AM Inbox: Weaving channels together

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, 10/26 — Fingerhut: Vote for YOUR Favorite Discount – Find Out How!
Fingerhut is using email to drive subscribers to Facebook to vote for their favorite discount, which will then be delivered via email later on. While many campaigns ask subscribers to Like them on Facebook to get a discount, the critical difference here is that there’s community engagement that happens on Facebook in terms of the voting and then the action shifts back to email. So the campaign plays to social’s strength—community engagement—and email’s strength—delivering discounts. The arrangement also encourages Facebook fans to become email subscribers. Campaigns like this encourage customers to connect with a brand through multiple channels, deepening the relationship and generally increasing how much they spend with a brand.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Cooking.com, 10/26 — Holidays on the Go: Great Potlucking and Entertaining Ideas
Costco, 10/26 — In Time For Holiday Crafting - Get A Brother Sewing Machine For $144.99 Delivered!
Hallmark, 10/26 — Let the countdown begin! Holiday Open House is November 4-6.
Coldwater Creek, 10/26 — NEW HOLIDAY ARRIVALS for Factory Online
Brookstone, 10/26 — By Popular Demand: 25% OFF Holiday Décor - Extended
Alibris, 10/26 — Scare up a stack | Hand-picked books from 99¢
Walgreens, 10/26 — NEW: Easy Photo Management Has Arrived | Buy 1 Get 1 FREE 8.5x11 Classic Linen Photo Books
Target, 10/26 — Mmm, these kitchen savings smell yummy.
Disney Store, 10/26 — Disney Apps for your Little Princess!
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AM Inbox: Improving a campaign over time

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

Brookstone, 10/25 — Forget about daylight savings
When a marketer returns to a messaging tactic several times, it’s a good indication that it’s very successful for them. So I tend to pay extra attention when Macy’s sends their annual letter to subscribers (see Oct. 18 AM Inbox) and Brookstone is promoting their TimeSmart Clocks around Daylight Saving Time again, as they are in this email. Brookstone sent similar emails earlier this year (see Mar. 1 AM Inbox) and back in 2008 (see Feb. 26, 2008 AM Inbox). It’s instructive to look at the incremental improvements that they’ve made to the design with each iteration. The two biggest changes are that (1) the number of clocks featured in the email have decreased over time to just three and (2) the animation went from being added as a minor element to positioned front and center. Don’t shy away from returning to past campaigns that were successful, but look for small changes that can make the email even more effective.



And here’s the animated portion of this email:



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Orvis, 10/25 — Watch Now: Betty White enters the Orvis Cover Dog Contest.
SmartBargains, 10/25 — Only 60 Days Before Christmas- Use Your Coupons
Cooking.com, 10/25 — Retro Holiday Party Recipes: Artichoke Dip, Crab Cakes + More
Fingerhut, 10/25 — Fingerhut: Top 10 Must-Have Electronics
Nordstrom, 10/25 — Sperry Top-Sider Rain Boots: Wish for Rain
Dick’s Sporting Goods, 10/25 — Beat the Cold with Free Shipping on Outdoor Apparel and Boots!
Neiman Marcus, 10/25 — Gucci: The Cruise Collection
Coldwater Creek, 10/25 — The Dress You've Been Waiting For...
J. Crew, 10/25 — Meet your new favorite skirt
Newegg, 10/25 — Get Geared Up for BATTLEFIELD 3 -- AVAILABLE NOW! $179.99 AMD FX-6100 Processor...
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AM Inbox: Multichannel opt-in hubs

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, 10/24 — Home sweet home values: $99 shipping on select furniture
While the banner in this email just promotes their opt-in deal-of-the-day program, the landing page exposes visitors to multichannel menu of choices. In addition to the email sign-up for daily deals, it promotes a SMS daily deals sign-up, their mobile app, their Twitter account and Facebook page. I’ll be curious to see if Sam’s Club promotes any of these other channels in banners in future emails as a hook to drive more traffic back to this multichannel opt-in hub. If your preference center has cross-channel options, that’s also a great place to direct subscribers ahead of the holiday season.



JCPenney, 10/24 — Calling All Heroes! Over 6000 IAVA Vets Will Win
Veterans Day doesn’t get much attention from retailers for a variety of reasons, so it’s unusual to see messaging as in this JCPenney email that’s so targeted at veterans. With the recent news that all the troops in Iraq will be withdrawn by the end of the year in accordance with the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement that President George W. Bush signed in 2008, I wonder if Veterans Day will suddenly take on greater prominence this year.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Brookstone, 10/24 — Merry & Bright in Minutes...
Orvis, 10/24 — 700+ great gift ideas to get your holiday shopping started.
Hallmark, 10/24 — Don't miss Jingle the Husky Pup's latest adventures!
Avon, 10/24 — Just Arrived! Holiday Gift Sets - Save up to 60%
The Company Store, 10/24 — Down Pillows 50% Off | Your Guests Will Thank You!
Harry & David, 10/24 — Last chance! Halloween gifts with standard delivery.
Norm Thompson, 10/24 — $1 Shipping. Jeri has bought FIVE of these robes...so far.‏
Eddie Bauer, 10/24 — Cold Days are Made for Standout Sweaters, Soft Knits and More.
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AM Inbox: Hunting for Eggies

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

Bed Bath & Beyond, 10/21 — Which came first? The chicken or the Eggie?
Email marketing doesn’t end with the email. Clicks from an email must transition smoothly to your website or whatever the destination is. The harder you make your subscribers work to learn more about and to buy the products features in your emails, the lower your conversions will be. This Bed Bath & Beyond email could have used some landing page optimization, as its conversion path was quite rocky for the primary product in the email. Clicking through the primary call-to-action in the email…



…takes you to a landing page (below) that doesn’t include the Eggie or any of the other three products featured high in the email. The disconnect between the email content and landing page content was so strong…



…that I decided that doing a search for “Eggie” was the best path forward. But as you can see below, it found no results, instead returning results for “edge.” While searching for the full product name “Eggies” does find the product, the subject line of the email refers to them as an Eggie, so it would be fair to assume that term would take you to the product as well. So this is a case where a poor site search experience just compounds the poor landing page experience.



TigerDirect, 10/23 — 48 Hour Special: ViewSonic Android Tablet $149...19" LED Monitor $79...120Hz Projector $319...See Them All
Looking to lock in additional loyalty during the holiday season, TigerDirect is promoting their free shipping program. I haven’ seen any research on it, but my personal experience with Amazon Prime has been that it boost loyalty significantly. Promoting loyalty programs, credit cards and similar programs are another way to increase customer loyalty going into the critical holiday season.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
The Company Store, 10/21 — The Perfect Hostess Gift + Free Shipping!
Macy’s, 10/23 — Prep your home for the holidays + Free Shipping!
Harry & David, 10/21 — Order for the holidays and get free delivery. Email exclusive offer.
ShopNBC, 10/23 — Perfect Gifts for Techies!
Buy.com, 10/22 — Free Expedited Shipping on Costume Orders over $75 + Sennheiser Earbuds $26.99, Kodak Digital Frame - Refurb $39.99,...
Kmart, 10/21 — Up to 50% OFF all Halloween costumes + more offers inside
Frederick’s of Hollywood, 10/21 — Lingerie from $16.99. 40% off costumes. Plus up to $75 off.
JC Whitney, 10/21 — Get in the Halloween Spirit - Take $45 Off Your Order!
Lands’ End, 10/22 — No tricks, just the treat: 30% off all regularly-priced styles!
Abercrombie & Fitch, 10/21 — Introducing the Fur* Collection. Plus, don't miss out on free shipping!
Ann Taylor, 10/21 — Beat The Chill + 40% Off Everything!
Eddie Bauer, 10/22 — Our 75th Annual Down Event: ALL Down on Sale. Save Up to $75!
Bloomingdale’s, 10/21 — Check It Out: The Warmest Coats For Men + Beauty Benefits
Ralph Lauren, 10/21 — Sweater Weather Essentials For Men
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Week-End Trends: On cusp of holiday season volume increases

Email activity and seasonal trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index: The top online retailers sent each of their subscribers 3.4 promotional emails on average during the week ending Oct. 21, 2011. That’s flat week-over-week, up 11% from where it was four weeks ago, and up 10% year-over-year.

As you can see from this week’s chart, we’re just a week away from when email volume typically starts to climb as we enter the core of the holiday season. Last year, average monthly email volume in November and December was 47% higher than in earlier months.



The Retail Email Participation Rate: As it has been most of the year, Friday was the most popular day to send retail emails last week.



The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: Halloween messaging will crest this week, but it has already been surpassed by Christmas messaging—which should explode once we reach Nov. 1 and see the start of Black November messaging. For more on Black November, check out the 2011 Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season.



Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Halloween (Oct. 31): 2010 Season Finale
Thanksgiving (Nov. 24): 2010 Season Finale
Black Friday (Nov. 25) and Cyber Monday (Nov. 28): Black Friday & Cyber Monday 2010
Christmas (Dec. 25): 2010 Season Finale and Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season 2011
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Ping Time: Sign-up A/B test, holiday spending survey, etc.

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

>>WhichTestWon shares the results of an A/B test that CaretLane did that looked at whether a pop-up or right column slider email sign-up form worked best. >>Follow the ping

>>The NRF shares the findings of their 2011 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey. >>Follow the merry ping

>>Smiley Cat Web Design examines the email widths of 155 retailers. Comparing their finding to mine from 2009, email widths are expanding, rather than shrinking as many have been advising. >>Follow the ping

>>MarketingSherpa shares a case study detailing BirkenstockCentral.com’s results with back-in-stock email notifications. >>Follow the ping

>>MainSleaze is a new blog that out spammers and their ESPs. >>Follow the ping

>>EMarketer reports that consumers are concerned about mobile coupons with a location-based element. >>Follow the ping
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AM Inbox: 2 preheader text tactics

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

Nordstrom, 10/20 — Reserve the Spotlight: Shop Our Social Season Style Guide
Earlier in the week, I talked about Macy’s annual letter to subscribers that touted all the improvements they’ve made this year (see Oct. 18 AM Inbox). It’s important to remind subscribers about your brand’s key value propositions, because few subscribers read every email you send, so they miss many of these announcements. In this email, Nordstrom uses their preheader text to reiterate their standing offer of “free shipping and returns,” which they announced in August (see Aug. 30 AM Inbox). During the holiday season, I expect retailers with standing free shipping offers to use preheader text and banners to constantly remind subscribers about them.



Brookstone, 10/20 — 2 days left...Shop now to save 25%
The preheader text for this Brookstone email serves a great double purpose: Not only does it support the primary call-to-action, but it also transitions smoothly into the “view with images” call-to-action in the preheader.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Linens ’n Things, 10/20 — Don't Wait: Christmas Items Starting at $14.99
Nike Store, 10/20 — Are You Ready For the Coldest Conditions?
Lowe’s, 10/20 — Beat Back Beastly Bills With These Energy-Saving Offers + 10% to 37% Off Limited-Time Values
Lands’ End, 10/20 — Think big! Take 40% off any regularly-priced item... Ends Friday.
Sports Authority, 10/20 — Get 25% off a Single Item - Our Friends and Family Discount
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AM Inbox: Use your smartphone to show this email to a cashier

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

J. Jill, 10/19 — Think fast! 24 hours only--$40 off our puffer vest.
At the bottom of the left-hand column of this J. Jill email, there’s a note telling subscribers that they can get this discount in a store by showing an associate this email on their smartphone. This messaging is rare but becoming gradually more common. With mobile playing an increasing role this holiday season, retailers would be wise to include this instruction more often. In this particular email, the note would make more sense if it were up just below the offer along with the other instructions on how to get the discount online and in store.



Orvis, 10/19 — Timeless leather gifts that last a lifetime.
Orvis is the first major retailer to debut a gift services footer (GSF) for the holiday season. GSFs pull together lots of links about gifts, shipping options and deadlines, gift wrap, etc. into one tidy package. For more on GSF tactics and trends, check out the free 2011 Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season.



Fingerhut, 10/19 — Fingerhut: We’ve Made Some Exciting Changes - Find Out More
Fingerhut has made improvements to their website’s account management functionality, specifically around payments. With the core of the holiday season almost here, the door is certainly closing on website relaunches and new functionality announcements. The holiday season is a very risky time to push website changes on customers.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Abercrombie & Fitch, 10/19 — Free shipping plus Christmas 2011!
Harry & David, 10/19 — Exclusive catalog preview. Your Free Delivery offer starts today!
Target, 10/19 — Baby stuff's on sale [drool].
Bed Bath & Beyond, 10/19 — Like our FB page? Give it a thumbs up!
Lands’ End, 10/19 — What's New Wednesday - The Point of Ponté
Spiegel, 10/19 — Wednesday's Cover Story: Jackets & Blazers up to 40% Off!
Neiman Marcus, 10/19 — Leather Lookbook: Fall's Mix
Bloomingdale’s, 10/19 — New From The North Face®
Bluefly, 10/19 — Introducing...DIAMONDS Up To 50% Off (Exclusive Preview For Email Members Only!)
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AM Inbox: Segmented new store announcements

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, 10/18 — Opening Pretty Soon: Sephora Yonkers
When Sephora opens a new store, they alert subscribers in the vicinity with this segmented email. The primary message is to the point, telling subscribers the location of the new store and when it opens. The secondary message provides an incentive to visit the new store, plus an extra incentive for Beauty Insiders—which, of course, also becomes a call-to-action to join their loyalty program. The tertiary message block contains the fine details of exactly where the new store is and what the store’s hours are. It’s a nice, simple three-tier design that engages you more deeply as you progress from message block to message block.



Walmart, 10/18 — Save Now on the Season’s Hottest TVs, iPods, Laptops & More
As I wrote in my recent Email Insider column, I expect this holiday season to be more budget-minded than usual, perhaps on par with the 2009 season. I anticipate that retailers will respond by including more wallet-friendly messaging, as Walmart does in this email, which mentions both layaway and an electronics trade-in program. Now is the time to start raising awareness of programs that help subscribers stretch their money, earn discounts or gift cards, etc.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Neiman Marcus, 10/18 — The Christmas Book: Now Unveiling
Williams-Sonoma, 10/18 — Time to Order Your Turkey + Wine
Kohl’s, 10/18 — Stay Under Budget: 40-50% Off Jeans for the Family PLUS Earn Kohl's Cash
J. Crew, 10/18 — Tech support: the coolest iPad cases ever
Nordstrom, 10/18 — A New Twist on Old-School Cable Knits
dELiA*s, 10/18 — Got Color Jeans? We Do! + Buy 1, Get 1 50% Off!
Gilt Groupe, 10/18 — Introducing the New Gilt Home! Spend $100, Get $30 Off A Future Purchase.
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AM Inbox: Macy's annual letter + Black November comes early

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

Macy’s, 10/17 — With our thanks: extra 20% off + Free Shipping at $75!
One more sign that the holidays are upon us: Macy’s sends their annual letter from their president thanking subscribers for being loyal customers and listing innovations from earlier in the year—whether they are improvements to Macys.com, more shipping options, or new collections. It’s a tactic that’s clearly working for them because they’ve sent them since at least 2007. For last year’s, see Oct. 17, 2010 email; 2009, see Oct. 20, 2009 AM Inbox; 2008, see Nov. 13, 2008 AM Inbox; and 2007, see Oct. 24, 2007 AM Inbox.



TigerDirect, 10/17 — Early Black Friday SONY Core i3 Laptop Deal
TigerDirect is a big fan of using “Black Friday” outside of the holiday season to indicate that deals are rock bottom. But in this email, they say that they had actually planned to release this deal for their “Big Black Friday Sale at the end of November.” To me, this email seems like it’s part of the Black November trend that’s discussed in the 2011Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season. It’s also an early sign that retailers may be pushing their Black November deals even earlier this year.



Toys “R” Us, 10/17 — Buy 2 Get the 3rd FREE ALL Video Games & Accessories! Plus, New Releases Oct. 18!
The early part of the holiday season is a favorite time to announce new shipping and payment options. In this email, Toys “R” Us is the first major retailer to tell their subscribers that they’re accepting Google Wallet.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
J. Crew, 10/17 — Cozy up: UP TO 30% OFF select sweaters for women, men and kids
Urban Outfitters, 10/17 — Get Cozy
Norm Thompson, 10/17 — 15% OFF EVERYTHING! New Fall/Winter Styles just in...
Lowe’s, 10/17 — THE WAIT IS OVER: MyLowe's Is Here & the Future Starts Now
Toys “R” Us, 10/17 — We’ve Got ‘Em First! Xia-Xia Hermet Crabs are Here! Collect them ALL!
Neiman Marcus, 10/17 — Tom Ford Beauty: Exclusive Launch
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AM Inbox: Foot Locker redesign + check your junk folder

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

Foot Locker, 10/15 — Stand Out to Break Out with Zig Tech and Free Shipping!
Foot Locker has redesigned their email template, making significant changes to their navigation bars. While their primary nav bar still has eight links, half of them are now different. That includes adding a Facebook link, in addition to the one already in the administrative bar at the bottom of the email. Foot Locker also reduced the amount of red they used in their design, using it only for a few secondary calls-to-action, and added boxes around the secondary content blocks. Along with all of these changes, Foot Locker also increased the width of their email to 700 pixels from 600, making them a bit less mobile-friendly.

Here’s the new design (left) and the previous design from an Oct. 12 email:



1-800-Flowers.com, 10/14 — Your Exclusive Offer is waiting...
Going into the holidays is a good time to make sure that as many of your subscribers as possible have added your address to their address book, as it helps deliverability during the holiday season when volumes are high and ISPs are more prone to block senders. 1-800-Flowers.com used a novel tactic with this whitelisting-request email, sending it on the heels of an email containing exclusive offer. It has a service email feel, since it doesn’t do any selling itself. This email is sent from their usual email address, so if the previous email went to junk, then this email would likely have as well. So it’s not a tactic that truly addresses emails that are already being junked, but it could improve deliverability a little overall. Interesting tactic, especially considering that the holiday season is not a particularly busy time for 1-800-Flowers.com. Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day are much busier for them.



Ralph Lauren, 10/15 — Show Your Support With Pink Pony & Paperless Post Hope Cards
Ralph Lauren’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign has a nice viral component to it whereas they’ve had four web personalities create a collection of e-cards at Paperless Post. The designs include a call-to-action for the recipient to donate to Ralph Lauren’s Pink Pony Fund.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
The Company Store, 10/14 — Holiday Flannel Bedding + Free Shipping!
Coldwater Creek, 10/14 — Holiday's Brightest Stars + Free Shipping
Disney Store, 10/14 — All That Glitters is Magic: Disney Holiday Décor
Target, 10/14 — Shipping deal on costumes. Boo-tiful.‏
Kmart, 10/14 — Up to 30% OFF all Halloween costumes + more offers inside‏
Linens ’n Things, 10/16 — Last Chance! Halloween Costumes Starting at $15.99
Ralph Lauren, 10/15 — Show Your Support With Pink Pony & Paperless Post Hope Cards
Yoox, 10/15 — Exclusive: Tree-shirt by Vivienne Westwood for GreenUp
Sears, 10/14 — Lowest prices of the year on Craftsman + snow thrower sale today & tomorrow
Neiman Marcus, 10/14 — All-Weather Boots including Hunter Boot
Sports Authority, 10/16 — Crazy Light Basketball Shoes – Now Available!
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Week-End Trends: Holiday messaging to dominate until year end

Email activity and seasonal trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index: The top online retailers sent each of their subscribers 3.4 promotional emails on average during the week ending Oct. 14, 2011. That’s up 2% week-over-week, up 11% from where it was four weeks ago, and up 9% year-over-year.

This week provided more confirmation that what appeared to be a year-over-year decrease in email volume reported two weeks ago was indeed the result of deliverability issues caused by a few high-volume retailers like Spiegel, Cooking.com and Lowe’s changing ESPs or their sender address. Some of the emails from these senders were blocked, had their delivery delayed or were routed to junk. I have revised the data slightly based on emails that were finally delivered, but the numbers are still depressed because of emails that were blocked completely.



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



The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: Although Halloween references will rise over the next two weeks, references to the holiday season will grow more quickly. Starting this week, Christmas references should outnumber all other season references until the end of the year.



Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Halloween (Oct. 31): 2010 Season Finale
Thanksgiving (Nov. 24): 2010 Season Finale
Black Friday (Nov. 25) and Cyber Monday (Nov. 28): Black Friday & Cyber Monday 2010
Christmas (Dec. 25): 2010 Season Finale and Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season 2011
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Ping Time: Visualize Yahoo Mail, mobile email tips, etc.

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

>>Tweet of the Week: @kristinhersant: Only 30% of marketers clean their email lists regularly and segment based on past user behaviors. (@sharvanboskirk)

>>Laura Atkins at Word to the Wise says that the Visualize Yahoo Mail tool is “awesome.” I agree. Potential source of subject line key words. >>Follow the ping

>>Justine Jordan of Litmus shares an infographic about how to design a great mobile-friendly email—as well as how not to. >>Follow the ping

>>Liz Lynch of e-Dialog shares some examples of emails referencing Breast Cancer Awareness Month. >>Follow the pink ping

>>EMarketer discusses the role that mobile will play this holiday season. >>Follow the ping

>>Mark Brownlow, writing for Smart Insights, discusses some of the key results of the 2011 edition of the Email Tracker Report, which surveyed 1,800 UK consumers on their inbox activity and habits, responses and attitudes to commercial email, use of mobile email, and their social sharing behavior. >>Follow the ping

>>In my latest Email Insider column, I make 7 predictions about the upcoming holiday season. >>Follow the ping
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AM Inbox: First holiday header debuts + contextual upsells

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

Macy’s, 10/13 — 20% off Impulse contemporary fashion
Macy’s gives us our first holiday header of the season, adding a “The Gift Guide” link to their navigation bars. Macy’s makes it stand out from their other nav links by using different font, color and sizes. As detailed in the 2011 Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season, holiday headers are a growing trend, with 43% of top retailers using the design tactic last year, up from 38% in 2009 and 35% in 2008. In addition to “gift guide” and “Christmas” nav links, retailers often remake their entire header, giving it a holiday makeover just like they make their stores festive by putting up Christmas trees and hanging garland.



Crate & Barrel, 10/13 — Free Shipping starts now. Plus, save $65 on our new Calphalon slow cooker.
A product without context forces consumers to apply their own relevance to it. Rather than forcing subscribers to do that for you—risking that they won’t be able to easily see the relevance—more and more retailers are embracing the need to provide that context, as Crate & Barrel does in this email. For some subscribers, a slow cooker may not sound too exciting all on its own, so they suggest meals that can be cooked in it and then they go one step further and tease a recipe from a slow cooker cook book. They then layer on a selection of cooking accessories that you “need” to cook that recipe. It’s not always the case, but in this instance, providing additional context for the primary product led to several upsell opportunities. Do you have opportunities to show how several products that you sell all work together?



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Coldwater Creek, 10/13 — A first look at Holiday! 110 New Arrivals + Free Shipping
Harry & David, 10/13 — Holiday gifts from just $19.95. Plus Free Delivery.
ShopNBC, 10/13 — Gifts for that Special Someone
Lowe’s, 10/13 — No Trick. Just Treats. All Inside.
Sam’s Club, 10/13 — Free Standard Shipping on the Judith Ripka collection at SamsClub.com!
NikeStore, 10/13 — Don't Let a Little Rain Slow You Down
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AM Inbox: All I want for Christmas is cross-channel engagement

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

JCPenney, 10/12 — Text To Win $10,000
The first holiday email from JCPenney is a discount- and sweepstakes-powered incentive to collect SMS opt-ins. When customers are engaged with a brand though multiple channels, they generally spend more. So using one channel to secure opt-ins to other channels is a wise strategy, especially ahead of the holiday season. Publishing a holiday catalog, releasing a gift app, or planning on tweeting exclusive Black Friday deals? The upcoming weeks are a great time to secure those opt-ins.



Ann Taylor, 10/12 — Our New Outerwear Collection Is Here + Enjoy 40% Off Your Suit Purchase!
As I discussed in the Oct. 11 AM Inbox, there are opportunities to present products in atypical and even unusual ways in order to get subscribers’ attention. In this Ann Taylor email promoting coats, they have a model artfully in the act of putting on coat rather than the typical model shot of a coat fully on. While subscribers don’t get to see how the coat drapes when worn, this arrangement makes use of the entire content block to highlight the coat.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Fingerhut, 10/12 — Fingerhut: It’s Here! Shop the NEWEST Holiday BIG Book Today!
Eddie Bauer, 10/12 — Last Day! Free Shipping + New Holiday Collection Now Available.
Harry & David, 10/12 — Make Halloween extra delicious. Get free delivery.‏
TigerDirect, 10/12 — See The World's First 8-Core CPUs...Plus New AMD FX PC Kits...16GB Corsair DDR3 $84...3TB HD $159 and more
Walgreens, 10/12 — Flu Shots are the Best Way to Avoid the Flu
Sam’s Club, 10/12 — Healthy Savings to Fight Cold & Flu Season
J. Crew, 10/12 — The comeback coat: our downtown field jacket
Montgomery Ward, 10/12 — Winter Wise: Classic Coats + 300 New Arrivals
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AM Inbox: Moving beyond simply 'Buy Now'

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

Toys “R” Us, 10/11 — Online Only Halloween Special! 20% Off & Free Shipping on Halloween Costumes!‏
This Toys “R” Us email is a great example of engaging subscribers in multiple ways. First, there are promotional appeals with a discount, pitching group costumes (which is a nice family-oriented appeal I haven’t seen a retailer make before), and highlighting an even deeper discount on infant costumes. Second, there’s an informational appeal with a list of the top 10 costumes. And finally, there are two entertainment-oriented appeals, one focused on video and another focused on games. The group-themed costumes are the most novel element here, but all together Toys “R” Us sells a rather immersive Halloween experience.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Barnes & Noble, 10/11 — Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson: Pre-Order and Save 48%
Sam’s Club, 10/11 — Apple iPhone 4S. Reserve yours in-Club today!
Orvis, 10/11 — 120+ NEW and distinctive gifts for men - online now.
ShopNBC, 10/11 — How long until Christmas? Here's a hint...
J&R, 10/11 — Having a Devil of a Time Finding a Halloween Costume?
Lands’ End, 10/11 — The turtle that wins the race - now from $12
L.L. Bean, 10/11 — Just in: Our Largest Selection of Outerwear, Shipped Free
O.co, 10/11 — Don't Forget: Twitter Party Tomorrow with Angelo Surmelis
Walgreens, 10/11 — New! Same Day Pickup + Buy 1, Get 1 FREE 8.5x11 Wall Calendars
Victoria’s Secret, 10/11 — Seduction Is All About A Few Little Things...
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AM Inbox: Lane Bryant email redesign + tipped product

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, 10/7 — Columbus Day Savings: 40% Off Sweaters, Dresses, Shirts And More‏
Lane Bryant has redesigned their email template, ditching the black background and all the resulting negative type. They also tightened up their preheader text and their footer. However, the positive aspects of these changes are almost completely countered by the fact that the light grey type that they use is almost unreadable on their new white background. Just like the recent Orvis redesign (see Oct. 4 AM Inbox), this one doesn’t seem like a significant improvement.

Here’s the new design (left) and the previous design from an Oct. 5 email:



The new design also isn’t optimized for viewing in Hotmail using Firefox, so unfortunately the logo is slightly broken:



Target, 10/10 — You'll love this furniture deal to pieces, we swear.
People are used to see products displayed in the usual ways, according to conventions, and usually according to the manufacturer. So when products are presented in a way that we’re not used to seeing, it can really catch your eye, as the vacuum cleaner does in this Target email. It reminds me of the aerial shots that CB2 used (see Aug. 18, 2010 AM Inbox) and the leg-through-the-hole shot that Urban Outfitters used (see Oct. 15, 2010 AM Inbox).



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Kohl's, 10/9 — Ding-dong! The Home Sale is Here. Get 15% Off Online Furniture.‏
Saks Fifth Avenue, 10/9 — The best kitchen wizards are now at Saks.com
ShopNBC, 10/9 — Holiday Gem Sale Kickoff
Drs. Foster & Smith, 10/7 — Your New Dog Holiday Catalog is Online!
Saks Fifth Avenue, 10/10 — Exclusive Ralph Lauren Holiday Event: get into the spirit
Dick’s Sporting Goods, 10/10 — Today Only - Take 14.92% Off Your Online Order!
JCPenney, 10/7 — Discover 40-60% + Extra 10% Off Furniture & Mattresses
Sports Authority, 10/10 — Discover up to 50% Savings This Columbus Day
Blair, 10/10 — Discover an extra 25% savings.
1-800-Flowers.com, 10/10 — Columbus Day Exclusive: Discover 24 Assorted Roses for just $24!
J. Crew, 10/7 — Happy Columbus Day: up to 50% OFF + FREE SHIPPING
The Children’s Place, 10/7 — Columbus Day Savings Up to 75% Off + Free Shipping + 20% Savings Pass!
TigerDirect, 10/7 — Up to 60% OFF During the Columbus Day Weekend Special!
Sears, 10/9 — Columbus Day savings + free shipping thru Tuesday
Urban Outfitters, 10/7 — The Halloween Shop
Buy.com, 10/9 — PINK ISN'T JUST A PRETTY COLOR
Cooking.com, 10/7 — Exclusive SodaStream for Breast Cancer Awareness
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Week-End Trends: Volume returns to normal, deliverability issues fixed

Email activity and seasonal trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index: The top online retailers sent each of their subscribers 3.2 promotional emails on average during the week ending Oct. 7, 2011. That’s up 8% week-over-week, down 1% from where it was four weeks ago, and up 11% year-over-year.

In last week’s Week-End Trends I theorized that the year-over-year drop in email volume was likely the result of deliverability issues. That indeed appears to have been the case as most of the retailers that had gone quiet showed up in my tracking inboxes with new sender addresses, an indication that they had switched ESPs or were warming up new IP addresses ahead of the holiday season. The data for this past week is looking much more reliable.



The Retail Email Participation Rate: Friday was the most popular day to send retail emails last week, although Wednesday and Thursday were almost at the same level.



The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: October is a fairly muddled time for messaging, with lots of different holidays in play. But by early November, Christmas will be the overwhelming dominant messaging point, with the holidays mentioned in the majority of retail emails.



Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Halloween (Oct. 31): 2010 Season Finale
Thanksgiving (Nov. 24): 2010 Season Finale
Black Friday (Nov. 25) and Cyber Monday (Nov. 28): Black Friday & Cyber Monday 2010
Christmas (Dec. 25): 2010 Season Finale and Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season 2011
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Ping Time: Borders' list bought, Hotmail changes, etc.

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

>>Tweet of the Week: @gregstarling: Great design isn't about putting the right things in; it's about leaving the wrong things out.

>>Simms Jenkins of BrightWave Marketing questions the privacy and ethical implications of Barnes & Noble’s purchase of now-defunct Borders’ email list. >>Follow the ping

>>Microsoft announces significant changes to Hotmail. >>Follow the ping

>>Adam Sutton of MarketingSherpa shares a case study about how Newegg has achieved success with their daily deals program, which is driven by email and SMS. >>Follow the ping

>>Loren McDonald of Silverpop discusses the five key areas to collect email opt-ins. >>Follow the ping
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AM Inbox: Holiday messaging becoming primary messaging now

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, 10/6 — Fingerhut: Get a FREE Fleece Throw with Select Holiday Indoor Decor Purchase!
As I’ve been tweeting, 20% of top retailers have now begun their holiday email campaigns, mentioning Christmas in at least one email. The vast majority of the holiday email references so far have been in the form of secondary or tertiary messages. But we’re now at the point where holiday messaging will begin in earnest, when we’ll start seeing more and more primary messages devoted to the holiday season, as in this Fingerhut email. Holiday décor is a popular early messaging topic because many people put up their holiday decorations in November, either right after Thanksgiving or after Halloween. The next few weeks should see many retailers launching their holiday messaging. Last year, on average, retailers began their holiday campaigns 69 days before Christmas—on Oct. 17—as detailed in the 2011 Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
The Company Store, 10/6 — The Holidays Are Upon Us...
Musician’s Friend, 10/5 — Columbus Day Instant Savings Up To 15% - Coupon Code Inside!
Macy’s, 10/5 — Columbus Day Sale: Extra 15% off + Free Shipping!‏
The Children’s Place, 10/5 — Columbus Day Savings Up to 75% Off - HURRY Starts Today! + 20% Savings Pass!
1-800-Flowers.com, 10/6 — Columbus Day Sale: Discover Free Shipping/No Service Charge
Barnes & Noble, 10/6 — Columbus Day Weekend Savings -- Take 15% Off One Item
Crate & Barrel, 10/5 — Get 50% off or more at the Outlet Columbus Day sale.
L.L. Bean, 10/6 — Special Offer: 10% Off Now Through Columbus Day
Sears, 10/5 — Enter to win a trip to Medieval Times + build a haunted castle at Sears Kid's Workshop
Walgreens, 10/5 — 25% OFF ALL Halloween Costumes + Up to 50% OFF Cold & Flu Season Items | 20% OFF Contacts
Linens ’n Things, 10/6 — Think Pink & Save up to 60%
Ann Taylor, 10/5 — See How We Wear Our New October Collection!
Nordstrom, 10/6 — Coat Check: This Season's Best Trends in Outerwear!
Saks Fifth Avenue, 10/5 — Rugged backwoods boots for him, for fall
Harry & David, 10/5 — Exclusive catalog preview. Your Free Delivery offer starts today!
Home Depot, 10/6 — Do More With Your PFD Check at The Home Depot
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Season Finale: Labor Day 2011

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

Start to finish: The first reference to Labor Day was on Aug. 8. The final reference was on Sept. 9.

The biggest day for Labor Day emails was Sunday, Sept. 4, followed closely by Labor Day itself, Monday, Sept. 5. Retailers sent the majority of their Labor Day-themed emails after Sept. 1.



Most interesting emails: In a Sept. 4 email, Buy.com broke from their usual email design to ask subscribers about their holiday weekend plans. They presented four activities and then related their products to those activities. It’s an approach that’s similar to how some retailers match New Year resolutions with products to help achieve those goals.



Noteworthy trend: There continues to be a “Made in the USA” messaging trend around the patriotic holidays—particularly around the 4th of July, but also around Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Labor Day. This Aug. 30 Drs. Foster & Smith email is part of this messaging trend.



Standout subject lines:
Drs. Foster & Smith, 8/30 — SALE - Celebrate Labor Day with USA-Made Pet Supplies!
GameStop, 9/3 — No Labor, All Play at GameStop
Spiegel, 9/3 — A Labor (Day) of Love: Take 30% OFF your order of $100+
The Company Store, 9/5 — Labor Day Sale | Sleep In With 15% Off Your Entire Order!

Read previous Labor Day Season Finales: 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006

Explore Labor Day tag.
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AM Inbox: Models as the message

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

Lands’ End, 10/4 — Warm walks, warmer hearts
Needless to say, models are an important element in connecting with your customers. Beyond helping your customers identify with your brand, your model choice can also make a social statement. In this email, Lands’ End uses shelter dogs to model their doggie apparel and pairs that with an appeal to adopt dogs from shelters—as one of their staffers did during the shoot. Along with this social statement is a social call-to-action for subscribers to share stories about shelter dogs they’ve adopted. Judging by the reaction on their Facebook wall, the campaign generated a lot of goodwill, in addition to highlighting product. Those comments also mention that Lands’ End used this campaign in their current catalog too, so this campaign involved at least four channels (email, web, social and catalog).

Other retailers have also made statements with the models that they’ve used. For instance, Spiegel’s “Take Our Daughters to Work Day” campaign featured staffers’ daughters, each of which exemplified one of Spiegel’s Signature Styles (see Apr. 24, 2009 AM Inbox). For another email, Spiegel used some educators as models for a back-to-school campaign that asked subscribers to share the discount in the email with their favorite teacher (see Aug. 6, 2010 AM Inbox). Ann Taylor (see Aug. 6, 2010 AM Inbox) and J. Crew (see Mar. 16 AM Inbox) have also used staffers as models for campaigns.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Kohl’s, 10/4 — These Boots Are Made For: A) Walking B) Style C) All of the Above
The Company Store, 10/4 — Don't Miss Out On National Family Pajama Night!‏
Barnes & Noble, 10/4 — BOO! Don't Be Scared to Save Up to 30% On Halloween Essentials!
Blair, 10/4 — A Halloween favorite at 50% off. Free shipping, too.‏
J&R, 10/4 — Get Your Spook On: Horror Movies & More Just 2 for $12!
Oriental Trading, 10/4 — Get the best treats delivered for free. As low as 10¢ a piece!
Cooking.com, 10/4 — Costumes, Candy, and Cupcakes Too! Perfect Halloween Treats
Toys “R” Us, 10/4 — 2-Day Halloween Specials! Candy Only $2.49, Plus Costumes ON SALE!
NFLshop, 10/4 — [Just Released] NFL Breast Cancer Awareness Rally Packs!‏
JC Whitney, 10/4 — October is Fall Car Care Month | Save up to $40
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AM Inbox: Orvis template redesign abandons HTML text

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

Orvis, 10/3 — Receive FREE shipping on any order! Shop our new website.
In conjunction with relaunching Orvis.com, the outdoors retailer has redesigned their email template so that their brand’s look is consistent. The biggest change in their email template is that they’ve almost completely abandoned HTML text—and it seems largely unnecessary based on the fonts they’re using in the new design. In the previous design, nearly all the text was HTML—from the text beside the logo and the headline to the product copy and administrative links. The new design is very opaque when images are blocked.

Another interesting point to note is that the navigation bar in their email has 9 links vs. only 4 on their website. Typically, it’s the reverse, with the email having fewer nav links because of emails being narrower than websites. But perhaps even more important is the focus of the two navs. The email nav is completely focused on shopping, whereas the website nav is considerably less focused on shopping. Not sure what the best approach is for Orvis, just that there are several possible email nav tests that could be done to arrive at the optimal line-up.

Here’s the new design (left) and the previous design from a Sept. 29 email:



Northern Tool, 10/3 — Over 360 Customers Would Recommend This Product To A Friend
Not sure what your next email should be about? Take a cue from Northern Tool. Find one of your best-selling or best-reviewed products and build a story around it. In this email, Northern Tool features a chainsaw chain sharpener, but then promotes three related products in a secondary message block and ends with a category call-to-action.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Hallmark, 10/3 — Score scary-good deals at Hallmark Gold Crown this weekend!
Disney Store, 10/3 — Find Incredible New Savings on Costumes & Accessories
J. Jill, 10/3 — We're so plaid it's fall! Get the look for 15% off.‏
Brookstone, 10/3 — NEW... 30% OFF Furniture Covers... No Minimum!
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AM Inbox: Start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month

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

Sports Authority, 10/1 — Sport Your Pink - Learn More and Show Your Support!
Oct. 1 marked the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and as usual there was a significant spike in messaging around the start of the month. Breast Cancer Awareness Month messaging is considerably more diverse this year than in recent years when it seemed that most retailers supported the cause by selling pink merchandise and donating a percentage of the proceeds. While Sports Authority is selling a variety of pink ribbon products, they made those products more relevant and more tightly linked to the issue of breast cancer by pairing them with educational material about how nutrition and exercise can reduce your risk. Here’s the email…



…and here’s the landing page:



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Coach, 9/30 — Pretty in pink for a great cause.
Harry & David, 10/1 — Pink Pears - join us in supporting cancer research.
NFLshop, 10/2 — 2011 New York Giants Breast Cancer Awareness Gear Is Here - Don't Miss This Crucial Catch
Ann Taylor, 9/30 — Giving Back Is Always In Style...
Ross-Simons, 10/1 — To commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness month…
Oriental Trading, 9/30 — 300+ NEW Halloween party supplies, shipped free
Home Depot, 10/2 — Get Great Values and Tips for an Energy Efficient Home This Winter
J. Jill, 10/1 — Fall's best friend: our shaker-stitch sweater. Plus, save up to 60%!
Lands’ End, 10/1 — Warm AND flattering? See for yourself and save 30% on 1 item
SmartBargains, 10/1 — The 3 Things You Need for Instant Confidence Inside
Sports Authority, 9/30 — The Playoffs Are Here! Are You Ready?
Eddie Bauer, 9/30 — Open This Email, Get up to 50% Off.
Abercrombie & Fitch, 9/30 — Did you get some?
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