AM Inbox: eBags email redesign + an inflated preheader
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:
eBags, 10/9 — You're Invited: eBags' Friends & Family Sale Event
As the month before the holiday really gets going, October is a popular month for website relaunches and email redesigns. We’ve already seen email redesigns from Art.com and Bloomingdale’s (see Oct. 15 AM Inbox) and Saks Fifth Avenue (see Oct. 7 AM Inbox). Now eBags has redesigned theirs. They’ve made their header longer by making their logo larger and moving their navigation bar under the logo to make room for a new search box. The new nav bar is graphical text, whereas the old one was HTML text that would render when images are blocked. The other big change is that they’ve widened their emails to 660 pixels from 600, giving themselves more room to play with. Here’s the new design (left) and the old design from an Oct. 5 email:
Bloomingdale’s, 10/12 — Ends Today: 5 Day Home Sale + 25-40% Off
Two blank lines + a preheader message broken up onto three lines + a whitelisting request + blank lines between everything = one giant waste of preheader space. What should have been two lines text has been exploded to nine! That severely harms how the email appears in preview panes. Here’s the first 300 pixels of the email, which is what will appear in many subscribers’ preview panes. Not terribly helpful.
ShopNBC, 10/11 — The BIG Countdown Continues 75 days till Christmas
Problems with returns is one reason that consumers don’t buy Christmas gifts sooner. ShopNBC eliminates that issue by allowing returns of gifts bought now until the end of January. Kicked off their holiday campaign 100 before Christmas by offering free shipping back on Sept. 16 (see Sept. 17 AM Inbox)
Oriental Trading, 10/13 — Save $20 on Halloween's sweetest deals. Shipping is free
Not sure which direction to take your email content? It never hurts to ask your subscribers directly, as Oriental Trading does in this email. Subscribers that clicked through were asked if they wanted more customer reviews, articles and tips, projects and craft ideas, or how-to videos. While you might get ambiguous results from such a poll, that wasn’t the case with Oriental Trading, which saw nearly a majority of their subscribers asking for projects and craft ideas. That’s pretty clear direction from your subscribers.
Spiegel, 10/13 — Important Shopping Update from Spiegel.
Not being direct about why they were emailing, this “update” probably led many subscribers to question whether something has happened to their Spiegel transactional data. Just reading the first paragraph I assumed that Spiegel had been hacked, when it turns out that Newport News was. Being clear and direct would have raised fewer alarms. As is, I wonder if subscribers who read this will be more hesitant about buying something online from Spiegel because of security concerns—which is the exact opposite of what they were trying to do.
Harry & David, 10/11 — 14.92% OFF Columbus Day SAVINGS on Moose Munch Collections
See a flavor here that has you drooling a little? Well, if you tried to click on the flavor to buy it you’d be out of luck because none of those are hot linked—not to the individual product page or even the Harry & David homepage. It turns out that only the “Set Sail…” headline and the “Shop Now” button are hyperlinked. Don’t make your subscribers work to click though from your email to the desired page. If you think a subscribers might click on it—like a product image, for instance—then hot link it to the appropriate page to minimize the number of clicks between them and checkout.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Neiman Marcus, 10/11 — The perfect evening? We have a few ideas
Crutchfield, 10/12 — Announcing Crutchfield Signature [promotes new website for premium products]
Kmart, 10/9 — Kmart has Pet Supplies + Great Savings for Your Home
Staples, 10/9 — Save like it's 1492!
Bluefly, 10/11 — New World, New Dress! EXTRA 15% OFF DRESSES!
Harry & David, 10/9 — Set Sail for SAVINGS: 14.92% OFF for Columbus Day
Chadwick’s, 10/11 — Columbus Day CLEARANCE! (Who will get the 6.99 shirts?)
Sports Authority, 10/12 — Columbus Day Sale - Take 15% Off Online Orders - Today Only!
Diamond.com, 10/11 — Columbus Day Sale Reminder - 50% Off Plus $1 Shipping
Diamond.com, 10/9 — Columbus day Sale - 50% Off Plus $1 Shipping
Macy’s, 10/9 — Ends Monday: Free Shipping + great financing offers at the Columbus Day Sale!
Sears, 10/9 — Don't Miss Our Columbus Day Sale!
Chadwick’s, 10/9 — New prices from only $6.99! The Columbus Day Clearance Event
Toys “R” Us, 10/10 — Only 2 Days Left: Save Over $725 During Our Columbus Day Sale!
Sears, 10/11 — 3 Day Specials Columbus Day Sales
SmartBargains, 10/11 — 2 Days Only Columbus Day Sale & Clearance Event!
Musician’s Friend, 10/11 — Musician's Friend: Columbus Day Call 'N' Save Up To $200
Montgomery Ward, 10/13 — New Holiday Products Just Added Buy Now & Pay Later
Hanna Andersson, 10/12 — The Adorable Little Red Dress Holiday Dress And Sweater Sale
HSN, 12/13 — New Arrivals + Special Pricing for the Holidays! Sorelle, Royal Doulton & Jeffrey Banks Premiere
Disney Store, 10/13 — New Limited Edition Holiday Ornaments from Disney Store Europe
RitzCamera, 10/9 — Halloween Photo Tips, $89 Olympus 12MP Digital Camera
J&R, 10/12 — J&R Is Your Halloween Headquarters
Williams-Sonoma, 10/10 — New & Exclusive Personalized Halloween Totes + Treats
Oriental Trading, 10/9 — Get free shipping & save 15% on the ultimate Halloween party
Oriental Trading, 10/12 — Don't miss out! Create your own Monster Mash-up video
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
eBags, 10/9 — You're Invited: eBags' Friends & Family Sale Event
As the month before the holiday really gets going, October is a popular month for website relaunches and email redesigns. We’ve already seen email redesigns from Art.com and Bloomingdale’s (see Oct. 15 AM Inbox) and Saks Fifth Avenue (see Oct. 7 AM Inbox). Now eBags has redesigned theirs. They’ve made their header longer by making their logo larger and moving their navigation bar under the logo to make room for a new search box. The new nav bar is graphical text, whereas the old one was HTML text that would render when images are blocked. The other big change is that they’ve widened their emails to 660 pixels from 600, giving themselves more room to play with. Here’s the new design (left) and the old design from an Oct. 5 email:
Bloomingdale’s, 10/12 — Ends Today: 5 Day Home Sale + 25-40% Off
Two blank lines + a preheader message broken up onto three lines + a whitelisting request + blank lines between everything = one giant waste of preheader space. What should have been two lines text has been exploded to nine! That severely harms how the email appears in preview panes. Here’s the first 300 pixels of the email, which is what will appear in many subscribers’ preview panes. Not terribly helpful.
ShopNBC, 10/11 — The BIG Countdown Continues 75 days till Christmas
Problems with returns is one reason that consumers don’t buy Christmas gifts sooner. ShopNBC eliminates that issue by allowing returns of gifts bought now until the end of January. Kicked off their holiday campaign 100 before Christmas by offering free shipping back on Sept. 16 (see Sept. 17 AM Inbox)
Oriental Trading, 10/13 — Save $20 on Halloween's sweetest deals. Shipping is free
Not sure which direction to take your email content? It never hurts to ask your subscribers directly, as Oriental Trading does in this email. Subscribers that clicked through were asked if they wanted more customer reviews, articles and tips, projects and craft ideas, or how-to videos. While you might get ambiguous results from such a poll, that wasn’t the case with Oriental Trading, which saw nearly a majority of their subscribers asking for projects and craft ideas. That’s pretty clear direction from your subscribers.
Spiegel, 10/13 — Important Shopping Update from Spiegel.
Not being direct about why they were emailing, this “update” probably led many subscribers to question whether something has happened to their Spiegel transactional data. Just reading the first paragraph I assumed that Spiegel had been hacked, when it turns out that Newport News was. Being clear and direct would have raised fewer alarms. As is, I wonder if subscribers who read this will be more hesitant about buying something online from Spiegel because of security concerns—which is the exact opposite of what they were trying to do.
Harry & David, 10/11 — 14.92% OFF Columbus Day SAVINGS on Moose Munch Collections
See a flavor here that has you drooling a little? Well, if you tried to click on the flavor to buy it you’d be out of luck because none of those are hot linked—not to the individual product page or even the Harry & David homepage. It turns out that only the “Set Sail…” headline and the “Shop Now” button are hyperlinked. Don’t make your subscribers work to click though from your email to the desired page. If you think a subscribers might click on it—like a product image, for instance—then hot link it to the appropriate page to minimize the number of clicks between them and checkout.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Neiman Marcus, 10/11 — The perfect evening? We have a few ideas
Crutchfield, 10/12 — Announcing Crutchfield Signature [promotes new website for premium products]
Kmart, 10/9 — Kmart has Pet Supplies + Great Savings for Your Home
Staples, 10/9 — Save like it's 1492!
Bluefly, 10/11 — New World, New Dress! EXTRA 15% OFF DRESSES!
Harry & David, 10/9 — Set Sail for SAVINGS: 14.92% OFF for Columbus Day
Chadwick’s, 10/11 — Columbus Day CLEARANCE! (Who will get the 6.99 shirts?)
Sports Authority, 10/12 — Columbus Day Sale - Take 15% Off Online Orders - Today Only!
Diamond.com, 10/11 — Columbus Day Sale Reminder - 50% Off Plus $1 Shipping
Diamond.com, 10/9 — Columbus day Sale - 50% Off Plus $1 Shipping
Macy’s, 10/9 — Ends Monday: Free Shipping + great financing offers at the Columbus Day Sale!
Sears, 10/9 — Don't Miss Our Columbus Day Sale!
Chadwick’s, 10/9 — New prices from only $6.99! The Columbus Day Clearance Event
Toys “R” Us, 10/10 — Only 2 Days Left: Save Over $725 During Our Columbus Day Sale!
Sears, 10/11 — 3 Day Specials Columbus Day Sales
SmartBargains, 10/11 — 2 Days Only Columbus Day Sale & Clearance Event!
Musician’s Friend, 10/11 — Musician's Friend: Columbus Day Call 'N' Save Up To $200
Montgomery Ward, 10/13 — New Holiday Products Just Added Buy Now & Pay Later
Hanna Andersson, 10/12 — The Adorable Little Red Dress Holiday Dress And Sweater Sale
HSN, 12/13 — New Arrivals + Special Pricing for the Holidays! Sorelle, Royal Doulton & Jeffrey Banks Premiere
Disney Store, 10/13 — New Limited Edition Holiday Ornaments from Disney Store Europe
RitzCamera, 10/9 — Halloween Photo Tips, $89 Olympus 12MP Digital Camera
J&R, 10/12 — J&R Is Your Halloween Headquarters
Williams-Sonoma, 10/10 — New & Exclusive Personalized Halloween Totes + Treats
Oriental Trading, 10/9 — Get free shipping & save 15% on the ultimate Halloween party
Oriental Trading, 10/12 — Don't miss out! Create your own Monster Mash-up video
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
Labels: AM Inbox, Bloomingdale's, Christmas, Design Issues, eBags, Email Redesigns, Harry and David, Oriental Trading, Polls, Preheaders, ShopNBC, Spiegel
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posted at 5:17 PM by Chad White
I love Smith-Harmon's enthusiasm. It's so great to have a connection with people who really "get" and get excited by email marketing. (Truly, there are not that many of us out there!) I count myself very lucky to have found such accomplished enthusiasts to collaborate with on the REI program. They are helping to bring amazing opportunities to fruition with panache.
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