Week-End Trends: Slower Father's Day messaging build-up

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index fell 3% to 238 during the week ending May 29, 2009, and is down 4% from where it was four weeks ago. The Index score indicates that the top 100 online retailers sent about 2.4 promotional emails each on average last week.

Year-over-year, the Retail Email Index is up 10% (moving 4-week average versus comparable 4-week moving average last year).



The Retail Email Participation Rate: Tuesday was the most popular day to send retail emails last week.



The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: This year there’s an additional week between Memorial Day and Father’s Day so the build-up in Father’s Day messaging should be a bit more gradual. This week will see messaging grow, but Father’s Day messaging won’t peak until next week.



Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Graduation (May-Jun): Graduation 2008 Season Finale
Father’s Day (6/21): Father’s Day 2008 Season Finale
Independence Day (7/4): 4th of July 2008 Season Finale
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Ping Time: List growth sources, personalized greetings, etc.

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

>>Morgan Stewart of ExactTarget warns that not enough email marketers are tracking the performance of their list growth sources and provides three tips to maximize quality list growth. >>Follow the ping

>>Stephanie Miller of Return Path provides some excellent advice on how to best use personalized greetings. >>Follow the ping, <$firstname>

>>The Google Operating System blog provides more evidence that webmail providers like Gmail will be using whitelisting and “friend” designations to prioritize and present email in the inbox. >>Follow the ping (Hat tip to George Bilbrey of Return Path.)

>>Kevin Senne of Premiere Global Services talks about A/B testing and the proper way to do it. >>Follow the ping

>>Ed Henrich of Responsys shares a case study, outlining the area targeted for improvement and the actual numbers before and after. >>Follow the ping

>>In Smith-Harmon’s latest Email Insider column, Lisa Harmon and Alex Madison provide lots of examples of email marketers using humor in their messaging. >>Follow the ping
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AM Inbox: More wasted header space

>>Executive Series on Email Marketing: Download the second installment, Why the Marginal Cost of Sending 1 More Email Is Higher than You Think.

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

Backcountry, 5/28 — New Summer Gear Is Here - tents, bags, pads, shoes‏
Backcountry does a lot of things right, but one area that’s lacking is their use of header real estate, which leads to a less than optimal use of the preview pane space. This email is using a different template than their usual email (see May 6 AM Inbox), but it suffers the same problem. In the email, I’ve marked off the first 300 pixels, which is what generally appears in preview panes.



In the absence of adding navigation or viral links in space to the right of the logo, here’s a quick and dirty mock-up of how they could have gotten more into the preview pane using the existing elements. Ideally, the call-to-action would have also been pulled up above the 300-pixel line.



Kohl’s, 5/28 — EXTRA 20% Off Everything + FREE Shipping! Print now.‏
Speaking of preview pane optimization, I really like the bracket design that Kohl’s uses in their emails. It does a nice job of directing the eye. In this case, they use it in the bottom border of these banners, which directs readers eyes down through the creative.



Home Depot, 5/28 — Make Dad Happy and Save!‏
Home Depot does a good job of working lots of elements into this Father’s Day email. There’s a viral appeal, three highlighted product categories, a countdown until the end of guaranteed delivery with standard shipping, a box about gift cards, and a “shop by price” module.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Orvis, 5/28 — Find the perfect gift for Dad. Plus, FREE shipping!
Ralph Lauren, 5/28 — Free Shipping On Gifts For Dad‏
NikeStore, 5/28 — Summer Staple: The Nike Sportswear T-Shirt‏
Nordstrom, 5/28 — One-Step Update: Bead-Embellished Sandals‏
J. Jill, 5/28 — Be the first to shop our June collection. Plus, take 20% off!
J. Crew, 5/28 — Introducing Summer Sale. Hot. Hot. Hot.
Banana Republic, 5/28 — Get 25% off + The polo you need this season‏
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Bird Watching: Greetings in emails

If you’re not on Twitter yet, here are the kinds of conversations that you’re missing:

@RetailEmailBlog >> Is there anything that makes you feel more anonymous and not valued than being addressed as dear “Valuable Customer”?

@nerdec >> @RetailEmailBlog Dear $firstname, $lastname :D

@ireton >> @RetailEmailBlog Dear <first last name>....

@KDepp >> @RetailEmailBlog Yes - "Dear Friend"!!

@ddayman >> RT @RetailEmailBlog: Is there anything that makes you feel more anonymous and not valued than being addressed as dear “Valuable Customer”?

@DaveMcCue >> @RetailEmailBlog I would say "Or Current Resident" is even worse, haha

@semperfifi >> RT @RetailEmailBlog: Is there anything that makes you feel more anonymous and not valued than being addressed as dear “Valuable Customer”?

@Lukes_Tweets >> @RetailEmailBlog How about when I get just Dear , -No name just dear.-At least it said something. Think @StephanieSam posted abt it today

@jacaldwell >> RT @DaveMcCue: @RetailEmailBlog I would say "Or Current Resident" is even worse, haha (jac: or stupid poopyhead)

@email_queen >> @RetailEmailBlog how bout "Greetings Subscriber!" that's right up there with "Valuable Customer". Why not just say "Greetings Earthling"! :)

@JackieFast >> @RetailEmailBlog Being addressed as 'Dear NAME'. I've seen it done. Embarrassing, if not slightly humorous.

@gruidl >> @RetailEmailBlog Valuable Customer is terrbile. I use personalization, but when no name is present, entire copy line switches to avoid "VC"

@RetailEmailBlog >> @ireton @nerdec @JackieFast You're right that broken personalized greetings are even worse! Totally dehumanizing.

@bbrophy >> @RetailEmailBlog Rhetorical, I know, but....What about "Dear ," because they didn't utilize a default and I never gave them my name?
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AM Inbox: Buy.com's multichannel engagement game

>>Executive Series on Email Marketing: Download the second installment, Why the Marginal Cost of Sending 1 More Email Is Higher than You Think.

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

Buy.com, 5/27 — Buy.com's Tweet n Seek‏
Rather than simply saying, “Follow us on Twitter,” Buy.com dedicates an entire email to their Tweet n Seek game, which engages subscribers on Twitter. Even better, the game has participants searching Buy.com, visiting their Facebook page, and reading products pages. When people talk about multichannel engagement, this is what they’re talking about. The contest is closed now, but you can still view the contest details.

A couple of other details worth noting: In the preheader, Buy.com dropped their “click to view online” link and changed their whitelisting request, appealing to subscribers’ self-interest to not “miss out.” I also like the playfulness of the “Blah Blah Blah…” link for additional contest rules fine print at the bottom of the email.



eBags, 5/27 — Double Deal: 10% Off + Free Shipping‏
EBags is the fourth major online retailer to use an “embedded video gif,” following Overstock (see May 4 AM Inbox), REI (see Mar. 3 AM Inbox) and Sears (see Dec. 15 AM Inbox). An embedded video gif is a compressed animated gif that’s streamed at a rate fast enough that it has the appearance of video, but without sound. I haven’t seen any of the previous users go back for seconds, which I take as a sign that this new technology is still being tested. See the embedded video gif in action.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Office Depot, 5/27 — Memorial Day Savings Week - $15 Off $75‏
Musician’s Friend, 5/27 — Musician's Friend: Extended! Private Salute‏
Cabela’s, 5/27 — Get Dad what he wants @ cabelas.com‏
Barnes & Noble, 5/27 — This Week -- Coupons, Michael Connelly, Father's Day Gifts, More‏
Lane Bryant, 5/27 — Top To Bottom Savings: 2 For $25 Tees + $29.99 Right Fit‏
Cooking.com, 5/27 — Fudgy Brownie Recipes and Edge-Lover's Dream Pan‏
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Executive Series on Email Marketing: Why the Marginal Cost of Sending 1 More Email Is Higher Than You Think

Sending an additional email campaign can appear rewarding when looked at in isolation. However, there are indirect and opportunity costs associated with increased frequency that could result in lower ROI for your email program as a whole.

The second installment in our Executive Series on Email Marketing, “Why the Marginal Cost of Sending 1 More Email is Higher than You Think,” helps you make this case to executives who may not fully understand the email channel. This one-page issue covers the risks of oversending with supporting data from surveys and studies. It’s also accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation that includes supporting charts and graphs to make sharing the information easier.

>>Download “Why the Marginal Cost of Sending 1 More Email Is Higher Than You Think” for free. (This is a direct download of the zip file. There are no forms to complete.)

Other reports available from Smith-Harmon (which is now part of Responsys):
Email Navigation Differs Radically from Website Navigation
Why Now Is a Critical Time to Be Investing in Email Marketing
Going-Out-of-Business Email Strategies
Soon Even More Emails Won't Be Optimized for Width
Best Practices for Apology Emails
Retail Welcome Email Benchmark Study
Holiday Retail Email Volume Sets Record
Retail Email Year-End Trends for 2008
Cyber Monday Sees Record Retail Email Volume
…and you can find even more reports on Responsys' Downloads page.
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AM Inbox: Permission, twice removed

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

eToys (Toys “R” Us), 5/26 — A special message for KB Toys customers‏
I’m not sure if I’ve unraveled this correctly, but it appears that Toys “R” Us, which acquired eToys in February, has acquired the email list of KB Toys, which once owned eToys, and sent this message to them. Clearly, email lists can be sold, but cases like this you’re probably ill advised to use them. Consumers give permission to brands, not to parent or sister companies. Former KB Toys subscribers were surely wondering how eToys got their email address, with a healthy percentage of them hitting the “report spam” button. They gave permission to KB Toys, and not eToys or Toys “R” Us. EToys didn’t help their case with this email, which doesn’t explain how they got KB Toys’ subscribers’ email addresses or what the relationship is.



Kenmore (Sears), 5/26 — Enter to win a new Black Stainless TRIO Refrigerator‏
Sears is also trying their luck at bending the rules of permission by sending this Kenmore email to their Sears subscribers. At the bottom of this email, in tiny type, it explains that you’re receiving this email “because you requested to receive emails from Sears.” Indeed, from Sears, not Kenmore. Not everyone who’s a fan for Sears is a fan of Kenmore or will understand that Kenmore is a private label Sears brand. In extending permission from the Sears brand to the Kenmore brand, they’re risking spam complaints and damage to the Kenmore brand. A much smarter strategy would have been to send a Sears email to Sears subscribers touting the Black Stainless TRIO Refrigerator and including a sign-up call-to-action for the Kenmore email newsletter. Don’t get lazy with your brand and be disrespectful of the permission extended to your brand by subscribers.



Kmart, 5/26 — Final Day of the Online Memorial Day Sale‏
The most irrelevant email: One that arrives after the offer has expired. It appears that this email was deployed 24 hours later than it should have been.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
J. Crew, 5/26 — New arrivals for June + introducing our online catalog‏
Dick’s Sporting Goods, 5/26 — Congratulations Pittsburgh – See you in the Stanley Cup(R) Finals!
Dell, 5/26 — Don't Miss Dell's Memorial Day Sale: Save $258 on Select Systems
Sierra Trading Post, 5/26 — Get an extra 20% off + Memorial Day Sale ends today!
Bloomingdale’s, 5/26 — Gifts That Fit Every Dad‏
Williams-Sonoma, 5/26 — Father's Day Celebration: Pizzas on the Grill‏
Disney Store, 5/26 — Surprise Dad with Something Special from Disney‏
MLB, 5/26 — Celebrate dads and grads with Free Shipping on select orders over $99.
Bass Pro Shops, 5/26 — Email Exclusive: 6-Pay for Father's Day‏
L.L. Bean, 5/26 — "Beach-Worthy" Values + Today's Markdown‏
Orvis, 5/26 — 40+ NEW items in our summer clothing collection for men. Plus, FREE shipping!
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Season Finale: Mother's Day 2009

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

Start to finish: The first reference to Mother’s Day was on March 23 from Harry & David. The final reference was on May 13.

The distribution curve: The biggest day for Mother’s Day emails was May 3. Retailers sent the majority of their Mother’s Day-themed emails after Apr. 28.



Most interesting emails: An Apr. 30 email from eBags was my favorite as it included an element of exclusivity, a discount, a clear shipping deadline, and gifts shoppable by persona. The subject line, “Insider Preview: Extra 20% Off Mother's Day Sale,” did a good job of communicating some of those elements as well.‏



An Apr. 29 HPshopping email provided a great example of a “Top X Gifts” theme. While the product images provide a classic S-curve for the eye to follow through the email, the numbered bullets provide an alternative, linear path. I also liked how the animation of the first product catches your eye in the preview pane and encourages further interaction.



And here’s the animated portion of that email:



Standout subject lines:
Harry & David, 5/7 — Sunday is Mother's Day: You Can STILL Express your Love!‏
Neiman Marcus, 5/4 — Mother's Day is May 10! Get mom a memorable gift + Free online shipping at ANY PRICE‏
EB Games, 5/5 — EB Games News: Something for mom, something for you!
Harry & David, 4/20 — 10 Delicious Ways to Say "I Love You, Mom!" + FREE Delivery on select gifts!

Read previous Mother’s Day Season Finales: 2008, 2007

Explore Mother’s Day tag.
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AM Inbox: Dick's Sporting Goods' redesigned header

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

Dick’s Sporting Goods, 5/25 — Memorial Day Blowout - Save 15-20% Today Only!
In conjunction with changing their sender address, Dick’s Sporting Goods has redesigned their preheader, header and navigation bar. During the past month, they changed their sender address from dickssportinggoods.com@em.dickssportinggoods.com to DSG@email.dcsg.com. During this time, it appears that Dick’s had deliverability problems—either preceding or following the switch. Because of the new address, they’ve added whitelisting instructions to the preheader, dropping the preheader message to make room. Depending on the level of usage they see of their “click to view online” link, I would have dropped that instead and kept the preheader message.

In the header, Dick’s moved their forward-to-a-friend link to the right side of the logo and replaced their “shop now” call-to-action with a store locator link. A May 18 email didn’t have either of the links flanking the logo. Adding them makes better usage of preview pane real estate.

In the nav bar, they combine their “Action Sports” and “Racquet Sports” links into a single “Action & Racquet” link to make room for a red “Clearance” tab. This is one of the tricks that we shared in the Email Navigation Differs Radically from Website Navigation reportlet we released last week. Here’s the current design:



Here’s the old design from an Apr. 17 email:



Bloomingdale’s, 5/25 — Final Day! 25-40% Off Online‏
The “Share with your friends” call-to-action at the end of the primary message in this email is very similar to the one that Nordstrom used in an email last week (see May 21 AM Inbox). However, Bloomingdale’s link takes you to a forward-to-a-friend form, not a form to share the content via a social network. This makes me wonder if the term “forward” is being replaced by “share,” even when social networks aren’t involved in the sharing.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
JCPenney, 5/25 — Happy Memorial Day! Free Shipping on Orders of $99 or More‏
Overstock, 5/25 — Memorial Day Sale + Last Chance Free Shipping‏
Ralph Lauren, 5/25 — Memorial Day Special Event: Up To 50% OFF‏
Macy’s, 5/25 — Free Shipping & the big Memorial Day Sale end tonight!
Lands’ End, 5/25 — Free Shipping + 30% off summer! Memorial Day Sale ends today‏
ShopNBC, 5/25 — Final day! Memorial Weekend Event‏
Linens ’n Things, 5/25 — Last Day for Memorial Day Savings‏
Musician’s Friend, 5/25 — Musician's Friend: Final Day! Private Memorial Weekend Salute‏
HSN, 5/25 — DON'T FORGET! CLEARANCE! UP TO 65% OFF MEMORIAL DAY EVENT‏
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AM Inbox: Circuit City relaunch 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:

Circuit City, 5/23 — CircuitCity.com is back online.
After being acquired by Systemax, the Circuit City brand is now back in action. I like how they highlight some of the improvements in the top banner, how they include deals to get subscribers shopping, and how they tell subscribers that they can opt-out if they wish. But overall, it’s a lot wordier than the relaunch announcement they sent CompUSA subscribers when they acquired that brand last year (see Jan. 28, 2008 AM Inbox). You can read more about that relaunch in our Going-Out-of-Business Email Strategies reportlet, which also covers Circuit City.



Chadwick’s, 5/22 — SALE from just $9.99. Take an extra 50% off!‏
Endorsements by fashion magazines are important to private label apparel sells. Lands’ End, Spiegel and others have mentioned fashion mag testimonials in many of their emails over the years. The interesting thing that Chadwick’s does is that they link to a media references page on their site that consolidates references.



REI, 5/22 — Introducing REI's New Kingdom Tent + Memorial Day Savings on Now‏
REI’s Memorial Day email really stood out for me. The clipped art technique is unusual and the campsite scene provides an entry point to several product categories. In addition to the action pictures of the family, REI provides some subtle movement with an animated grill and lamp.



And here are the animated portions of the email:





SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
J. Jill, 5/22 — Memorial Day savings—4 ways to save!
Lane Bryant, 5/22 — Memorial Day Savings: Free Shipping + 2 for $25 Tops + 30% Off Swim‏
Alloy, 5/22 — MEMORIAL DAY SALE: 15% OFF your entire order‏
Avon, 5/23 — Memorial Day Sale: UP TO 65% SAVINGS & FREE Shipping‏
Buy.com, 5/22 — Memorial Day Sale Starts Now: Netbook w/ Windows XP $199.99, Plasma Ball $9.99, 4GB microSDHC Card $6.99,..
Office Depot, 5/22 — Memorial Day Blowout. Plus 2-Day Coupon.
Overstock, 5/23 — Memorial Day Weekend Sale + Free Shipping Coupon‏
Sports Authority, 5/22 — Memorial Day Weekend 2 Day Sale - $25 Off Your $100 Purchase‏
NFLshop, 5/22 — Memorial Day Weekend Sale - 15% Off Your Order!‏
Sears, 5/22 — Save More This Memorial Day During Our Big Weekend Sale‏
Kmart, 5/22 — Save Big at the Memorial Day Online Sale May 22 - 25‏
HSN, 5/22 — CLEARANCE! UP TO 65% OFF MEMORIAL DAY EVENT‏
Omaha Steaks, 5/22 — 68% SAVINGS Memorial Day Sale...Going on Now‏
Sierra Trading Post, 5/24 — An Extra 20% OFF + Memorial Day Sale - 20% off 7,000+ items!
ShopNBC, 5/22 — Ready, set, summer Memorial Weekend Event starts now‏
Macy’s, 5/24 — Ship it for FREE! Get Memorial Day savings + new 2-day specials.‏
Lands’ End, 5/23 — Free Shipping + 30% off summer, up to 65% off overstocks! Memorial Day Sale ends Monday‏
Crate & Barrel, 5/22 — Picnic must-have...our famous Table in a Bag. Spend $250 now, save 15% by 5/31.
Neiman Marcus, 5/22 — What you need when the temperatures climb + Free online shipping at ANY PRICE‏
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Week-End Trends: Memorial Day propels volume flare-up

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index rose 13% to 246 during the week ending May 22, 2009, and is up 3% from where it was four weeks ago. The Index score indicates that the top 100 online retailers sent about 2.5 promotional emails each on average last week.

Year-over-year, the Retail Email Index is up 12% (moving 4-week average compared to comparable 4-week moving average last year).



The Retail Email Participation Rate: Tuesday was the most popular day to send retail emails last week.



The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: With the window on Memorial Day messaging closing, on Monday and Tuesday we’ll see Father’s Day messaging pick up dramatically.



Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Graduation (May-Jun): Graduation 2008 Season Finale
Father’s Day (6/21): Father’s Day 2008 Season Finale
Independence Day (7/4): 4th of July 2008 Season Finale
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Ping Time: Authentication adoption, opt-out for third-party messages, etc.

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

>>The Online Trust Alliance released a list of top retailers, noting who has adopted authentication for their website and email domains and who hasn’t. >>Follow the ping

>>The eec List Growth & Engagement Roundtable discuss how to handle the opt-out for third-party messages. (I agree with Arend Henderson of Q Interactive.) >>Follow the ping

>>Derek Harding of Innovyx smartly refutes the idea that B2B marketers should be exempt from the permission requirement in the Canadian anti-spam bill being considered by our northern neighbors. >>Follow the ping

>>Rishi Rawat of BetterRetail shares a transactional Zappos email informing the customer that the shipping for their order has been upgraded at no extra charge as a “thank you” for being a customer. Nice way to cultivate loyal customers. >>Follow the faster-at-no-extra-charge ping

>>In my latest Email Insider column, I talk about the executive knowledge gap when it comes to email marketing best practices. >>Follow the ping
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AM Inbox: Bridging the Facebook world and the retail store

>>Email Navigation Differs Radically from Website Navigation: Download this new reportlet.

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, 5/21 — Bare Escentuals deal (and a glossy gift!)
Rather than using a traditional “Join our community” appeal, Sephora is enticing subscribers to interact them on Facebook by allowing them to send Facebook gifts to their friends—and in doing so earn a real-world product. They made a similar appeal recently, offering a reusable Sephora bag to those that sent a digital Sephora bag to their Facebook friends. This is a unique way of demonstrating the value of interacting with Sephora on Facebook. I haven’t seen any other major retailers using this tactic.



Musician’s Friend, 5/21 — Musician's Friend: Private Memorial Weekend Salute‏
Musician’s Friend routinely sends sales emails where the primary call-to-action asks people to call them. In this case, they’re offering discounts to anyone associated with the military or civil service and their families. The “HERO” phone code is a nice touch.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Cooking.com, 5/21 — Memorial Day Cool Pie Recipes‏
eBags, 5/21 — Memorial Day Sale Preview: Save up to 60%
Ralph Lauren, 5/21 — Memorial Day Special Event: Up To 50% OFF‏
Banana Republic, 5/21 — Memorial Day Savings Event. Ends May 25th.
Diamond.com, 5/21 — Memorial Day Sale - 50% OFF for 5 days Only!‏
J&R, 5/21 — Memorial Day Sale: Panasonic 10MP Camera Now $249.99!
Disney Store, 5/21 — Introducing Our Memorial Day Sale - Up to 30% Off!
Fingerhut, 5/21 — Fingerhut: Shop the Memorial Day Weekend Sale: 5-Days ONLY‏
Lands’ End, 5/21 — 30% off polos, swim, more: Memorial Day Sale + FREE SHIPPING‏
Dell, 5/21 — Save up to $350 on Select Products during Dell's Memorial Day Sale
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AM Inbox: How to boost the sharing of your emails

>>Email Navigation Differs Radically from Website Navigation: Download this new reportlet.

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

Nordstrom, 5/20 — Half-Yearly Sale for Women & Kids: Save 33% or More! Twice the Rewards Points (Details Inside)
When looking at share-with-your-network (SWYN) functionality, there’s much to be learned from our experiences with forward-to-a-friend (FTAF). For instance, if you stick a FTAF link in the footer of your email, you’ll see forward rates of well under 1%. However, if you integrate a FTAF link into your message—as AbeBooks has done before (see July 21 AM Inbox)—then your forward rate grows multifold. Nordstrom applies this wisdom to their use of SWYN in this email, putting an appeal to share the news of this sale via Facebook and Twitter. They are the first major online retailer that I’ve seen do this.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
J. Jill, 5/20 — Holiday weekend forecast? Amazing Memorial Day savings!
Macy’s, 5/20 — Memorial Day Sale: Free Shipping + incredible limited-time specials!
Lands’ End, 5/20 — Save 30%! Memorial Day Sale for swimwear & more + FREE SHIPPING‏
Coldwater Creek, 5/20 — 25% off EVERYTHING...Enjoy Memorial Weekend Savings!‏
Chadwick’s, 5/20 — 250 items from only 9.99! The MEGA Memorial Day Sale is Here!
Williams-Sonoma, 5/20 — Gifts for Dad: Personalized Grill Tools‏
Blue Nile, 5/20 — Free Engraving on Graduation Gifts, Wedding Rings, Charms & More‏
FTD, 5/20 — Honor Your Graduate and Save 15% Sitewide‏
Bed Bath & Beyond, 5/20 — Wedding gifts for happy guests, happy couples, happily ever afters.‏
J&R, 5/20 — Why You'll Love a Mac!
Cabela’s, 5/20 — Food Tastes Better Cooked Outdoors‏
PC Connection, 520 — May Daily Giveaway - Write a Review...Win an iPod!‏
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AM Inbox: Another shopping cart abandonment email misfire

>>Email Navigation Differs Radically from Website Navigation: Download this new reportlet.

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

Williams-Sonoma — A friendly reminder from Williams-Sonoma‏
Last week I received this shopping cart abandonment email from Williams-Sonoma. While I did visit their site and make a purchase, I didn’t leave anything in my cart. According to the language in the email—“you may have items saved to your Shopping Basket”—they’re not really sure if I left something in my basket, which is odd.

On the upside, they make good use of HMTL text for the message and take advantage of this opportunity to engage subscribers with recipe content. But considering the 2008 copyright notice, it may be time to revisit this email, updating the messaging and checking the triggers for it. Ross-Simons also recently had a shopping cart abandonment email misfire (see Apr. 27 AM Inbox).



Fingerhut, 5/19 — Fingerhut: 2-Days ONLY Get a Free Gift‏
In the days in the run up to the unofficial start of summer and the start of picnic season, Fingerhut is offering free picnic flatware with purchase. To complement the offer, they also include three helpful picnic tips. This is a good example of how service content can work with promotional content.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Bass Pro Shops, 5/19 — Memorial Day Sale at BassPro.com‏
REI, 5/19 — REI Memorial Day Savings: Up to 30% Off Now‏
Cooking.com, 5/19 — Memorial Day Sale: Up to 75% Off with New Items Added!
Lands’ End, 5/19 — FREE SHIPPING + Save 30%! A special Memorial Day Sale‏
Sierra Trading Post, 5/19 — Extra 20% OFF + Memorial Day SALE, 20% Off 7,000+ items‏
Newegg, 5/19 — The Memorial Day Sale Starts Now! $39.99 HP Color Printer, $69.99 3x2GB DDR3 RAM...
NFLshop, 5/19 — Give Dad the Best Gear - Father's Day 2009‏
Toys “R” Us, 5/19 — We Invite You to Donate to Bundled In Hope‏
L.L. Bean, 5/19 — See It First: New Summer Styles + Save on Kids' Favorites‏
Art.com, 5/19 — Eco-Friendly Art + Free Shipping
Bloomingdale’s, 5/19 — The Shoes & Bags Every Girl Wants‏
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AM Inbox: Evolution of a share bar

>>Email Navigation Differs Radically from Website Navigation: Download this new reportlet.

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

Lane Bryant, 5/18 — Summer Sale: 2 For $25 Tees, Tanks & Camis‏
Lane Bryant’s share bar has undergone several changes since they first introduced it in a Mar. 27 email—changes that I think many marketers will find instructive as they test their own share bars. At first, the share bar only included share-with-your-network (SWYN) links and included individual links to share the email content via five different social networks.



When they updated their share bar in a May 13 email, they changed the order of their SWYN links a little and added a forward-to-a-friend (FTAF) link to it. SWYN and FTAF are natural partners, so why not put all your viral links in one place so they’re easier to use?



And then in its latest iteration, which debuted in yesterday’s email, Lane Bryant eliminated all the SWYN links but the ones to Facebook and Twitter and gave their FTAF link a bit more visual heft. Presumably, they found that very few subscribers were sharing their emails via Digg, MySpace and Del.icio.us, so they decided to streamline their share bar by dropping those links. Their decision to focus on Facebook and Twitter is definitely in line with my experiences with social sharing on my blog.



Like Lane Bryant, you have to test for yourself and see which social networks are most popular with your subscribers, but I bet many of you will end up coming to the same conclusion as them.

Ralph Lauren, 5/18 — FINAL HOURS To Save Up To 40% (Plus An Extra 15%)
This is the third email in two days that I’ve received from Ralph Lauren that had no images. Not sure if this is some sort of image server issue or poor coding.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Home Depot, 5/18 — Get Fired Up for Memorial Day!‏
Cooking.com, 5/18 — Memorial Day BBQ Recipes: Easy BBQ Chicken, Skewers and Kabobs, + Seafood on the Grill‏
Bluefly, 5/18 — Fashionomics 101: New For Summer 30% - 70% Off‏
Northern Tool, 5/18 — An Anniversary Worth Remembering - Over 1,900 Tools On Sale‏
Walgreens, 5/18 — First Dibs: Maybelline Vibrating Mascara + Lash Tip‏
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Email Navigation Differs Radically from Website Navigation: Executive Summary

The navigation bar at the top of your email can be a huge driver of engagement. In addition to appearing in the preview pane in nearly every instance, nav bars give your subscribers a clear and familiar path to engage with you even when they’re not interested in your email’s main message.

According to eROI’s latest Elements of Email survey, 62% of email marketers that include a nav bar find it more effective than or as effective as the main content in driving clicks. In addition, 65% find that it converts better than or as well as the main content of their email.

This 7-page reportlet provides stats on current navigation bar configurations, discusses nav bar tactics, and also covers site search usage in emails.

>>Download “Email Navigation Differs Radically from Website Navigation” for free. (This is a direct download of the PDF. There are no forms to complete.)

Other reports available from Smith-Harmon (which is now part of Responsys):
Why Now Is a Critical Time to Be Investing in Email Marketing
Soon Even More Emails Won't Be Optimized for Width
Best Practices for Apology Emails
Retail Welcome Email Benchmark Study
Holiday Retail Email Volume Sets Record
Retail Email Year-End Trends for 2008
Cyber Monday Sees Record Retail Email Volume
…and you can find even more reports on Responsys' Downloads page.
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AM Inbox: Linens 'n Things returns with first branded 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:

Linens ’n Things, 5/15 — LNT.com Grand Re-Opening: 10% Coupon Plus Free Shipping‏
After fumbling their first email as the new Linens ’n Things at the end of February (see March 2 AM Inbox), they return with their first LNT branded email. It’s been two and a half months since their last email, so they’re likely to have a higher bounce rate and recognition problems that suppress open rates. They probably would have been better off sending out a monthly teaser email that provided information on their impending return to keep subscribers engaged.

Linens ’n Things is one of the six retail brands included in the Going-Out-of-Business Email Strategies reportlet, which has more details on how retailers have used email to wind down their operations and to reboot their brands.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Lands’ End, 5/15 — Free Shipping + save 4 ways for 4 days‏
Lands’ End, 5/16 — Free Shipping + the 10, 20, 30, 40 event: save 4 ways, 3 days left‏
Lands’ End, 5/17 — 2 days left! $10 Tees + more ways to save - Shipping's Free‏
Norm Thompson, 5/15 — Which special offer do you want?‏
Norm Thompson, 5/16 — Want 15% off? Or Free Shipping? You choose!‏
Norm Thompson, 5/17 — LAST DAY to SAVE 15% or SHIP FREE!‏
Cabela’s, 5/16 — Memorial Day Deals @ Cabelas.com‏
SmartBargains, 5/17 — PRE-HOLIDAY DEALS Save up to extra 40% off TODAY
Walgreens, 5/17 — Get $5 Off Orders for Dad‏
Bluefly, 5/15 — NEW Handbags & Accessories - See our Frugal Faves!
Neiman Marcus, 5/15 — What we're wearing this Spring + Free online shipping‏
Disney Store, 5/15 — Just Arrived - Stock "UP"!
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Week-End Trends: Quiet before build up to Memorial Day

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index fell 8% to 216 during the week ending May 15, 2009, and is down 6% from where it was four weeks ago. The Index score indicates that the top 100 online retailers sent about 2.2 promotional emails each on average last week.

Year-over-year, the Retail Email Index is up 10% (moving 4-week average compared to comparable 4-week moving average last year).



The Retail Email Participation Rate: As usual, Tuesday was the most popular day to send retail emails last week.



The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: Last we saw our first reference to Father’s Day, which is June 12 this year. References to Memorial Day and Father’s Day will build this week, while references to graduation continue as a minor trend.



Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Graduation (May-Jun): Graduation 2008 Season Finale
Memorial Day (5/25): Memorial Day 2008 Season Finale
Father’s Day (6/21): Father’s Day 2008 Season Finale
Independence Day (7/4): 4th of July 2008 Season Finale
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Ping Time: European Email Summit, HMV's welcome series, etc.

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

>>Mark Brownlow of Email Marketing Reports shares his takeaways from MarketingSherpa's European Email Summit. >>Follow the ping

>>Return Path discusses HMV UK’s welcome email series—what they like about it and what could be better. >>Follow the ping

>>Internet Retailer reports on Shop.org’s State of Retailing Online 2009: Marketing Report, which showed that retailers are very bullish on email marketing. >>Follow the ping

>>MarketingSherpa details the five ways that Canada’s anti-spam bill is different than CAN-SPAM. >>Follow the ping

>>Lauren Skena of Epsilon shares four ways to promote your email marketing group within your company. >>Follow the internal ping

>>Morgan Stewart of ExactTarget talks about a Chain Store Age survey that shows that consumers are more likely to make major purchases on or near payday (a tactic that Dela Quist of Alchemy Worx has been talking about for some time). >>Follow the ping

>>In Smith-Harmon’s latest Email Insider column, Lisa Harmon and Alex Madison talk about dynamic messaging opportunities. >>Follow the ping
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AM Inbox: Frugalistas, unite!

>>Executive Series on Email Marketing launched. Download the first release in this educational series, “Why Now Is a Critical Time to Be Investing in Email Marketing.”

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, 5/14 — Frugalista Hits The Beach!‏
While eBags has their Recessionista ethos (see Aug. 11 AM Inbox), Bluefly now has the Frugalista, which is a more neutral spin on wanting to be stylish without spending much money. You can be frugal regardless of the economic conditions, and the term surely speaks to most of Bluefly’s audience anyway, since the retailer is all about discounted designer fashion. For more on recessionary messaging, check out my recent Email Insider column, 'Save Now' Is the New 'Buy Now" -- And 6 More Recession-Messaging Ideas.



Hallmark, 5/14 — Think you can't make a difference? Think again.
With this email, Hallmark has added a unique share-with-your-network link that enables sharing via Facebook. The design of the button incorporates the Facebook logo, but it’s completely different from the share buttons being used by other major retailers. This email is also features a video as the primary call-to-action, which is still very rare.



HPshopping, 5/14 — Your HP Home & Home Office Store Deals - Week of May 14, 2009‏
Starting with a May 11 email, HPshopping added a link to their Twitter stream (@HPdirect) in their email footer, right near their share-with-your-network (SWYN) link.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
AbeBooks, 5/14 —Retro Summer Reading‏
Eddie Bauer, 5/14 — NEW! Summer Shorts In Three Great Lengths‏
NikeStore, 5/14 — New summer styles have arrived‏
Wal-Mart, 5/14 — Sizzling Savings on Summer Apparel‏
Abercrombie & Fitch, 5/14 — Ready for a crazy weekend?‏
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AM Inbox: Flickr's biggest retail fan

>>Executive Series on Email Marketing launched. Download the first release in this educational series, “Why Now Is a Critical Time to Be Investing in Email Marketing.”

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

Urban Outfitters, 5/13 — Picture Perfect‏
Facebook and Twitter are the social networks that have been getting all of retailers’ attention lately, but there are a few retailers that are Flickr fans. Their biggest is Urban Outfitters. In this email, they’re promoting their third Flickr pool in three years: their Holga Flickr Pool. (Their past emails promoting Flickr pool were covered in the June 19 AM Inbox and Feb. 4, 2008 AM Inbox.) Photography is part of their branding, so they’ve encouraged subscribers to share pictures taken with their cameras or featuring subjects in Urban Outfitters clothing. Other major retailers to promote Flickr pools in their emails include J&R (see Feb. 16 AM Inbox) and SonyStyle (see Jan. 9 AM Inbox).



Lane Bryant, 5/13 — Satisfy Your Curiosity And See What's Underneath It All‏
I see a lot of forgettable submessage banners. This isn’t one of them. Instead of a straight bottom edge, Lane Bryant uses a very on-brand curvaceous tape measure that complements the message of the banner.



Sephora, 5/13 — Before you put on makeup - do this‏
Not only does this email have a great subject line, it does an excellent job of presenting product pairs in an attempt to upsell. I don’t see many retailers trying to sell related products in this fashion.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Bass Pro Shops, 5/13 — Father's Day Sale + Win a $250 gift card‏
Fingerhut, 5/13 — Fingerhut: FREE Shipping on ALL Grad Gifts‏
Norm Thompson, 5/13 — #1 DRESS now in a NEW COLOR! Plus slimming shapewear.‏
Lillian Vernon, 5/13 — Garden Accents and 15% Off - Can You Dig It?
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AM Inbox: First reference to Father's Day

>>Executive Series on Email Marketing launched. Download the first release in this educational series, “Why Now Is a Critical Time to Be Investing in Email Marketing.”

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

Barnes & Noble, 5/12 — This Week - Coupons, Paperback Sale, Douglas Preston, John Sandford, More‏
Barnes & Noble gives us our first reference to Father’s Day. NFLshop also mentioned Father’s Day in an email yesterday. For help planning your Father’s Day campaigns, check out the 2008 Father’s Day Season Finale.



Eddie Bauer, 5/12 — 25% Off Active Summer Favorites During Fun In The Sun‏
People read from left to right so it’s a good idea to always place text on the left side of your email designs. In this Eddie Bauer email, they start the text on the right side of an image that takes up about 60% of the email width. That makes this email slightly harder to scan.



What I would recommend is flipping the design so that the text is on the left. Also note that I’ve flipped the hero image so that the people are still facing the text, which eye-tracking has shown causes readers to look in the direction that the models are looking. If you end up with a design similar to Eddie Bauer’s original, try flipping the design and doing an A/B test to see for youself whether the text placement makes a difference to audience.



Office Depot, 5/12 — You could save 2 trees a year‏
I was recently interviewed by eMarketer about email marketing campaigns around Earth Day. It turns out that retail email Earth Day references in 2009 were pretty much on par with 2008. However, the difference between 2009 and 2008 that I stressed is that eco-friendly messaging and products have now become rather routine. The messaging in this Office Depot email is just one example of the green messaging that retailers have been sending year-round.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
EB Games, 5/12 — EB Games News: Read this one while jogging in place‏ [promoting EA Sports Active game]
Cooking.com, 5/12 — Dinner on a Dime: Cost-Saving Recipes for One-Dish Meals, Pastas, + Ground Beef Mains‏
Kohl’s, 5/12 — Take your $5 to the Max and support kids in your community!‏
Crutchfield, 5/12 — New: high-end audio from Focal. Watch our video intro‏
Toys “R” Us, 5/12 — Shop the NEW NBA Shop plus Get 20% Off‏
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