Week-End Trends: Retail email volume hits all-time record
Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:
The Retail Email Index: Top online retailers sent each of their subscribers an all-time record 4.1 promotional emails on average during the week ending Dec. 18, 2009. That’s up 11% week-over-week, up 44% from where it was four weeks ago, and up 5% year-over-year.
The build in email volume this holiday season continued to be very herky-jerky compared to recent holiday seasons. Retail email volume appeared on track to fall year-over-year for the first time since I’ve been tracking it, but a surge in emails during this final week of guaranteed Christmas delivery with standard shipping pushed volume comfortably above last year’s. Needless to say, email volume per subscriber cannot continue to rise year-over-year endlessly and I find myself wondering if 2010 will be the year when volumes level out.
The Retail Email Participation Rate: Wednesday was the most popular day to send retail emails last week. Thursday, which was Free Shipping Day, turned out to be the least popular weekday last week, but I doubt that will be the case next year as retailers look to leverage and build awareness of this day.
The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: This week will be the last hurrah for Christmas messaging and New Year’s messaging will start to pick up.
Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Christmas (12/25): Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season, Christmas 2008 Season Finale
New Year’s (1/1): New Year’s 2009 Season Finale
Valentine’s Day (2/14): Valentine’s Day 2009 Season Finale
St. Patrick’s Day (3/17): St. Patrick’s Day 2009 Season Finale
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SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive
The Retail Email Index: Top online retailers sent each of their subscribers an all-time record 4.1 promotional emails on average during the week ending Dec. 18, 2009. That’s up 11% week-over-week, up 44% from where it was four weeks ago, and up 5% year-over-year.
The build in email volume this holiday season continued to be very herky-jerky compared to recent holiday seasons. Retail email volume appeared on track to fall year-over-year for the first time since I’ve been tracking it, but a surge in emails during this final week of guaranteed Christmas delivery with standard shipping pushed volume comfortably above last year’s. Needless to say, email volume per subscriber cannot continue to rise year-over-year endlessly and I find myself wondering if 2010 will be the year when volumes level out.
The Retail Email Participation Rate: Wednesday was the most popular day to send retail emails last week. Thursday, which was Free Shipping Day, turned out to be the least popular weekday last week, but I doubt that will be the case next year as retailers look to leverage and build awareness of this day.
The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: This week will be the last hurrah for Christmas messaging and New Year’s messaging will start to pick up.
Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Christmas (12/25): Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season, Christmas 2008 Season Finale
New Year’s (1/1): New Year’s 2009 Season Finale
Valentine’s Day (2/14): Valentine’s Day 2009 Season Finale
St. Patrick’s Day (3/17): St. Patrick’s Day 2009 Season Finale
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive
Labels: Black Friday, Christmas, Cyber Monday, New Year's, Week-End Trends
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posted at 9:56 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.
2 Comments:
Hi Chad,
Great post!!!
What is the source of your research?
Thanks,
Jonathan
Jonathan, this is based on my own proprietary tracking data, which goes back to 2006.
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