Season Finale: New Year's 2010

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

Start to finish: The first reference to New Year’s was on Dec. 9. The final reference was on Feb. 22.

The distribution curve: The biggest day for New Year’s emails was Friday, Jan. 1, followed by Thursday, Dec. 31. Retailers sent the majority of their New Year’s-themed emails after Dec. 31.



Most interesting emails: In this Jan. 1 email with the subject line “Happy New Year! Get the Right Bags for Your Resolutions,” eBags does a great job of succinctly promoting numerous products that can help shoppers fulfill common New Year’s resolutions. Most of the other resolution-themed emails I saw were focused on a single issue like fitness or healthy eating. This email did a good job of covering lots of bases.



One of Newegg’s New Year’s resolutions was to send more relevant emails, so they included this “update your preferences” banner in a Jan. 5 email. Going into and coming out of the holidays is a great time to get preferences updates because interests and desires may have changed.



Looking to capture some last-minute sales for New Year’s Eve, Bluefly sent a Dec. 27 email with the subject line “Countdown to Midnight: Perfect Party Styles for Every Celebration + Free Upgrade to 2-Day Shipping”. The subject line is probably a little long-winded and burying the 2-day shipping upgrade, but I love the way they ‏engage with the reader in the body copy, trying to figure out how they plan on spending the evening and then pitching apparel for those settings. They could have had links to cocktail dresses or casual clothing, but their approach is much more personal and relatable.



Standout subject lines:
Staples, 12/28 — ...3, 2, 1...happy new deals!
Bluefly, 1/2 — BLING in the NEW YEAR: Update Your Closet with Sequins & Shine!
Ralph Lauren, 1/7 — The New Vintage: Create Your Own 2010‏
ShopNBC, 1/1 — ShopNBC | Join the New Decade Celebration‏
Sports Authority, 1/1 — Ring In The New Year - Save $20.10 Off Online Orders Over $100‏
Linens ’n Things, 1/1 – New Year, New Savings: Save $20 or $10 in 2010!

Read previous New Year’s Season Finales: 2009, 2008, 2007

Explore New Year’s tag.
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AM Inbox: Do you have a swipe file?

>>Retail Email Unsubscribe Benchmark Study: Download this free 24-page report.

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, 3/29 — Can you find the winning Easter egg?
A swipe file is a collection of your most successful creatives, subject lines, copy, etc. It can be used for inspiration or for repurposing and reuse. Blair’s Easter egg hunt campaign last year (see Season Finale: Easter 2009) was clearly a success because it has returned this year. What’s interesting with these reused campaigns is to see what has stayed the same and what changed. Some changes are improvements but others are likely just to freshen up the email so it doesn’t seem too much like last year’s. The two changes like I like the most are (1) the arrow pointing to the egg, which clarifies exactly what you’re looking for and (2) the “Join the Fun” call-to-action, which replaced a “Start Now” CTA.



Sam’s Club, 3/29 — Celebrate Spring with Special Savings
While I still think ads in retail emails are pretty absurd, I appreciate that Sam’s Club has started labeling their ads as such. It’s nice and subtle, but provides some transparency around what certain products are promoted.



Disney Store, 3/29 — Tee-rific Disney Tees from $5.99! Kids & Adult Styles
Preheader text should be scrutinized just like any other copy in an email. Is it interesting, descriptive, compelling and concise? The preheader message in this Disney email is incredibly redundant and could have been easily condensed down to a single line: “Shop our Spring Sale for Great Deals on Disney Kids Tees and Adult Tees”.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Victoria’s Secret, 3/29 — Get Naked: Tomorrow at Victoria's Secret.
Harry & David, 3/29 — Bunny Bonus: FREE Eggs-press Delivery Upgrade on select gifts + Offer Inside
1-800-Flowers.com, 3/29 — Two Days Only: Easter Nest Bouquet, just $19.99
Cooking.com, 3/29 — Easter Brunch Recipes: Bacon & Eggs, Scones and More
J. Crew. 3/29 — Introducing the fringed MacAlister boot for her
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AM Inbox: First references to Earth Day and Mother's Day

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

Dell, 3/27 — Dell Notes: The Green Issue
Dell gives us our first reference to Earth Day, which is Apr. 22. While Earth Day messaging won’t pick up for perhaps a couple of weeks, retailers will ramp up their eco-friendly messaging between now and then.



Cooking.com, 3/26 — This Weekend Only! Blowout Sale: Up to 80% Off
Cooking.com gives us our first reference to Mother’s Day, which is May 9. For insights and inspirations to help plan your Mother’s Day campaigns, check out the Mother’s Day 2009 Season Finale.



Sephora, 3/26 — It's starting!
Sephora does a great job of converting their regular email subscribers over to their Beauty Insiders loyalty program by regularly presenting Insider-only deals in their regular emails. This email demonstrates well what’s in it for those who join. I also like how they’ve worded their social media links at the bottom of the email. They don’t say, “Fan us on Facebook” and “Follow us on Twitter.” Instead they focus on the activity of users, saying “Discuss skincare” on Facebook and “Ask a question” on Twitter.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Harry & David, 3/26 — Get sHOPpin' ... LAST DAY for Standard Delivery + Offer Inside
1-800-Flowers.com, 3/27 — Hop to it! 20% Easter Sitewide Sale ends Sunday
Neiman Marcus, 3/26 — THE SHOE TO-DO: Do good and look good doing it
Norm Thompson, 3/26 — How to avoid baggage fees. What to pack. Ship free
RitzCamera, 3/27 — Spring Savings, New Nikon P100, Top 10 Natural Light Photo Tips
Old Navy, 3/28 — As Seen on TV, $15 Arty Cardis!
Avon, 3/26 — March Mania SAVINGS SPREE Starts Today
TigerDirect, 3/26 — Black Friday...72-Hour Deal Event!
Sephora, 3/28 — Try it before it launches
Lillian Vernon, 3/26 — 10 Top Reasons to Shop at Lillian Vernon
Coach, 3/26 — Introducing the Kerrie flip flop
Bluefly, 3/26 — Enjoy $10 Off + Stay Dry in a NEW Spring Coat
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Week-End Trends: Easter messaging to peak this week

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index: Top online retailers sent each of their subscribers 2.7 promotional emails on average during the week ending Mar. 26, 2010. That’s down 1% week-over-week, up 9% from where it was four weeks ago, and up 13% year-over-year.



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



The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: Last week we had our first reference to graduation season, as well as our first reference to Mother’s Day. This week we’ll have a small spike in April Fools’ messaging, but most of the focus will be on Easter, which is next Sunday. In the background, eco-friendly messaging will be building ahead of Earth Day on Apr. 22.



Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Easter (4/4): Easter 2009 Season Finale
Earth Day (4/22): Earth Day 2009 Season Finale
Mother’s Day (5/9): Mother’s Day 2009 Season Finale
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AM Inbox: Musician's Friend email redesign

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

Musician’s Friend, 3/25 — Musician's Friend: Gear Gone Wild! 4 Days Only| Details Inside
Musician’s Friend has redesigned their emails, giving them a more polished, less text-heavy look. Other changes include: (1) using a dark frame to give the email some structure, similar to what Ann Taylor did with their redesign last year (see Sept. 2 AM Inbox); (2) dropping the second column, which makes the email easier to scan; (3) shorting the email by 40%, which allowed them to also drop the table of contents and to create more focus around fewer items; and using strong subheads, which also makes the email easier to scan.

Here’s the new design (left) and the old design from a Mar. 18 email:



Nike Store, 3/25 — Show Your School Pride in Nike Fan Gear
Nike has used this image before in their emails, but I think it odd that they’re using it now when not all the teams included were in the NCAA tournament.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Bluefly, 3/25 — Did You See Bluefly on America’s Next Top Model?
Wal-Mart, 3/25 — Introducing the New LED-LCD TV Technology and More
Sports Authority, 3/25 — New Arrivals for Spring + Save $25 Off Your Next Purchase
Hanna Andersson, 3/25 — Our Polo Price Shrank: Just $15 All The Time!
Sam’s Club, 3/25 — Portable, affordable netbooks and notebooks at Sam's Club.
Sony, 3/25 — Complete Home Theater + Innovation | FREE SHIPPING
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AM Inbox: Bracketology for deals

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

Fingerhut, 3/24 — Fingerhut: SAVE 15% on Your Easter Toy Purchase!‏
In honor of the NCAA tournament, Fingerhut is using a bracket setup to allow customers to vote on the product they most want to see offered at a 30% discount. The email banner promoting it could probably be clearer on the program, but it’s definitely a fun arrangement. In addition to finding a winning deal, the voting lets Fingerhut know which products among this narrow set each subscriber is most interested in. That could be used for dynamic content in future emails or—even better—a triggered message after the voting ends that says, “Your deal didn’t win, but we’d still like to offer you 20% off the [product name].” Here’s the banner in the email:



And here’s what the landing page looked like:



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Finish Line, 3/24 — Sweet 16! Get Free Shipping On Your Favorite Team’s Apparel and Shoes!
Old Navy, 3/24 — Star in Your Very Own Old Navy Commercial!‏
Sony, 3/24 — SAVE $20 | NEW Sony bloggie Camera
Chadwick’s, 3/24 — Private event..keep it just between us
Spiegel, 3/24 — TODAY ONLY! FREE SHIPPING on our #1 SPRING TRENCHES!
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AM Inbox: First reference to graduation season

>>Retail Email Unsubscribe Benchmark Study: Download this free 24-page report.

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

Oriental Trading, 3/23 — Save $5 on your next party + shipping is free‏
Oriental Trading gives us our first reference to graduation season, which centers around early May for college grads and around early June for high school grads. For insights and inspiration for planning your graduation campaigns, check out the Graduation 2009 Season Finale.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Toys “R” Us, 3/23 — You're Invited! 3D Easter Adventure, Sat. 12 – 2pm. FREE Giveaways & More!
Williams-Sonoma, 3/23 — Customer Favorite for Easy Easter Brunch
Cooking.com, 3/23 — Easter Essentials
Newegg, 3/23 — March Deal Madness! $399.99 Lenovo Laptop, $79.99 30GB SSD, $289.99 28” Monitor…‏
Sephora, 3/23 — Spring's top nail color trends + new markdowns
Montgomery Ward, 3/23 — Make Your Springtime Spick and Span with Wards!‏
Kmart, 3/23 — $2 Overnight Prescription Delivery Now Available
Neiman Marcus, 3/23 — What you don't know about MILLY!
Victoria’s Secret, 3/23 — What's Your Secret Moment?
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Retail Email Unsubscribe Benchmark Study 2010: Executive Summary

One of the most important benchmarks for your unsubscribe process is the single click of the “report spam” button. Consumers have increasingly shown that they have no qualms about using it to rid their inboxes of opt-out email from brands they know and even permission emails they signed up for but no longer want.

When you’re competing against the ruthless efficiency and trustworthiness of the “report spam” button, your opt-out process needs to be friction-free and provide options ISPs can’t give their users. But an examination of the unsubscribe processes of the largest online retailers shows plenty of room for improvement on both those points.

For instance, 39% of major online retailers require three or more clicks to opt-out, up from 7% in 2008. It’s a worrisome trend since anything beyond two clicks simply represents poor process design. Also, 30% of retailers send one or more emails following an unsubscribe request, up from 26% in 2008.

“Savvy marketers respect their email subscribers and provide relevant content to drive engagement—and they also let subscribers go when they’re not engaged,” said Ed Henrich, Vice President of Professional Services at Responsys. “Marketers need to make it easy to unsubscribe and to re-subscribe when the time is right. One of my favorite ratios is the number of buyers divided by the number of unsubscribers: How many people today thought you hit the mark versus totally missed the mark?”

This 24-page study takes you through the current state of retailers’ opt-out processes by drawing on data collected while unsubscribing from the email marketing programs of 100 top online retailers. It examines the opt-out process chronologically—looking at everything from unsubscribe instructions in emails, to opt-out page components and confirmations, to the honoring of unsubscribe requests—so you can easily map yours to the current general practice and where it’s trending.

Other key findings in the study include:

● In order to keep subscribers, marketers are giving subscribers more control over email frequency, with 35% of retailers allowing subscriber to reduce the number of emails they receive, up from 16% in 2008.

● Marketers remain icy and indifferent toward subscribers who opt out, as evidenced by the fact that only 16% of retailers say, “Goodbye” or “Thank you” to departing subscribers. That’s down from 18% in 2008.

● Marketers have been slow to present alternative channels like RSS and Facebook pages to departing subscribers. Only 7% of retailers do this currently, despite the fact that more than 30% of them include community links in their emails.

● Due to failures to honor opt-outs, 4% of retailers are not in compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act. That’s on par with 2008 levels.

Get the Full Report
>>Download the “Retail Email Unsubscribe Benchmark Study” from the Responsys Downloads page for free.

Other reports available from Responsys:
Majority of Retailers Fail Hotmail-Firefox Rendering Test
Retail Email Year-End Trends for 2009
Retail Email Guide to Multichannel Engagement
Many Retailers Not Optimizing Preheader Text
FTAF vs. SWYN
Email Navigation Differs Radically from Website Navigation
Retail Welcome Email Benchmark Study
…and you can find even more reports on Responsys' Downloads page.
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AM Inbox: More inspired animation from Harry & David

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

Harry & David, 3/22 — Ear-resistible! Exclusive Easter Gifts They'll Love ...
I’m a big fan of Harry & David’s use of animated gifs. Here’s another really clever, fun design to add to their list of animated gif hits. It works in several ways: First, the ears poke up into the header area, which is unusual and should really get folks’ attention. It actually pokes so far up into the header that they made the header a little taller to accommodate the ears. For me, it’s a faint echo of HP’s Ginormica email (see 2009 Design Hall of Fame). Second, the animation brings your eye down the email, enticing you to scroll. And third—and perhaps most importantly—it makes me want to emulate the animation and eat one of these bunnies myself.

@stylecampaign shared this email yesterday on Twitter and one of the issues that was brought up by @4Stefan was that the animation disrupts the navigation bar, causing only the last two nav items to be clickable. However, @melaniemagic didn’t have that problem. It turns out that the nav links are all clickable when the email is viewed with some browsers, but not with others. It’s yet another reason to test rendering and functionality across both email clients and browsers.



And here’s the animated portion of this email:



Bed Bath & Beyond, 3/22 — Remove 99.9% of all contaminants from your family's drinking water
To commemorate World Water Day yesterday, Bed Bath & Beyond sent this email promoting water filters and other water-related products. The animation in this email is pretty gratuitous, but the copy writing is solid. The banner on World Water Day probably would have set the scene for this message better had it been used as a preview pane banner right under the navigation bar.



And here’s the animated portion of this email:



Crate & Barrel, 3/22 — Best Buys for Easter entertaining. Up to 15% off select table linens.
Crate & Barrel has changed their header and preheader text, collapsing their “view with images” and “view on mobile” language so that it takes up one line instead of three. They also added a rule after the preheader text. The changes reduce the height of their header by about 25 pixels, which means that another 25 pixels of body copy now appear in subscribers’ preview panes. Here’s the new header:



And here’s the old header from a Mar. 13 email:



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Neiman Marcus, 3/22 — EILEEN FISHER: Exclusive video & new Spring styles
Lillian Vernon, 3/22 — Spring Catalog is Online - New Gifts and Ideas at Every Turn
Bluefly, 3/22 — On Our KNIT List: The Most-Wanted Spring Sweaters!
Fingerhut, 3/22 — Fingerhut: Find Great Gifts for Easter!
Orvis, 3/22 — See our travel solutions for you, your spouse, and even the dog.
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AM Inbox: Making his and hers versions accessible

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

REI, 3/19 — Patagonia - Cool Classics for Spring Adventure
REI, which has been experimenting with their navigation lately (see Mar. 8 AM Inbox), uses a tab arrangement in this email to make the women’s version of this email available to their men subscribers, and vice versa. This is a tactic that I haven’t seen used by a major retailer since Ralph Lauren did it two years ago (see Mar. 26, 2008 AM Inbox), although Gap used a similar tactic, providing text links at the bottom of their emails to other email versions. Time will tell if the men’s/women’s tabs justify the space the take up at the top of the email, but what’s also interesting is how REI messages men and women with different copy and images to try to create a stronger appeal. Here’s the men’s version:



And here’s the women’s version of the email that you get when you click on the “Women’s Patagonia” tab:



Ann Taylor, 3/20 — Become Our Fan On Facebook...
I’ve said it many times: Simply telling someone, “Fan us on Facebook” just doesn’t have the same impact as selling the benefits of becoming a fan. It’s just the same as in email—You get more sign-ups when you explain what’s in it for the would-be subscriber. This Ann Taylor email is a great example of explaining the benefits of connecting.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
TigerDirect, 3/19 — 2010 Spring Kickoff...3-Day Deal Event!
Linens ’n Things, 3/19 — Jump-Start Spring Cleaning with 15% Off + Free Shipping!
Lands’ End, 3/19 — Spring Sale starts today: save up to 50% online & in-store + Free shipping
ShopNBC, 3/19 — 3 ValuePay on everything! We've got Spring Fever
Petco, 3/20 — PETCO | First Day of Spring! 20% Off Sitewide + FREE Shipping!
Sports Authority, 3/20 — Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring - Last Day to Save $25 Off Your Purchase
Orvis, 3/19 — 90+ hats in our Hat Shop. 10 brand-NEW styles just added.
Kmart, 3/19 — Love Your Patio: Everything You Need for Spring On Sale
Macy’s, 3/19 — Introducing Ellen Tracy: Free Shipping + bonus necklace!‏
Spiegel, 3/19 — Join us in Celebrating 145 Years of Style + Win a $1000 SHOPPING SPREE!‏
Oriental Trading, 3/19 — Final Days: Pick a FREE Easter gift + $3.99 ships ANY order
Kohl’s, 3/21 — Hop on in: Shop Our 3-Day Easter Sale
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Week-End Trends: Pot o' emails at end of St. Patrick's Day

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index: Top online retailers sent each of their subscribers 2.8 promotional emails on average during the week ending Mar. 19, 2010. That’s up 10% week-over-week, up 4% from where it was four weeks ago, and up 19% year-over-year.



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



The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: The surge in St. Patrick’s Day emails was brief and is now over. With Easter coming a week earlier this year, Easter messaging is ramping up more quickly. It should peak in a couple of weeks. We got our first reference to the 4th of July last week.



Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Easter (4/4): Easter 2009 Season Finale
Earth Day (4/22): Earth Day 2009 Season Finale
Mother’s Day (5/9): Mother’s Day 2009 Season Finale
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AM Inbox: It's Your Lucky Day! Oh, someone already said that to you?

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

Chadwick’s, 3/17 — It's Your Lucky Day! We have a mystery offer just for you!‏
Chadwick’s uses a mystery deal for their St. Patrick’s Day promotion. It’s a nice play on the luck concept. However, Chadwick’s was one of several retailers to start their subject line with “It’s your lucky day!” (see Subjectivity Scanner below). They probably could have gone with “Is today your lucky day?” and it would have been more engaging and more original.



Overstock, 3/17 — LUCKY 7% OFF COUPON
Overstock returns with the progressive couponing scheme that they introduced last St. Patrick’s Day (see Mar. 17, 2009 AM Inbox). They also have some additional St. Patty’s content, including a Twitter content tie-in.



L.L. Bean, 3/18 — Introducing L.L.Bean Signature
L.L. Bean started including a link to their L.L. Bean Signature site last week (see Mar. 16 AM Inbox), but has hard launched the site with subscribers with this email. I appreciate that they’re using a different site for these products to help differentiate them, in the same way that Crutchfield has a Crutchfield Signature site for its high-end assortment, but should there been a separate email opt-in too? I’m a big proponent of getting additional opt-ins for additional email streams, but the price gap between the two lines just doesn’t seem large enough to think that a buyer from one line wouldn’t also be a potential buyer in of the other. Another route on this would have been to monitor click and purchase behavior and use that to inform segmentation and dynamic content for their emails without adding another email stream. So rather than requiring a strict opt-in that will limit the exposure of the new line to your customer base, you’d be responding to expressed interested through behavior.



Ralph Lauren, 3/17 — Shop The First Ever Lauren Fashion Show
Ralph Lauren loves video and this new e-commerce infused fashion show is the slickest I’ve seen. It’s very engaging, the expert commentary makes it exciting, and you’re a quick click away from purchasing items. The email design communicates that well, although I wonder if an animated gif or—even better—a video gif couldn’t have conveyed the landing page experience even better.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Dick’s Sporting Goods, 3/17 — It's Your Lucky Day! Check Out the Offers Inside!
Omaha Steaks, 3/17 — It's your lucky day! Get $0.00 Shipping PLUS save an EXTRA 15% on your entire order - TODAY ONLY
Lane Bryant, 3/17 — It's Your Lucky Day - Get $15 Off $50 Today Only, Online Only
ShopNBC, 3/17 — Feeling Green or feel like Saving Green? It's Your Lucky Day!
Kohl’s, 3/17 — Lucky You: One-Day Power Pricing SALE
Bluefly, 3/17 — Lucky You! EXTRA 10% OFF Everything - Today Only!
SmartBargains, 3/17 — Bargain Shopper, Lucky You!
1-800-Flowers.com, 3/17 — Happy St. Patrick's Day! Celebrate with $24.99 flowers
J&R, 3/17 — Happy St. Patrick's Day - Get Lucky With These Electronics Deals!
Sports Authority, 3/17 — Save Green This St. Patty's Day - Take $25 Off Your $100 Purchase!
Petco, 3/17 — PETCO St. Patrick's Day Sale! 17% Off For 17 Hours + FREE Shipping!
Linens ’n Things, 3/17 — 20% Off Today Only! St. Paddy's Day Savings
Harry & David, 3/17 — Pick of the Patch: The Bunny's Best for Easter
Williams-Sonoma, 3/18 — Exclusive Sweet Treats for Easter- Shop Now
Hallmark, 3/18 — Special offers for Easter - fill the day with fun!
Newegg, 3/18 — Hit the Road for Spring Break! $79.99 TomTom GPS, $399.99 Toshiba Notebook...
Norm Thompson, 3/17 — You deserve a Spring Break - how about 20% OFF?
Crutchfield, 3/17 — Introducing our new wireless entertainment center
Disney Store, 3/17 — Spell Your Name & Save Up to 30% on Tees!
Victoria’s Secret, 3/18 — PINK Panty Raid - 7/$25. Starts Tomorrow!
Ann Taylor, 3/17 — O, The Oprah Magazine Loves Our New Spring Dresses!
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AM Inbox: First reference to the 4th of July

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

L.L. Bean, 3/16 — "The Best Polo I've Owned" + NEW Styles, All under $30
L.L. Bean gives us our first reference to the 4th of July, which is a very long two and a half months from now. For insights and inspiration to help you plan your Independence Day campaigns, check out the 4th of July 2009 Season Finale.



Sears, 3/16 — March into Spring and Enter Sears Appliance and Hardware Store VIP Contest March 16 to 22
Sears apparently has a “Welcome Home” newsletter for its Hardware Stores. Why did I get this newsletter? I have no idea. Is it a new newsletter? Don’t know. Will I continue to get these every month? I assume, but unsure. If I unsubscribe from this newsletter, will I still receive my usual Sears emails? Maybe, maybe not. And finally, am I really expected to be able to read this newsletter when the font size is so tiny? Probably, but trying to is hurting my eyes. If you’re presenting a new newsletter or email stream to your subscribers, keep these questions in mind so your customers aren’t left scratching their heads about your intentions. Although I had issues with the design of Cooking.com’s new newsletter, I really liked how they explained that it was new and sought my permission to continue sending it to me (see Mar. 12 AM Inbox).



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Hallmark, 3/16 — Last chance to send perfect St. Pat's Day wishes
1-800-Flowers.com, 3/16 — Lucky you! Save 15% on St. Patrick's Day gifts starting at $24.99 - 2 Days Only
Newegg, 3/16 — St. Patrick's 2-Day Specials! $81.99 Seagate 1TB HDD, $699.99 Toshiba 46" 1080p TV...
eBags, 3/16 — 15% Off + Free Shipping -- Your Luck Runs Out March 17
Williams-Sonoma, 3/16 — Easy Easter Entertaining: Maple-Bourbon Glazed Ham
Toys “R” Us, 3/16 — NEW! NEW! NEW! Just Arrived...Super Soaker from NERF!
Tiffany & Co., 3/16 — Spring Sparkle from Tiffany & Co.
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Season Finale: Christmas 2009

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

Start to finish: The first reference to Christmas/holidays was on July 1 by Hallmark.
The final reference was on Jan. 28.

The distribution curve: The biggest days for holiday emails were Sunday, Dec. 20, and Tuesday, Dec. 22. Retailers sent the majority of their holiday-themed emails after Dec. 1.



Most interesting emails: During the 2009 holiday season, retailers were very focused on using their email programs to tempt cash-strapped consumers to buy. Heavily discounted products and big sales were pervasive. In light of that, some of the most interesting emails of the season spoke to financially hesitant consumers.

For instance, this Sept. 18 Overstock.com email encourages subscribers to consider making their own gifts in order to promote sewing machines and other tools and craft supplies.



Sephora’s Nov. 17 email, which had the subject line “Gift Tip: Separate these sets into multiple gifts‏,” had some of the smartest messaging I saw all holiday season. With so many consumers trying to stretch their dollars, this messaging surely resonated.



In the Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season, I discuss the “Buy Now, Get X Later” pre-holiday tactic, which ties pre-holiday sales to sales during later months. In this Sept. 14 email with the subject line “Fingerhut: Enter to WIN Our Holiday Decoration Giveaway,” Fingerhut puts a great twist on this idea, using a holiday-oriented sweepstakes scheme to drive sales in September. Again, I’m sure this appealed to recession-weary consumers.



Some brands made just subtle changes to their email messaging. For instance, Crate & Barrel sister brand CB2 stressed that their products were “affordable” in a Oct. 22 email with the subject line “Ho-ho-ho. The affordable CB2 holiday catalog is here.” I also like how the design of the email encourages scrolling with the vertical logo and tree design.



Email 2.0 angle: Going into the holidays I was interviewed about what I thought was going to happen in terms of retailers’ email programs. One of the things I said was that just like Christmas 2008 was all about video, this year Christmas would be all about social. I was totally wrong. There was very little in the way of social media that was pitched to email subscribers. OfficeMax, with their now Facebook-infused ElfYourself, was one of the few retailers to leverage social media. Perhaps the logic was that consumers were so focused on their finances and getting a great deal that they wouldn’t make time for social.



Standout subject lines:
Bluefly, 12/20 — Check Your List Twice! EXTRA 15% OFF Everything +$2 Two-Day Shipping‏
Nordstrom, 11/25 — The Wow Factor: Holiday Dresses that Dazzle‏
Costco, 11/5 — Bright Red Bow. Shiny New TV. $50 OFF!
The Company Store, 11/15 — Winter Sale + Holidays Are Near & The Guests Are Here!
Coldwater Creek, 11/2 — Here comes SAVINGS! $30 OFF + New Holiday Arrivals‏
Frederick’s of Hollywood, 11/2 — Gifts for jingle belles and bombshells + $15 off your order.‏
Urban Outfitters, 11/13 — That's The Spirit‏
Victoria’s Secret, 12/3 — Fantasy No. 7...
Staples, 11/16 — Technology gifts...Open me
GameStop, 11/23 — Put on your holiday game face!
Coach, 12/16 — Our most popular gift is...
TigerDirect, 12/20 — Stocking Stuffer Sunday...Save on Gifts, Gadgets, and More‏
Target, 11/19 — Ho ho home: Free shipping when you spend $50 on select holiday home updates.

Subject lines that stand out for the wrong reasons:
Urban Outfitters, 11/25 — It's The Gift That Counts‏
Urban Outfitters puts a cold, capitalist spin on the warm saying “It’s the thought that counts.”

Coach, 11/27 — Happy holidays! A gift for you...
More than four weeks before Christmas and the day after tons of retailers wished their subscribers “Happy Thanksgiving,” Coach wishes subscribers “Happy holidays!” Bizarre.

Eddie Bauer, 12/1 — Free Ship., No Min. Today-Only + All Sweaters On Sale‏
Can “shipping” really be abbreviated as “ship.”? I don’t think so.

Read previous Christmas Season Finales: 2008, 2007, 2006

Explore Christmas tag.
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AM Inbox: Sam's Club's new 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:

Sam’s Club, 3/15 — 8-Burner Event Grill $399; Read Members' rave reviews.‏
Sam’s Club has introduced a new header that’s bolder but takes up less space. By moving the preheader text down into the space to the right of the logo, the new header is about is about 20 pixels shorter, which means that more of the body copy appears in preview panes. They were also able to make the logo bigger by sinking it into the navigation bar a little, which had a nice unifying effect. I was disappointed that they continue to use an image-based navigation bar instead of using HTML text, and I was surprised that they didn’t add a preheader message above their “view with images” link. On that note, Smith-Harmon Principal Lisa Harmon recently pointed out that the often used “Having trouble…” language for “view with images” links is unnecessarily negative. Why not just say, “To view with images, click here” or simply a hot linked “View with images”? And finally, the other change is the addition of community links. Top placement of community links is becoming more common. Here’s the new header:



And here’s the old header from a Mar. 8 email:



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
J. Crew, 3/15 — Bye-bye, basic
Lane Bryant, 3/15 — Treat Yourself To A New Dress And Get Any Necklace For $5
Norm Thompson, 3/15 — Forecast: Warm, dry jackets ahead! $29.50 to start
Hanna Andersson, 3/15 — Just $19 For Favorite Sundresses During Our Sale!
Neiman Marcus, 3/15 — Our swimwear buyer's TOP TEN suits of the season
Ann Taylor, 3/15 — Free Shipping On All Wedding & Bridesmaid Dresses + Get Up To 40%Off!
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AM Inbox: Outrageous shareworthy tactic

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

Petco, 3/13 — PETCO | Last 3 Days To Save + FREE Shipping!
Great discounts and great content are two ways to elevate the shareworthiness of your emails, but Amy Evenson, one of our designers, has another suggestion: include one of your most outrageous, weirdest or most expensive products. People love to share novelties and the unattainable. While it might not boost sales of that item, it should you get you more brand impressions from the sharing and may spur the FTAF and SWYN recipients to explore your other products. Guess which product in this Petco email reminded me of this advice? Petco increases the viralness of this product by including sharing options on all its product pages.



Saks Fifth Avenue, 3/12 — Girls love Splendid Girl, J Brand, Kiddo & more
I like the corner peel on this email. It promotes an upcoming email that’s also about kids products, so it’s a helpful and relevant heads up to all the subscribers that found this email interesting.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
1-800-Flowers.com, 3/13 — More Daylight, More Time to Save! 15% OFF Sitewide Sale Ends Sunday
Blair, 3/12 — Spring ahead and save 25% off everything
Avon, 3/12 — AVON'S Daylight SAVINGS Free Ship Spree
Linens ’n Things, 3/14 — Email Exclusive! Today Only Spring Ahead with an Extra 20% Off Coupon
Sports Authority, 3/14 — Get $25 Off Your Next Purchase + 50% Off Shipping on NCAA Apparel
eBags, 3/14 — Insiders Only: St. Patrick's Day savings start NOW
Apple, 3/12 — iPad is coming. April 3. Pre-order or reserve yours today.
Finish Line, 3/12 — An Energy Drink For Your Feet! Get Free Shipping On The Hot, New ZIGTECH!
Walgreens, 3/14 — They're Your Memories: 33% OFF Prints, Books, Keepsakes, Collages & More
Bluefly, 3/12 — Rainbow Brights! NEW Candy-Colored Shoes & Handbags
Ann Taylor, 3/12 — Greetings From The Riviera (Our New Collection Has Arrived)
Crate & Barrel, 3/12 — Spring island destination at Best Buys prices. New for kitchen...
Spiegel, 3/13 — Chad, What Will YOUR NEW SIGNATURE BAG Be This Spring?‏
Frederick’s of Hollywood, 3/12 — Bride-to-be? Need a gift? Being a guest? Take up to $75 off.‏
Victoria’s Secret, 3/12 — We Love Hiphuggers! And at 5 For $25, You'll Love Them Too
Lane Bryant, 3/12 — 3 Ways To Save: $20 Off Pants, BOGO Free Tunic + Gift Cheque
Orvis, 3/12 — Discover why our NEW women's khakis are the Ultimate.
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Week-End Trends: Retail email volume flat for third straight week

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index: For the third week in a row, top online retailers sent each of their subscribers 2.5 promotional emails on average during the week ending Mar. 12, 2010. Beyond being flat week-over-week, that’s down 6% from where it was four weeks ago and up 9% year-over-year.



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



The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: There will be a significant focus on St. Patrick’s Day this week, but also Easter messaging will pick up as well.



Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Easter (4/4): Easter 2009 Season Finale
Mother’s Day (5/9): Mother’s Day 2009 Season Finale
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