dec. 30, 2008 Sephora email full-sized

Crutchfield, 12/30 — End-of-the-year savings, plus tips on using your new toys
Crutchfield celebrates their annual Tweak Week, where they dole out advice on how to get the most out of your new electronics. It’s a great service idea and shows that they care about customers after the sale. This is the kind of information that could be targeted and included in transactional emails—and when it’s a gift, the transactional email could ask the buyer to forward the information on to the gift recipient.

In this email, Crutchfield also gives us our first reference to “The Game”—which is either the Super Bowl or the bowl game that your favorite college team is in.

Click to view this Dec. 30, 2008 Crutchfield email full-sized

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Kmart, 12/31 — Free Shipping over $20.08 and $20.09 off a $125 Purchase
EB Games, 12/30 — EB Games News: Our New Year's Resolution is to Bring You More Bonuses!
Ralph Lauren, 12/31 — Five, Four, Three, Two, One…
Toys “R” Us, 12/31 — Stores Open New Year's Day!
JC Whitney, 12/30 — New Year, New Products Plus $50 Off!
HSN, 12/31 — Happy New Year from HSN!
Costco, 12/30 — The Best in Fitness for 2009!
MLB, 12/30 — Celebrate the New Year with MLB Network
Oriental Trading, 12/30 — Happy New Year - Here's something just for you
KB Toys, 12/30 — New Year's Clearance Sale - Save Up to 60%

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Tuesday, December 30, 2008

AM Inbox: Personalized subject lines lose most prolific user

>>Merry Email Marketing MAD LIBS. Enjoy them with your colleagues, friends and family. Download some festive fun.

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

Northern Tool, 12/29 — Inventory Reduction: Save Up To 70% On Hundreds Of Products
The most prolific user of personalized subject lines in promotional emails has apparently fallen in line with their retail email marketing peers. Starting with a Dec. 14 email, Northern Tool stopped personalizing the subject lines of their promotional emails with the recipient’s name—ending a practice that they’ve been using for years.

There has been some discussion about the value of personalizing subject lines lately—notably by DJ Waldow at Bronto Software, who wrote a post about it in October. My take on this topic is that this is not a particularly strong tactic, but that it’s worth testing for select situations. For instance, you might consider using them for triggered emails that contain rewards, e-gift cards, etc.—emails that the recipient might suspect as phishing attempts. Personalized subject lines appear to lose any positive effect that they might have if used repeatedly or even often, so it really is a niche tactic that should be used sparingly. Also, you have to keep in mind that including personalization means that you are lengthening your subject lines unless you cut other words. So there’s a tradeoff.

It’s also worth noting that in this email Northern Tool also abandons alphabetizing the lists of “Top Categories” and “Top Searches” that they include in their emails. I argued a couple of months ago (see Oct. 24 AM Inbox) that listing them in their actual order of popularity was more newsy and, frankly, more interesting. Make sure that you’re presenting lists and other information in a form that’s most helpful to subscribers.

Click to view this Dec. 29, 2008 Northern Tool email full-sized

CompUSA, 12/29 — Core 2 Duo All-in-One PC $699, HP Netbook $379, 8GB USB $9.99
Here’s another example of the “Get what you really wanted” messaging that I mentioned in yesterday’s AM Inbox.

Click to view this Dec. 29, 2008 CompUSA email full-sized

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Sam’s Club, 12/29 — Let Sam's Club take those Gift Cards off of your hands
Lillian Vernon, 12/29 — New Year, New Catalog, New Ideas!
Chadwick’s, 12/29 — New year, new sale! Save up to 65%.
Ann Taylor, 12/29 — New Year, Never-Better Sale: Save on Cashmere, Dresses, Sweaters & More
Sears, 12/29 — New Years Savings on Fitness, Electronics, Apparel & MORE
Kmart, 12/29 — Get Ready for the New Year with Fitness Savings up to $100
J. Jill, 12/29 — End 2008 with an extra 40% off already-reduced items.
OfficeMax, 12/29 — Year-End Savings Events + Buy 2, Get 1 Free Deals
Frederick’s of Hollywood, 12/29 — Last chance to save up to 60%.
Gap, 12/29 — Last Chance: Save Extra 25% on Sale Items
Nascar, 12/29 — Save Up to 60% in the Outlet with Our Garage Sale
Eddie Bauer, 12/29 — Ultimate Sale: Up To 50% Off + White Sale
Neiman Marcus, 12/29 — PRADA: Introducing the Spring Collection

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Alert: Hotmail flags unauthenticated email

UPDATED 1/23/09, 3/20/09, 11/6/09

There’s been talk for some time now that ISPs would eventually take into consideration whether an email was authenticated when deciding whether to block email from a particular sender. So I was intrigued when Hotmail blocked all the content of an email from Office Depot last week and flagged it as potentially “dangerous.”

Click to view this Dec. 22, 2008 Office Depot email full-sized

When I clicked on the “Learn more” link, I was shown a message about Sender ID and phishing that appeared to indicate that the Office Depot email was flagged because it failed Sender ID and phishing tests.

Click to view this warning message full-sized

Even after I clicked “Open message,” all the images in the email were blocked.

Click to view this Dec. 22, 2008 Office Depot email full-sized

And even after I clicked “Show content,” the email still carried the warning that it “may be dangerous.”

Click to view this Dec. 22, 2008 Office Depot email full-sized

Considering that this was indeed a legit email from Office Depot (who was on my safe sender list), all email marketers should be alarmed—although thus far this is the only retail email that I’ve seen flagged by Hotmail in this manner. Regardless, this is a sign of things to come.

UPDATES: I've since seen a second email from Office Depot blocked as well as three TigerDirect emails.

For those email marketers who have not authenticated their email with both Sender ID and DKIM, consider this your wake-up call. Getting your emails authenticated should be your top New Year’s resolution.
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Monday, December 29, 2008

AM Inbox: Serving multiple customers with a single email

>>Merry Email Marketing MAD LIBS. Enjoy them with your colleagues, friends and family. Download some festive fun.

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

Lands’ End, 12/26 — Semi-annual Sale: winter's up to 35% off
This Lands’ End email does a great job of speaking to several different customers: (1) those looking for a sale, perhaps for things they wanted but didn’t get; (2) those who received a gift from Lands’ End that need to return it for some reason; and (3) those who received a Lands’ End gift card during the holidays.

Click to view this Dec. 26, 2008 Lands’ End email full-sized

JC Whitney, 12/26 — Save 15% Off Your Order - Ends Monday!
Last year “Get what you really wanted” was a regular refrain in retailers’ email marketing messages in the days after Christmas. JC Whitney is one of the first retailers to use this messaging this year.

Click to view this Dec. 26, 2008 JC Whitney email full-sized

Backcountry, 12/26 — Burn the Tree Sale
While most retailers are having after-Christmas sales and winter sales, Backcountry stands out with their on-brand “Burn the Tree Sale.” The call-to-action also stands out: LIGHT IT UP.

Click to view this Dec. 26, 2008 Backcountry email full-sized

JCPenney, 12/28 — Shop with JCP Rewards & Get $10 in Rewards
JCPenney launches JCP Rewards, a loyalty program that gives you cash back for exceeding certain spending thresholds.

Click to view this Dec. 28, 2008 JCPenney email full-sized

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Drugstore.com, 12/28 — Up to 40% off in Resolutions Sale
Neiman Marcus, 12/27 — Countdown to midnight: New Year's Eve party must-haves + Free online shipping
Walgreens, 12/26 — $5 Off $25 + Free Shipping for a Healthy New Year
Office Depot, 12/26 — A Big Sale To Start The New Year
Sports Authority, 12/28 — Save $25 Off $100 Order + Free Shipping on Select Fitness Equipment
Ann Taylor, 12/26 — Find the Best Gifts You Didn't Get. The Never-Better Sale: up to 60% OFF
Neiman Marcus, 12/28 — The art of the thank you note + Free online shipping
Toys “R” Us, 12/26 — After Christmas Blowout. Shop 8AM – 10PM
Newegg, 12/26 — After-Christmas Sales Abound! Deals up to 60% off!
Road Runner Sports, 12/26 — GIGANTIC After-Christmas SALE! Best Gear Up to 70% OFF!
Spiegel, 12/26 — SHOP the AFTER CHRISTMAS SALE +Take an EXTRA 30% OFF our Entire Site!
JCPenney, 12/26 — 50-80% off at the Biggest After-Christmas Clearance
Avon, 12/26 — SAVE UP TO 60%: After Christmas Sale & FREE SHIPPING Spree
Ross-Simons, 12/26 — After-Christmas Clearance Sale! Extra 25% Off Clearance 20% Off Everything Else
REI, 12/26 — Save Up to 50% During REI's Holiday Clearance – On Now
Bass Pro Shops, 12/26 — After Christmas Clearance at Basspro.com
Kmart, 12/26 — Big Holiday Clearance + $1 Shipping per Item
Old Navy, 12/26 — Clearance! Save up to 75%
Blair, 12/26 — Extra 25% off all clearance
Alloy, 12/26 — Save Up to 80%: End of Season Clearance + Free Shipping
SmartBargains, 12/27 — INVENTORY CLOSEOUT SALE & Free Shipping.
Cabela’s, 12/26 — Mid-Winter Sale @ Cabelas.com
Orvis, 12/26 — Annual Winter Sale - 250+ new items, more than 1,000 total!
Oriental Trading, 12/26 — Winter Sale: Save 50% - 75% while quantities last
Bluefly, 12/26 — WINTER SALE! Now up to 75% Off All Cold Weather Essentials
Circuit City, 12/28 — Year-End Outlet Blowout: save up to 70% on hundreds of new products
Coldwater Creek, 12/26 — 50% off EVERYTHING. Every size. Every color. Every...

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Sunday, December 28, 2008

Week-End Trends: Index falls 23% as Christmas comes and goes

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index fell 23% to 301 during the week ending Dec. 26, 2008, and is down 5% from where it was four weeks ago. The Index score indicates that the top 100 online retailers sent roughly 3 promotional emails each on average last week.

Click to view the Dec. 26, 2008 Retail Email Index larger

The Retail Email Participation Rate: Friday, the day after Christmas, was the most popular day to send retail emails last week. Dec. 26 was the third most popular day of the year to send retail emails in 2007, with 58% of retailers sending at least one promotional email on that day.

Click to view the Dec. 26, 2008 Retail Email Participation Rate larger

The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: Christmas references will quickly dwindle over the next week, while New Year’s references spike.

Click to view the Dec. 26, 2008 Retail Email Seasonality Meter larger

Other things referenced by retailers: After-Christmas sales, clearance, e-gift cards, winter apparel and sports
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Friday, December 26, 2008

AM Inbox: Now 'tis the season for gift card redemptions

>>Merry Email Marketing MAD LIBS. Enjoy them with your colleagues, friends and family. Download some festive fun.

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

Sam’s Club, 12/24 — A Christmas wish from Sam's Club
In this quasi-season’s greeting email, Sam’s Club is the first major retailer to promote gift card redemptions. Promoting redemptions was a trend on the upswing last holiday season. It’s a messaging tactic that’s most popular between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

Click to view this Dec. 24, 2008 Sam’s Club email full-sized

Kmart, 12/24 — Our Gift to You - Up to 10% off Christmas Day
In addition to many season’s greetings emails that went out on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, a handful of retailers including Kmart, Sears and Walgreens held online-only Christmas Day sales, looking to capture sales on a day when most offline stores are closed. Christmas Day presents an opportunity for online-only sales that’s potentially even more attractive than Thanksgiving Day because many people have just received gift cards as presents.

Click to view this Dec. 24, 2008 Kmart email full-sized

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Frederick’s of Hollywood, 12/24 — Ring in the New Year with 60% savings + a shipping offer.
Petco, 12/25 — PETCO / New Products to Ring in the New Year + Semi-Annual Aquatic Sale!
Lands’ End, 12/24 — Forget someone? Still time for E-gift Cards
NFLshop, 12/24 — It's Not Too Late - NFL Online Gift Certificates Still Available!
Bloomingdale’s, 12/24 — There's Still Time: E-Gift Cards Online + Great Gifts In-Store + 50% Off A Large Selection
Chadwick’s, 12/25 — Happy Holidays from Chadwick's.
Sony, 12/24 — Season's greetings from Sony Electronics
Overstock, 12/24 — Happy Holidays from Overstock.com
J. Jill, 12/24 — Warmest wishes from J. Jill.
Costco, 12/24 — Thank You & Happy Holidays From Costco.com
Road Runner Sports, 12/24 — THANK YOU Runner, and Merry Christmas from the Chief Runner!
Harry & David, 12/25 — Merry Christmas, from our family to yours
Macy’s, 12/25 — Merry Christmas from our family to yours!
SmartBargains, 12/25 — Happy Holidays!
Norm Thompson, 12/24 — Happy Holidays! Your exclusive sale privileges are still on.
Bluefly, 12/25 — EXTRA 10% OFF – Now up to 60% Off Everything – HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
RadioShack, 12/24 — Sneak a Peek: Things Santa Forgot
Sears, 12/24 — After Christmas Sale Prices Starting At Noon
Walgreens, 12/24 — 'Twas the Sale After Christmas
TigerDirect, 12/24 — After-Christmas Sale Starts Now! Save on GPS, Laptops, TVs & More
Circuit City, 12/25 — Merry Christmas! Find Santa-sized savings on TVs, cameras, GPS & more
Eddie Bauer, 12/24 — Biggest Sale Of The Year Starts In Stores Friday!

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Wednesday, December 24, 2008

AM Inbox: Season's greetings

>>Merry Email Marketing MAD LIBS. Enjoy them with your colleagues, friends and family. Download some festive fun.

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

Blair, 12/23 — Merry Christmas, from our family to yours
Blair—along with PetSmart, Art.com and Urban Outfitters—has sent out a season’s greetings email to their subscribers. These messages vary in terms of their approach, how well they’re tied into the brand, and whether there’s any secondary promotional messaging. In this case, there’s no secondary promotional messaging and while it’s not tied to the brand so much, it is signed by an employee and expresses a great sentiment.

Click to view this Dec. 23, 2008 Blair email full-sized

Finish Line, 12/23 — LAST DAY FOR IN-STORE PICKUP!
In this email Finish Line promoted their in-store pick-up service as a last-minute shopping option. Circuit City, Nordstrom, Wal-Mart and others have also promoted their in-store pick-up services, but this is the first time this season that the service has been mentioned in a subject line.

Click to view this Dec. 23, 2008 Finish Line email full-sized

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Hallmark, 12/23 — NEW Maxine E-Card + New Year's cards
PetSmart, 12/23 — Thank you and best wishes for 2009!
Art.com, 12/23 — Season's Greetings from Art.com
Urban Outfitters, 12/23 — Holiday Happy!
Alloy, 12/23 — There's Still Time - Send an E-Gift Card
Neiman Marcus, 12/23 — It's not too late! VIRTUAL NM GIFT CARDS save the day!
Saks Fifth Avenue, 12/23 — Give a Saks Virtual Gift Card
Nordstrom, 12/23 — Last-Minute Shopping Made Easy + Double Rewards Points (Details Inside)
Finish Line, 12/23 — LAST DAY FOR IN-STORE PICKUP!
Harry & David, 12/23 — LAST CHANCE for FREE Christmas Delivery!
Saks Fifth Avenue, 12/23 — FREE SHIPPING Ends in 5 Hours
Blue Nile, 12/23 — It's Not Too Late: Free Overnight Shipping on All Orders
Dick’s Sporting Goods, 12/23 — Last Chance! Overnight Shipping Only $9.99 + Guaranteed Delivery on Great Gifts thru Dec. 23rd
TigerDirect, 12/23 — 2008 End of Year Clearance...Hurry
OfficeMax, 12/23 — Year-End Clearance - Save up to 75%
Eddie Bauer, 12/23 — Ultimate Sale: Save Up To 50%!

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Tuesday, December 23, 2008

AM Inbox: JCPenney's multichannel trifecta

>>Merry Email Marketing MAD LIBS. Enjoy them with your colleagues, friends and family. Download some festive fun.

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

JCPenney, 12/22 — Only 3 Shopping Days left 'til Christmas!
JCPenney has a nice multichannel trifecta going on with the “after-Christmas wake-up call” call-to-action in this email. They’re using their email channel to drive subscribers to the landing page where they can sign up for a wake-up call to remind them to go to their local JCPenney store for their after-Christmas sale. Along the way they promote their SMS updates. I don’t know if tons of people will use the system, but JCPenney is smart to recognize that multiple channels can be used to promote a single goal.

Click to view this Dec. 22, 2008 JCPenney email full-sized

Crutchfield, 12/22 — Free express shipping offer, e-mail gift cards still available
In addition to promoting gift cards as a last-minute gift option as discussed in yesterday’s AM Inbox, consider promoting e-gift cards, as Crutchfield does here with some added animation flair. E-gift cards are the ultimate last-minute gift, with some retailers able to deliver them within minutes of them being purchased—even on Christmas Day.

Animated portion of Dec. 22, 2008 Crutchfield email

Norm Thompson, 12/22 — Save up to 91%! Winter Sale Preview - email only.
Norm Thompson had a message at the bottom of this email saying that shipping for guaranteed Christmas delivery ended on Dec. 21, adding, “We’re sorry, but overnight delivery is not available at this time.” Was overnight shipping a casualty of the harsh winter weather we’ve been having? Didn’t see similar messages from other retailers.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Spiegel, 12/22 — Stylish New Year's Party Looks ON SALE + FREE Express Shipping Upgrade + No Payments Till June!
Bluefly, 12/22 — Dress Sale: NOW UP TO 50%-70% OFF - Be Ready to Party in 2009!
Toys “R” Us, 12/22 — Bonus Shopping Hours - Select Stores Open 'til 1AM
Old Navy, 12/22 — 60% Off Last-Minute Gifts: Only in Stores
OfficeMax, 12/22 — 3 Days Left to Save - $20 In-Store Coupon
Barnes & Noble, 12/22 — Coupon Inside, plus Last Day for Free Delivery by Christmas
Eddie Bauer, 12/22 — Last Day: Guaranteed Delivery by Christmas
KB Toys, 12/22 — Final Day to Get Holiday Gifts with Express Shipping
Crate & Barrel, 12/22 — Last day to get it to the tree. Next-day air ends 12/23 (11 am CT).
Harry & David, 12/22 — FREE Express Delivery for Christmas - Hours Left!
Cooking.com, 12/22 — LAST HOURS: Order by 11am PST Today for $14.99 Express Delivery with Christmas Arrival
Road Runner Sports, 12/22 — FINAL HOURS for FREE Shipping + Guaranteed Christmas Delivery
Coldwater Creek, 12/22 — ENDS TONIGHT! Shop now for Guaranteed Christmas Delivery
Overstock, 12/22 — FREE OVERNIGHT SHIPPING - ENDS TOMORROW
Macy’s, 12/22 — LAST CHANCE FOR GUARANTEED CHRISTMAS DELIVERY!
Kmart, 12/22 — And Now, a Holiday Treat for You. Today Only!
Lillian Vernon, 12/22 — Tired of Shopping? Here's 20% Off Just for You - Hurry, Only 3 Days!
Office Depot, 12/22 — Thank you for your business: Save $20 today

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Monday, December 22, 2008

Merry Email Marketing MAD LIBS from Smith-Harmon

Merry Email Marketing MAD LIBSThe holidays are about getting together with friends and family, exchanging heartwarming presents, catching up on family news, feasting until you hurt and, of course, playing MAD LIBS. Wanting to honor this enduring tradition, the Smith-Harmon team has put a festive, email marketing twist on the world’s greatest word game that we hope you’ll enjoy with your colleagues and loved ones. Download the Merry Email Marketing MAD LIBS and have a very merry Christmas, everyone!
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AM Inbox: Last-minute holiday email tactics

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

Orvis, 12/19 — Top 10 reasons to give an Orvis Gift Card. Shipped free.
As Christmas Day approaches and the ability to ship products disappears, there are a number of promotional strategies you can use: Promoting gift cards is one, as done in this Orvis email. The twist here is that Orvis packages their gift cards with a copy of their latest catalog. This is a great multichannel tactic that makes the gift card seem like a more substantial gift and allows the gift card recipient to immediate look for products to buy. With catalog production costs going up, this seems like a really targeted use of those resources.

Click to view this Dec. 19, 2008 Orvis email full-sized

OfficeMax, 12/21 — Your December 21 Weekly Ad is Now Online
Another last-minute holiday email messaging tactic is to promote in-store special and store hours, as OfficeMax does in this email.

Click to view this Dec. 21, OfficeMax email full-sized

Circuit City, 12/21 — Good things come to those who wait: Holiday Blowout + up to 70% off Outlet
An additional angle on promoting stores is to promote “buy online, pick up in store” services, as Circuit City does in this email. For shoppers that really don’t like stores but need last-minute gifts, this option may be attractive.

Click to view this Dec. 21, 2008 Circuit City email full-sized

Neiman Marcus, 12/21 — After Christmas SALE STARTS ONLINE TODAY! Take an extra 40% off
Neiman Marcus gives us our first after-Christmas sale reference.

Target, 12/21 — Last-minute IN-STORE DEALS, plus FREE 2-DAY SHIPPNG on 100+ top gifts.
I really appreciate that Target correctly hyphenated “last-minute,” “in-store” and “2-day”—a lot of retailers don’t use hyphenation correctly. Unfortunately Target misspelled “shipping.”

J. Jill, 12/20 — New Markdowns + Guaranteed Delivery by Christmas
Granted the height of the holiday email season has passed, but was J. Jill really able to get more out of promoting Hearst’s magazine offerings than they would have gotten out of promoting their own products? Whether this was financially successful or not, it just seems sad to me that they’d rather promote someone else’s products rather than their own at this time of the year.

Click to view this Dec. 20, 2008 J. Jill email full-sized

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Linens ’n Things, 12/21 — 4 Days Only! Take an additional 20% off New Year's Eve Party necessities!
Nordstrom, 12/19 — New Year's Dresses There's Still Time to Ship for Christmas!
J. Crew, 12/20 — 20% off. In stores only. Starts today.
Bed Bath & Beyond, 12/19 — $25 in-store savings to wrap up your gift list
Wal-Mart, 12/21 — Hurry! Order by December 22 for Delivery Before Christmas.
Costco, 12/20 — Order by 9 PM PST on Dec. 21 for delivery on or before Dec. 24
NFLshop, 12/19 — FREE Guaranteed Shipping on Orders Over $75 Through 12/21
Dick’s Sporting Goods, 12/19 — Free 2 to 3 Day Shipping + Guaranteed Delivery on Great Gifts thru Dec. 21st
Finish Line, 12/19 — Last Day For Express Shipping--Friday Dec. 19th!
Ross-Simons, 12/19 — Extra 30% Off + Free Shipping - Hurry, Guaranteed Christmas Delivery Ends Monday!
Avon, 12/19 — SAVE 66% on our LAST day of Guaranteed Christmas Delivery!
Eddie Bauer, 12/19 — Last Day: Free Shipping + Guaranteed Delivery by Christmas
Northern Tool, 12/21 — Final Day For Christmas Delivery w/ Standard Shipping Rates
REI, 12/19 — Last Chance for Standard Shipping + 15% Off Clearance
Sports Authority, 12/21 — Last Day for FREE Guaranteed Delivery + Save $10 Off $50 Order
DisneyShopping, 12/20 — Last Day - Order Now to Receive by Christmas!
Bloomingdale’s, 12/19 — Don't Miss Holiday Delivery + Free Shipping On Gifts Ends Today!
Orvis, 12/21 — Orvis is still shipping gifts: 24 hours to go!
Macy’s, 12/20 — There's still time! Order today for Guaranteed Christmas Delivery + great One Day Sale deals!
KB Toys, 12/21 — Final Day to Get Holiday Gifts with Premium Shipping
Bass Pro Shops, 12/20 — Hurry - Free Upgrade Shipping ends tomorrow
Spiegel, 12/20 — FREE Express Shipping Upgrade + Perfect Last Minute Gifts At Incredible Prices!
Bluefly, 12/20 — First Time Ever...EXTRA 20% OFF Everything + Free Upgrade to 2-Day Shipping!
MLB, 12/19 — Free 2 to 3 day shipping on all orders over $75!
Nascar, 12/19 — Guaranteed Delivery + Free 2 to 3 Day Shipping on Orders Over $75
Kmart, 12/19 — Get Your Gifts by Christmas with 2 Day Shipping
eBags, 12/19 — Final 72 Hours for Free Shipping Upgrade
Cabela’s, 12/21 — Hurry! Get it there by Dec. 24th -- use Overnight Air Express
Oriental Trading, 12/21 — Last chance for Christmas – Next day delivery for just $14.95
Coldwater Creek, 12/20 — 3 more days...Guaranteed Christmas Delivery is just an additional $5!
Cooking.com, 12/19 — LAST CHANCE Get it by Christmas with $14.99 Express Shipping + Popular Gifts and Holiday Recipes

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Sunday, December 21, 2008

Week-End Trends: Retail Email Index peaks at all-time high

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index rose 9% to a new all-time high of 391 during the week ending Dec. 19, 2008, and is up 42% from where it was four weeks ago. The Index score indicates that the top 100 online retailers sent more than 3.9 promotional emails each on average last week. This past week should be the peak of the holiday email season. Over the next couple of weeks, the Index should plunge back to more typical readings of around 220.

Click to view the Dec. 19, 2008 Retail Email Index larger

The Retail Email Participation Rate: Friday—which was the last day for guaranteed Christmas delivery for many retailers—was the most popular day to send retail emails last week.

Click to view the Dec. 19, 2008 Retail Email Participation Rate larger

The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: With many shipping deadlines now past, Christmas references should quickly dwindle in the days ahead. New Year’s references should increase next week, really taking off starting the day after Christmas.

Click to view the Dec. 19, 2008 Retail Email Seasonality Meter larger

Other things referenced by retailers: shipping deadlines, gift cards, toys, coats, boots, holiday parties
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Friday, December 19, 2008

Ping Time: The next Yahoo Mail, animated gifs, etc.

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

>>David Chartier of ars technical discusses the features in the next iteration of Yahoo Mail. The implications for email marketers could be quite dramatic. >>Follow the ping

>>Mark Brownlow of Email Marketing Reports talks about the ins and outs of using animated gifs in emails. >>Follow the ping

>>Chip House of ExactTarget recommends further leveraging email for cross-channel opportunities and using inbound SMS for growing your email list. >>Follow the ping

>>Scott Silverman of Shop.org talks about how the Obama administration will be good for online retailers. >>Follow the ping you can believe in

>>Dylan Boyd of eROI explains why he hates list email list rental. >>Follow the ping
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AM Inbox: Circuit City drives subscribers to stores with lists in hand

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

Circuit City, 12/18 — Ho! Ho! Hurry! Last chance for free holiday shipping + hot deals
As we enter the final shopping days of the holiday season, using your email program to direct subscribers to your stores becomes increasingly important. In this email, Circuit City tells subscribers how they can create shopping lists on their website to bring to their stores. That’s a nice integration of a strategy across channels.

Click to view this Dec. 18, 2008 Circuit City email full-sized

B&H Photo Video, 12/18 — Free 2nd day Shipping on Amazing B&H deals!
I’ve seen retailers promote videos that are hosted on YouTube before, but I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen a major retailer talk about their YouTube channel before like B&H does in this email.
Here’s the link to their YouTube channel. The guides and tutorials are hosted on the B&H website.

Click to view this Dec. 18, 2008 B&H Photo Video email full-sized

DisneyShopping, 12/18 — Get a Bonus 10% Off of Our Holiday Savings!
The “inline attachment” error that I alerted you to months ago appears to have struck another retailer: DisneyShopping. In addition to the error message that appears at the top of the email, this email also had an actual attachment—image001 (797b)—whereas the other emails with this error did not.

Click to view this Dec. 18, 2008 DisneyShopping email full-sized

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Wal-Mart, 12/18 — 3 Days Left for Delivery Before Christmas Using Standard Shipping
Toys “R” Us, 12/18 — Last Day for Free Shipping PLUS Shop Our 1-Day Sale!
Art.com, 12/18 — 20% Off + Last Call for Santa's Sleigh!
Target, 12/18 — Today's the day: Last chance for standard shipping, plus shop our sale and clearance.
Nascar, 12/18 — Last Chance to get Guaranteed Delivery on Standard Shipping by Dec. 24th
Macy’s, 12/18 — Ends tonight! Extra 20% or 15% off + last FREE SHIPPING before Christmas!
Home Depot, 12/18 — Last Minute Electronic Gifts
Victoria’s Secret, 12/18 — 25% Off Bras. Plus, Final Hours for Free Shipping on $50+. Details & Exclusions Inside.
Urban Outfitters, 12/18 — Free Shipping Ends TODAY!
Nordstrom, 12/18 — 40% Off Selected Coats Free Shipping Ends 12/19 (Details Inside)
Northern Tool, 12/18 — Standard Shipping By Christmas. Free Gift Card + Up To 50% Off Gift Ideas.
Lands’ End, 12/18 — Free Christmas delivery, all orders ­- but hurry...
Crutchfield, 12/18 — Get it there in time...plus, check out our Deal of the Day
Cooking.com, 12/18 — 4 DAYS ONLY: Flat-Rate $14.99 EXPRESS SHIPPING, Order by Dec 22nd for Christmas Arrival
Chadwick’s, 12/18 — Take 40% off plus a Free Express Upgrade!
Oriental Trading, 12/18 — 2 Days Only - Express Christmas delivery only $5.95
Bass Pro Shops, 12/18 — Last Minute Savings + Free Upgrade Shipping
Sportsman’s Guide, 12/18 — Last Chance Gifts Sale! $5 Express Shipping Coupon from The Guide
Neiman Marcus, 12/18 — Falalala-luxe gifts UNDER $100 + HOLIDAY SALE + Free rush online delivery
Sam’s Club, 12/18 — Bring more holiday cheer with photo cards and gifts
Spiegel, 12/18 — The "Dress To Impress" SALE EVENT! Up to 70% on Head-Turning Holiday Looks + No Payments Till JUNE!

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Thursday, December 18, 2008

Season Finale: Thanksgiving 2008

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

Start to finish: The first reference to Thanksgiving was on Sept. 18 by Blair. The final reference was on Nov. 30 by Neiman Marcus.

The distribution curve: The biggest day for Thanksgiving emails was Thanksgiving Day itself, Nov. 27, followed by the day before Thanksgiving, Nov. 26. Retailers sent the majority of their Thanksgiving-themed emails after Nov. 24.

Click to view the 2008 Thanksgiving retail email distribution curve larger

Most interesting email: I continue to like Crate & Barrel’s unique weekly countdown to Thanksgiving—although I wasn’t in love with the first email in the series this year (see Oct. 31 AM Inbox). The series started off with no captions for product images and poor calls-to-action. However, those faults were corrected later in the series as you can see in the final email here:



Noteworthy trend: Creating special seasonal headers and navigation bars for the holiday season is quite popular, with about one-third of retailers using the tactic. But Thanksgiving headers are more rare, with only home-oriented brands like Crate & Barrel and Williams-Sonoma using them. One of the newer trends with seasonal headers is the use of animation. This year Williams-Sonoma was the first to introduce an animated header, which they used to countdown the days until Thanksgiving.

Click to view this Nov. 7, 2008 Williams-Sonoma email larger

And here’s the animated portion of this email:

Animated portion of Nov. 7, 2008 Williams-Sonoma email

Standout subject lines:
Crate & Barrel, 11/1 — Time-saving Thanksgiving menu. Plus Free Shipping.
Cooking.com, 11/26 — Last-Minute Thanksgiving: Quick Recipes & Tips, Plus Holiday Gift
Walgreens, 11/26 — Open Thanksgiving Day! 50% Off Collage Calendars + Toys. Thursday


Subject lines that stand out for the wrong reasons:
TigerDirect, 11/28 — 72hr After Thanksgivinig SALE w/ $1.99 Shipping
They misspelled “Thanksgiving.”

Read previous Thanksgiving Season Finales: 2007, 2006

Explore Thanksgiving tag.
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AM Inbox: How much time to give subscribers to respond

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

Bluefly, 12/17 — 2 Hours Only - PRADA Wallets $169!
What percentage of your subscribers react to your emails within 24 hours of them being sent? Within 8 hours? What about within 2 hours? That’s how long Bluefly gave subscribers to react to this limited-time deal. In fact, the emails I received about this sale arrived within the 2-hour window of the sale, which meant I actually had less than 2 hours to react. There’s urgency and then immediacy. One-day sales are popular, and I’ve been seeing 4- to 6-hour lunchtime deals and midnight deals for a long time. But this might be going too far. I urge you to take a good look at the response time of your subscribers before attempting anything like this.

All that said, I love the name. “The Quickie” is totally on brand for Bluefly, which is certainly sexy and provocative in their advertising.

Click to view this Dec. 17, 2008 Bluefly email full-sized

RadioShack, 12/17 — One Day Only Deals Inside - See Today's Now!
In contrast to the Bluefly email, here RadioShack pushes a one-day deal, while also giving subscribers the opportunity to shop the next day’s deal. Dell, Nascar and others have also taken this approach, which extends the life and relevancy of the email by giving folks that open the email a day late something to engage with.

Click to view this Dec. 17, 2008 RadioShack email full-sized

SmartBargains, 12/17 — Activate your exclusive savings.
After apparently having some performance issues after changing their sender name (see yesterday’s AM Inbox), SmartBargains returns with yet another sender name—“CustomerService@SmartBargains.com.” Consistency is the name of the game when it comes to sender lines.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Coach, 12/17 — last minute gifts...last day for free standard shipping‏
Ralph Lauren, 12/17 — Last Minute Savings On Last Minute Gifts
Crate & Barrel, 12/17 — Last minute sale. Last 5 Free Shipping days.
Nordstrom, 12/17 — Last Chance! Free Holiday Shipping Ends Dec. 19 (Details Inside)
Harry & David, 12/17 — Last day for FREE Christmas delivery* - Order Now
Drugstore.com, 12/17 — Last Days: get Free Shipping on your next order
Overstock, 12/17 — LAST DAY - FREE GROUND SHIPPING
Cooking.com, 12/17 — LAST DAY: Get Gifts by Christmas with Free Shipping on $99 + Easy Giftable Candy Recipes
Kmart, 12/17 — Still Time for Great Gifts - 12/18 Last Day for Standard Shipping by Christmas
Victoria’s Secret, 12/17 — Ends Tomorrow! Free Shipping by Christmas with $50 Purchase. Details Inside.
Sony, 12/17 — Reminder: Visit a Sony Style store tomorrow for SWEET last minute VIP savings
eBags, 12/17 — Free 2nd Day Air Upgrade...our gift to you
Dell, 12/17 — Get Free 2nd Business Day Shipping on Select Dell Quick Ship Systems!
Bluefly, 12/17 — OMG! Extra 30% Off All Sale Items + FREE Upgrade to 2-Day Shipping
Chadwick’s, 12/17 — New Resort Collection & Free Express Shipping!
Orvis, 12/17 — Get it by Christmas. We'll cover the shipping upgrade!
Neiman Marcus, 12/17 — Who do you want to be tonight? PARTY LOOKS + Earn an NM GIFT CARD

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Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Stat Source: Multichannel holiday shopping, CertifiedEmail, etc.

Retail email marketing statistics and benchmarks from the past month:

Stat: 35% of survey respondents said they find out about gift giving ideas from emails and newsletters from retailers and web sites. However, two-thirds of the respondents said they’d do the bulk of their shopping in-store. Source: Prospectiv’s annual Holiday Retail Survey
>>Don’t forget to use your email marketing to drive offline sales in your stores in addition to online sales. Notify your subscribers of store locations and hours, special in-store events and sales, etc.—especially in the waning days of the holiday season.

Stat: CertifiedEmail senders see their delivery rates improve by an average of 12% and unique click-through rates improve by 35%. They also see 38% more profit from their email campaigns than non-certifiers. Source: JupiterResearch’s The ROI of Rendering: Tactics To Improve Trust, Message Delivery And Email Effectiveness
>>Whether you’re interested in CertifiedEmail or not, the study drives home the importance of good deliverability (and hence good permission practices) and good email design that accounts for image blocking.

For more stats, read past Stat Source posts.
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AM Inbox: A special offer from a guy you've never heard of

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

SmartBargains, 12/16 — A special offer from our CEO.
Several retailers have sent emails from one of their CXOs this holiday season—some for serious reasons like debunking bankruptcy rumors, and others just to promote deals, as in this email. While it’s great to have your executives sign these emails to lend them more authority, don’t let this confuse you as to who the email is from: Your sender name should remain your brand name or whatever you typically use. That’s what your subscribers expect to see. Don’t disappoint them by changing your sender name to something unrecognizable like “Ben Fischman, CEO”—which is what SmartBargains did with this email. Apparently the change of sender name confused a significant number of subscribers, who either didn’t open the email or marked it as spam, because later in the day SmartBargains sent a second email with their usual “SmartBargains.com” sender name and the same subject line and same copy rendered in text-only to ensure that it was seen. Consistency in your sender name and address are very important, especially during the holiday season when consumers’ inboxes become more cluttered.

Click to view this Dec. 16, 2008 SmartBargains email full-sized

Toys “R” Us, 12/16 — Don't Miss Our Half Off Sale PLUS Get Free Shipping!
In this email, Toys “R” Us highlights their new desktop and web widgets. The landing page also includes information on mobile content and links to follow Toys “R” Us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Click to view this Dec. 16, 2008 Toys R Us email full-sized

Staples, 12/16 — Will Office Depot closings affect you?
Ouch! It’s exceedingly rare that one retailer calls out another for anything other than price comparisons, but Staples takes it to Office Depot in this email, using a recent press release against them. In a holiday season of nasty rumors about retailers closing stores and questions about them honoring gift cards, Staples seems to play into that narrative of anxiety with the wording of this email. Not sure if this is clever or cutthroat. Probably both.

Click to view this Dec. 16, 2008 Staples email full-sized

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
KB Toys, 12/16 — Last Chance for Standard Shipping - Ends December 16
Petco, 12/16 — PETCO / It’s Your Last Chance for Guaranteed Delivery Plus FREE Shipping!
L.L. Bean, 12/16 — Last Chance: Holiday Delivery + FREE Gift Card
Eddie Bauer, 12/16 — Last Chance: Free Shipping + Up To 50% Off!
OfficeMax, 12/16 — Last-Minute Gifts - Save up to 50%
Drs. Foster & Smith, 12/16 — There's Still Time To Order!
Costco, 12/16 — Great Gifts To Arrive In Time For Christmas!
Backcountry, 12/16 — Get Your Gear on Time
Abercrombie & Fitch, 12/16 — Sexy new styles, get them by Christmas.
Cooking.com, 12/16 — LAST 2 DAYS: Fantastic Gifts that Ship Free with Guaranteed Christmas Arrival
Harry & David, 12/16 — 2 Days Left to Order + 3 Ways to Save on Delivery!
REI, 12/16 — REI Member Coupon: Save 20% + 3 Days Left for Standard Shipping
Lands’ End, 12/16 — Free Shipping extended! (Just in the St. Nick of time)
Musician’s Friend, 12/16 — Musician's Friend: Get up to $125 in Bonus Bucks When You Buy Gift Certificates

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Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Season Finale: Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2008

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

Start to finish: The first reference to Breast Cancer Awareness Month was on Sept. 7 from Ann Taylor. The final reference was on Nov. 15 from Ann Taylor.

The distribution curve: The biggest day for Breast Cancer Awareness Month emails was Friday, Oct. 3, followed by Friday, Nov. 14 and Sunday, Nov. 16. Retailers sent the majority of their Breast Cancer Awareness Month-themed emails after Oct. 7.

Click to view the 2008 Breast Cancer Awareness Month retail email distribution curve larger

Year-over-year comparison: This year there were 26% fewer references to Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I spoke to several retailers at the Email Insider Summit last week and some of them said that Breast Cancer Awareness Month had actually received too much attention from retailers. Some were receiving ticked-off calls and emails from customers saying that they should focus their attention on cervical cancer or other diseases.

Most interesting email: In this Oct. 1 email with the subject line “Little Pink Book & Gift Cards That Give Twice,” Bloomingdale’s focuses on promoting their Little Pink Gift Card rather than solely focusing on pink merchandise. Not everyone wants their home littered with pink merchandise, even if they are a staunch supporter of the cause. Bloomingdale’s will donate 10% of the gift card value and of the amount spent above the value of the gift card to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Just like OfficeMax (see Oct. 1 AM Inbox), Bloomingdale’s is linking their Breast Cancer Awareness campaign to the holidays by making donations based on redemptions between Sept. 15 and Dec. 21.

Click to view this Oct. 1 Bloomingdale’s email larger

Noteworthy trend: While many breast cancer awareness campaigns are largely confined to the month of October, increasingly these campaigns are being integrated into holiday season promotions. As mentioned above, both Bloomingdale’s and OfficeMax tied their donations to redemptions during the holidays. It’s also worth noting that TigerDirect ran their Pink Friday campaign again this year, donating a portion of their Black Friday sales to breast cancer research (see Dec. 1 AM Inbox). The latest addition this year was a podcast on Black Friday in support of the campaign.

Standout subject lines:
FTD, 10/2 — Think Pink this October and Send a Gift of Hope
Bloomingdale’s, 10/1 — Little Pink Book & Gift Cards That Give Twice
Ann Taylor, 9/7 — ANN Cares Card: Receive Fall Savings and Battle Breast Cancer
Sephora, 10/4 — Going pink this month?
OfficeMax, 9/30 — Think Pink - Support Breast Cancer Awareness Month


Read previous Breast Cancer Awareness Monday Season Finales: 2007, 2006

Explore Breast Cancer Awareness Month tag.
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AM Inbox: Put shipping deadlines front and center

>>Check out the updates to yesterday’s AM Inbox on Sears’ embedded video email.

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

Gap, 12/15 — Holiday Sale, And $20 Off Your Order
Don’t make your subscribers scroll down and hunt for your shipping deadline schedule. Follow the lead of Gap and others by using a preview pane banner to ensure that shipping deadlines show up in the preview pane.

Click to view this Dec. 15, 2008 Gap email full-sized

Overstock, 12/15 — LIQUIDATIONS
While at the Email Insider Summit, I had the pleasure of speaking with Allen, who heads up Overstock’s email marketing program. I asked him about the spammy, all-caps, often one-word subject lines that they use and he explained that they A/B test their subject lines and that these are the ones that always win. Just one more reason to test everything. You never know what you’re subscribers will respond to.

Eddie Bauer, 12/15 — 2 Day Free Shipping + Guaranteed Delivery by Christmas
This subject line is poorly written and will likely confuse subscribers. It appears to offer free 2-day shipping, but the body of the email says that they’re offering free shipping for two days, until Dec. 16. Make sure that your subject lines are clearly communicating shipping deadlines and offers.

Click to view this Dec. 15, 2008 Eddie Bauer email full-sized

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
SmartBargains, 12/15 — Shipping Deadline: 1-cent guaranteed ends at midnight.
Dick’s Sporting Goods, 12/15 — Free Shipping + Guaranteed Delivery on Great Gifts thru Dec. 18th
Art.com, 12/15 — Last 2 Days for Xmas Delivery + Best Offer!
Target, 12/14 — Tick-tock: Free shipping ends soon on 30,000+ great gifts.

Alloy, 12/15 — Extended: Get It By Christmas at No Charge
Sam’s Club, 12/14 — There's still time to get those gifts you want by December 25th
Alibris, 12/14 — Avoid the last-minute scramble: Order by 12/18 to save!
KB Toys, 12/14 — Get That Special Gift Under the Tree in Time and Save Up to 60%
Banana Republic, 12/15 — Get 20% off + free shipping. Ends tomorrow!
Northern Tool, 12/15 — Free Gift Card + Save Up To 60% - Get It By Christmas
Orvis, 12/15 — Guaranteed delivery by Christmas: We're paying for the shipping upgrade!
RedEnvelope, 12/15 — Save 20% on All Orders! Personalized Gifts Cutoff Extended until Tomorrow
Norm Thompson, 12/14 — FREE SHIPPING plus FREE GIFT! Ends tonight.
Harry & David, 12/14 — 'Sno Joke: FREE Delivery!
Urban Outfitters, 12/14 — Did you wish for Free Shipping?
Sears, 12/14 — You Want the Gifts, We've Got the Savings + Free Shipping
Crutchfield, 12/14 — Holiday savings - now thru 12/24, plus our gift guide video
ShopNBC, 12/14 — Rudolph's nose or GPS? Tech toys + free shipping
Saks Fifth Avenue, 12/14 — Holiday Style for All

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Monday, December 15, 2008

AM Inbox: First embedded video in retail email

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

Sears, 12/13 — Say Thank You to a Hero
There’s been lots of buzz and debate about using embedded video in emails and the best practice has been to link to video hosted on your website. However, in this email Sears uses embedded video—a first among the top online retailers that I track. What that means is that the video runs inside the email, without the need to click through to the Sears website. In fact, in this implementation, the 20-second looping video begins to roll the second you open the email. See the email in action here. The video has no sound and when you click on the “Click to hear audio” link it takes you to the full-length video on Sears’ site. Embedding the video without sound avoids unexpected and awkward office noise and keeps the size of the email manageable at only 19KB. Sears uses VHD Technology, which doesn’t promise compatibility with all email clients, to power their embedded video. Goodmail Systems will also be providing an embedded video service soon. This is bleeding edge to be sure. It will be interesting to see how subscribers respond to embedded video and whether it proves to be worth the extra investment in each campaign.

UPDATE #1: I spoke with Andrew Kordek of Sears and he shared some details about the email. First, when asked if he had plans to use embedded video in other emails, he said, “This was a test to see adoption rates and lift, and I would think that we will be testing into our promotional stream in the future.” He explained that the embedded video worked in the major platforms that comprise 93% of their database, and that if someone could not see the video, the first frame was static in most cases. When asked about the decision to not include sound, he said, “We wanted to encourage the clickthrough and the online experience from the email and not having the sound seemed like the best way to encourage that. The video was ‘shocking’ enough; the lack of sound made you pay attention.” While Sears didn’t A/B test embedded video vs. non-embedded, they did A/B test the creative: one with Sgt. Ryan and the other with Ty Pennington.

NEW UPDATE #2: There’s a bit of confusion out there about exactly how VHD’s technology works. I’m told by Duane Seon, VHD’s CTO, that their technology is indeed streaming video, not a kind of animated gif as is rumored. He said, “An animated gif is limited to 256k colors and we are streaming in the millions and our frame rate is a lot faster than a gif.” Duane did explain that the video file and audio file (if you use one) are separate, and have to be synchronized. He explained that the audio “plays mostly in IE and MS platforms (except 2007), which currently has a approx 60% of the market. It also adds weight to the spam count, so even though it has a huge impact we like our clients not to abuse it.” I assume that we’ll see much more experimentation with embedded video—true or otherwise—in 2009.

Click to view this Dec. 13, 2008 Sears email full-sized

SmartBargains, 12/11 — Get an Extra 25% Off Your Entire Order!
SmartBargains gives us what I believe is another first—the first animated call-to-action button. Very clever.

Click to view this Dec. 11, 2008 SmartBargains email full-sized

Here’s the animated portion of this email:

Animated portino of Dec. 11, 2008 SmartBargains email

RedEnvelope, 12/11 — Save 15% on all orders! Reminder, Sunday is your Last Day to send personalized gifts
Late last week about one in 10 retailers notified subscribers about deadlines for personalized gifts, oversized gifts and other specialty items. However, the other reason I’m highlighting this email is because it serves as another reminder to preview your creatives in all the major email clients before sending it out. Many of RedEnvelope’s subscribers saw this eye-bleeding color scheme…

Click to view this Dec. 11, 2008 RedEnvelope email full-sized

…when RedEnvelope clearly intended for them to see the color scheme used in the web-hosted version of the email:

Click to view this Dec. 11, 2008 RedEnvelope email full-sized

Tip of the hat to Dylan Murphy of Football Fanatics for pointing this out to me.

Harry & David, 12/10 — FREE Delivery for a limited time only!
Awesome! Harry & David have brought back Mr. Pear Head for another holiday season. These little guys are cute, unique and totally on brand.

Click to view this Dec. 10, 2008 Harry & David email full-sized

Chadwick’s, 12/13 — Did you get your Christmas bonus?
The email seems to be suggesting that the deep discounts featured in the email are your Christmas bonus. I think that will be cold comfort to many subscribers, who indeed didn’t get actual Christmas bonuses this year. This subject line probably just reminded folks that they have less money to spend this year, rather than making them appreciate the discount.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
HPshopping, 12/12 — LAST CHANCE to get Customized Notebooks by Dec. 24th!
Crutchfield, 12/11 — Holiday savings; free shipping; last call for large TVs
Walgreens, 12/10 — Hurry - There's Still Time to Order Photo Books & Calendars
Costco, 12/13 — 12 Shopping Days Until Christmas! Skip the crowds, shop costco.com!
Alloy, 12/13 — 3 DAYS LEFT: Free Shipping Over $25 + Get it by Christmas
Omaha Steaks, 12/10 — 3 Reasons to Give Omaha Steaks
Blue Nile, 12/10 — Top Ten Christmas Gifts + Special Offer
TigerDirect, 12/13 — 50 Gifts Under $50...Save Time...Shop Online
Saks Fifth Avenue, 12/10 — 150 Gifts Under $150 + Free Shipping
Backcountry, 12/11 — Free Shipping, No Tax, Price Match on All Orders
Kmart, 12/12 — Subscribers Only - Free Shipping, No Threshold December 12
ShopNBC, 12/10 — No need for wishing, it's time for Free Shipping
Bloomingdale’s, 12/10 — 5.00 Shipping On Beauty Stocking Stuffers & More
Coldwater Creek, 12/10 — LAST DAY for 25% off + Free Shipping (the sleigh leaves tonight!)
Neiman Marcus, 12/10 — So! You need a gift? Look no further + Free gift wrap & Free online shipping at any price
Harry & David, 12/12 — This will sleigh you: FREE Delivery!
J. Jill, 12/10 — Gifts as brilliant & extraordinary as her. Plus, save 20%.
Ralph Lauren, 12/10 — Shopping Is Hard Work. Here's YOUR Reward.
Lands’ End, 12/11 — Fleece Navidad! FREE SHIPPING & 20% off fleece, boots
Avon, 12/10 — CELEBRATE the Season with this Delightful Top-Seller + FREE Shipping

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