The Retail Email Blog

Week-End Trends: Back to school to dominate summer months

2009-07-04T10:10:00.001-04:00

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index fell 2% to 237 during the week ending July 3, 2009, and is up 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 19% (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: As 4th of July references fade, back to school will become the primary season promoted. Last week we had our first reference to Christmas, but it will be a very slow build over the next few months.

Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Back to school (Jul-Sep): Back to School 2008 Season Finale
Labor Day (9/7): Labor Day 2008 Season Finale
Columbus Day (10/12): Columbus Day 2008 Season Finale
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: Contrarian Northern Tool redesign

2009-07-03T10:01:00.002-04:00

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

Northern Tool, 7/2 — Hurry, Final Weekend To Save‏
Northern Tool has redesigned their emails, making mainly cosmetic changes to bring their email design in line with their website’s. Contrary to current trend, Northern Tool made their logo, header and navigation bar taller, increasing its height about 40% to about 175 pixels. While none of the links in the nav bar changed, they changed the color scheme to white on black from black on yellow. Their new product grid includes the star rating of each product and a link to the product’s category page, but otherwise is unchanged. The new design also adds a light grey background around the email’s body. About 15% of retailers use background colors to frame up their emails, according to our Soon Even More Emails Won’t Be Optimized for Width report. With this email, they’ve also added links to their Facebook and Twitter pages.

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

Urban Outfitters, 7/2 — Liberty, justice & long weekends for all...
What do tigers, planets and sticks of dynamite have to do with the 4th of July? Absolutely nothing. But coming from Urban Outfitters, with their quirky, indie, artsy aesthetic, this season’s greeting seems completely reasonable and fun.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Oriental Trading, 7/2 — Independence Weekend Special - 17.76% off ANY order‏
J. Jill, 7/2 — Let the fireworks begin! Take 25% off already-reduced items.
J&R, 7/2 — J&R 4th of July Sale: 22 Inch LCD Monitor Now $139.99 + Free Shipping!
Walgreens, 7/2 — July 4th Print Sale: 10 Cent Prints‏
Sportsman’s Guide, 7/2 — 4TH of JULY Sale!... Shipping Coupon from The Guide‏
Office Depot, 7/2 — 4th of July Sale - Only 3 More Days to Save‏
TigerDirect, 7/2 — July 4th Super Deals: 24" 1080p LCD $199...Acer 160gb Netbook $219...Toshiba 32" HDTV $419 & More‏
Home Depot, 7/2 — Our 4th of July Savings Event is Here!‏
MLB, 7/2 — MLB Celebrates July 4th with 2 Big Events
Lands’ End, 7/2 — Surprise offer awaits! All-American savings begin today.‏
Musician’s Friend, 7/2 — Musician's Friend: Private Red, White & Blue Salute‏
Hanna Andersson, 7/2 — New! The School Uniform Meets Hanna Quality‏
Diamond.com, 7/2 — July's Birthstone - Rubies - 20% OFF Plus Free Shipping‏
Ralph Lauren, 7/2 — The 2009 Wimbledon Collections Have Arrived‏
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: First reference to Christmas

2009-07-02T14:11:00.000-04:00

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

Hallmark, 7/1 — Capture summer memories with ornaments--Start early this year!
Just like last year, Hallmark gives us our first reference to Christmas. Expect a few other retailers to run “Christmas in July” campaigns this month. For trends and tactics to help you plan your holiday campaigns, check out the Christmas 2008 Season Finale. Also, stay tuned for the August release of the Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season.

Sephora, 7/1 — Lab sample - be the first to try it!
You should try to offer something in your emails that your customers can’t get through your other channels. That exclusivity will help drive engagement and make your subscribers feel special. This Sephora email is a great example of this. This “lab sample” doesn’t appear on Sephora’s homepage or in their new products department, and this creative makes you feel like you’re on the cutting edge of beauty.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Cabela’s, 7/1 — 4th of July Sale @ Cabelas.com‏
HSN, 7/1 — 4TH OF JULY CLEARANCE - UP TO 60% OFF‏
HPshopping, 7/1 — Fourth of July Sale: SIX DAYS LEFT!‏
Bloomingdale’s, 7/1 — July 4th Sale: Take 40% Off Online & More‏
1800Flowers, 7/1 — SAVE 20% at our 4th of July Sale--occasion optional!
Macy’s, 7/1 — Kick off the 4th with Free Shipping & amazing 3-day specials!‏
Cooking.com, 7/1 — Wacky Fourth of July Desserts + Red and Blue Moppines‏
Furniture.com, 7/1 — Grab these 4th of July savings while they last!
Crate & Barrel, 7/1 — Up to 50% off at the Outlet. Outdoor, indoor...just in time for the 4th.
Disney, 7/1 — Celebrate the Savings at the July 4th Sale!‏
The Company Store, 7/1 — 20% Off Highest Ticket Item - July 4th Savings!
SmartBargains, 7/1 — 10 Hour American Handbag Sale Extra 25% Off Now
Spiegel, 7/1 — This Dress SERIOUSLY SLIMS...just ask Oprah!‏
Norm Thompson, 7/1 — Best ever FREE GIFT! Just spend $29...
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive

The Most Popular Posts during June 2009

2009-07-01T11:22:00.001-04:00

The posts that were visited the most during the month:

10. AM Inbox: First embedded video in retail email
9. AM Inbox: Cinco de Mayo seeing more interest from retailers
8. AM Inbox: Buy.com's multichannel engagement game
7. Reportlet: Email Navigation Differs Radically from Website Navigation
6. AM Inbox: How to integrate an ad into an email
5. AM Inbox: How hard are you making your subscribers work?
4. AM Inbox: More wasted header space
3. AM Inbox: Overstock's progressive couponing scheme
2. Email Design Look Book 2009
1. AM Inbox: Cutting the preheader text down to size

Looking to get a jump on ideas for this month? Then check out the July 2008 archive for inspiration and trends from last year.
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: Retailers getting more sophisticated about promoting social

2009-07-01T11:21:00.001-04:00

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, 6/30 — Party Girl's Night Out!
Increasingly, retailers are moving beyond simple appeals to “join us” on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. Instead, they’re giving email subscribers a compelling reason to take part in social network. For instance, in this email Bluefly asks subscribers to go to their Facebook page and tell them what their summer must-have is. Bluefly includes instructions on how this contest works, but unfortunately they neglected to tell folks that they had to become a fan in order to write on Bluefly’s wall. I wonder if that’s confusing some folks. Otherwise, this is a cool idea to get email subscribers engaged on another channel.

Lands’ End, 6/30 — Free Shipping + up to 50% off swimwear - 2 days only‏
To stoke engagement on their Facebook page, Lands’ End turns to the tried and true sweepstakes to gain more fans from among their email subscribers. While this may get folks attention, there are better ways to spur conversation.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Lillian Vernon, 6/30 — 4 Days of Huge Deals to Celebrate Independence - Here's Day 1‏
Finish Line, 6/30 — Red, White And Blue--Free Shipping* Just For You!
Newegg, 6/30 — Independence Day Sale! $49.99 Asus Intel G31 Mobo, $59.99 G.SKILL 2GB DDR 400...
Cooking.com, 6/30 — Made in the USA - We pay Uncle Sam!
Coldwater Creek, 6/30 — We're wild about summer jackets (the prints & the price!)‏
Oriental Trading, 6/30 — Splish, splash, save cash. $10 off + free shipping‏
Neiman Marcus, 6/30 — Just push play: Our Contemporary Trunk Show‏
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive

Season Finale: Father's Day 2009

2009-06-30T12:28:00.001-04:00

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

Start to finish: The first reference to Father’s Day was on May 12 by Barnes & Noble. The final reference was on June 22, the day after Father’s Day.

The distribution curve: The biggest day for Father’s Day emails was Sunday, June 14, followed by Sunday, June 7. Retailers sent the majority of their Father’s Day-themed emails after June 8.

Most interesting emails: This June 13 Neiman Marcus really stood out because of its soft-sell approach, appealing to subscribers’ feeling toward their fathers rather than a discount. The black-and-white treatment adds to the sentimentality and timelessness of the moment, and gives them an older feel, which probably appeals to their older customer base. I imagine that these are photos of NM staff members’ fathers.

This May 28 email from Orvis is a solid example of messaging aimed at presenting a variety of gift paths—from a number of product categories and personalized gifts to an experiential gift of fly fishing school.

Home Depot does a good job of working lots of elements into this May 28 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.

Most bizarre email: There were many retailers that mixed Father’s Day and graduation messaging, a well-established “dads and grads” tradition. But you have to be careful when changing the language associated with various images. In this June 9 email, Office Depot pairs Father’s Day messaging with a graduation message. Presumably, at some point the language referenced both Father’s Day and graduation.

Standout subject lines:
Hallmark, 6/17 — Father's Day is Sunday! Get great ideas for Dad!!‏
NFLshop, 6/15 — Guaranteed Delivery for Father's Day + Great Gift Ideas‏
Neiman Marcus, 6/13 — FATHER'S DAY is June 21 + Free online shipping at ANY PRICE‏
Orvis, 6/8 — Free Shipping - We make it easy to find the perfect Father's Day gift.‏
Saks Fifth Avenue, 6/8 — Father's Day Best Sellers‏
Sports Authority, 6/7 — Father's Day Gift Center + $10 Off Your $50 Purchase‏
Costco, 6/6 — Celebrate Dad and Make Lasting Memories!‏
Home Depot, 5/28 — Make Dad Happy and Save!‏
Saks Fifth Avenue, 5/29 — Gift Ideas for Every Dad‏

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

Explore Father’s Day tag.
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: List hygiene and preference updates ahead of holidays

2009-06-30T10:00:00.001-04:00

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, 6/29 — Adjust Your Fashion Attitude + Summer Sale‏
In the months ahead we’ll be seeing many more messages like this one asking subscribers to update their account information to ensure that fall and Christmas catalogs get to the right address and that emails are heading to the most current addresses. We’ll also see retailers asking subscribers to update their preferences to ensure that their emails are the most relevant going into the holiday season.

Diamond.com, 6/29 — First Lady Inspired Style - 20% OFF Plus Free Shipping‏
With the 4th of July in a few days, it seems like an appropriate time to hook an email to the President or First Lady. Michelle Obama has become a well-established fashion plate by all the fashion and celebrity magazines, so playing off that in emails like this makes sense. While a picture of the First Lady would have made sense here, the other thing that was a bit confusing was that the “know more” call-to-action links to a kind of junky looking blog that doesn’t carry any Diamond.com branding but does have links to sister brand Ice.com. I found myself confused about the relationship between Diamond.com and the blog.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
1800Flowers, 6/29 — Celebrate the Fourth with gifts starting at $24.99!‏
Cooking.com, 6/29 — Recipes for Fourth: Stuffed Burgers, Grilled Veggies + Frozen Chocolate Desserts‏
Coldwater Creek, 6/29 — Catch the spirit! Shop our TOP stars of summer‏
Hanna Andersson, 6/29 — Take A Sneak Peek At New Fall Backpacks!‏
Home Depot, 6/29 — New Lower Prices on Summer Essentials‏
Alloy, 6/29 — Best of Summer: Up to 30% Off + Free Shipping‏
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: If two nav bars are better than one, then three…

2009-06-29T10:19:00.001-04:00

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

Old Navy, 6/26 — New Arrivals $10 & Up, Plus $5 Swim & Shorts for the Family‏
How effective does Old Navy think navigation bars are? So effective that they’ve put the same nav bar in this email three times—once below the header, again in the primary message, and finally once more in the secondary message. I particularly like the arrow head on that last one. It’s like the caret so often used at the end of calls-to-action; it strengthens the signal to “click here.” For more on email navigation, download Email Navigation Differs Radically from Website Navigation for free.

HSN, 6/28 — Customer Picks: Top-Rated Favorites‏
HSN has redesigned their header and navigation bar. Besides updating the branding to match their website, they’ve made better use of the whitespace in their header so that the new header is about 25% shorter than their old one. That will allow more of the primary message to be displayed in the preview pane. The nav bar links are the same, but HSN has changed the color to white text on blue. Unfortunately, the nav links are graphical text instead of HTML text floated over a blue background color. Here’s their new header and nav:

And here’s the old header and nav from a June 20 email:

REI, 6/26 — REI Summer Sale and Clearance on Now‏
REI has added icons to their “click to view” links. I don’t believe I’ve seen any of the other retailers I track doing that. Icons and buttons tend to add visibility to links, so I wonder if more folks will click on those links, giving them a better idea of the percentage of subscribers who are viewing their emails on mobile devices and with images off.

Saks Fifth Avenue, 6/26 — Amazing Digital Albums, Frames, & More‏
Some products scream for animated gif treatments. Digital photo frames are definitely one of those.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Sports Authority, 6/28 — 4th of July Celebration: $25 Off $100 Order + Summertime Deals‏
Cabela’s, 6/27 — 4th of July Sale @ Cabelas.com‏
Office Depot, 6/26 — 4th of July Blowout. Plus 2-Day Coupon‏
HPshopping, 6/28 — HP's Fourth of July Sale STARTS NOW!
Toys “R” Us, 6/26 — Summer's Here! Enjoy Big Fun and Big Savings at Toys"R"Us‏
Lands’ End, 6/26 — Up to 40% off Summer Sale Favorites + Free Shipping‏
JC Whitney, 6/26 — Jump Start Summer Free Shipping Plus $30 Off!‏
Neiman Marcus, 6/28 — FALL PREVIEW: The best of runways first‏
eBags, 6/28 — Is it wrong to love bags this much?
Musician’s Friend, 6/27 — Musician's Friend: Announcing Used Gear! Up To 60% Off MSRP‏
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive

Week-End Trends: 4th of July references to explode

2009-06-27T11:30:00.000-04:00

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index fell 6% to 241 during the week ending June 26, 2009, and is on par with 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 15% (moving 4-week average versus comparable 4-week moving average last year).

The Retail Email Participation Rate: In a rare occurrence, Monday was the most popular day to send retail emails last week.

The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: The 4th of July will mentioned in about one-third of retail emails this week. Also, references to back to school should pick up this week and will be the dominant seasonal reference for the remainder of the summer.

Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Independence Day (7/4): 4th of July 2008 Season Finale
Back to school (June-Sept.): Back to School 2008 Season Finale
Labor Day (9/7): Labor Day 2008 Season Finale
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive

Ping Time: FixOutlook, email-social integration, etc.

2009-06-26T18:07:00.000-04:00

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

>>The Email Standards Project is trying to send a message to Microsoft that it REALLY needs to fix Outlook with its new FixOutlook initiative. Support this effort. >>Follow the parade of marketers supporting HTML and CSS standards

>>And here’s Microsoft’s arrogant response to the Email Standards Project’s FixOutlook initiative. (They’re so interested in what the email community has to say that they’ve cut off comments.) >>Follow the ping

>>The Email Experience Council’s Email Design Roundtable members share a discussion of how to integrate email and social media. >>Follow the ping

>>Anna Yeaman of Style Campaign discusses how to add 360 views of products to emails. >>Follow the ping

>>Kelly Lorenz of Bronto Software correctly advises us to not send opt-out confirmation emails. >>Follow the ping

>>In my latest Email Insider column, I discuss the fall of direct mail and the rise of social media and the effects those will have on email marketing. >>Follow the ping
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: Firing off a list of benefits

2009-06-26T15:55:00.001-04:00

AM Inbox: Buy.com returns with another Tweet n Seek game

2009-06-25T13:09:00.000-04:00

Executive Series on Email Marketing: How Email Marketing Is Different from Direct Mail. Download this free report 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:

Buy.com, 6/24 — Hurry - Buy.com's Tweet n Seek II is On Now‏
After debuting their Tweet n Seek game at the end of last month (see May 28 AM Inbox), Buy.com returns with a new Tweet n Seek, which it promoted in this email. This time around a lot more gifts are being offered, with the list of prizes dominating this email much more than the last. The email design could benefit greatly from a button directing folks to the contest rules and to Buy.com’s Twitter stream, which you’re required to follow to participate in the game. The current design doesn’t give subscribers much direction and seems more informative than directive. As before, the game promises to take you on a hunt for answers that will take you to buy.com and other websites. It’s a very clever way of engaging subscribers across multiple digital channels and exposing them to several popular products and tools.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Linens ’n Things, 6/24 — Are You Ready for the 4th? Save up to 88%
Cabela’s, 6/24 — 4th of July Sale @ Cabelas.com‏
AbeBooks, 6/24 — Best of the Summer Reading Lists‏
Fingerhut, 6/24 — Fingerhut: Save 10% + Stay Cool with Home Cooling Products‏
Ann Taylor, 6/24 — Jewelry & Sunglasses: 30% Off + Save up to 60% Off during the Semi-Annual Sale‏
L.L. Bean, 6/24 — Start Packing: Summer Vacation Favorites from $19.95‏
Lands’ End, 6/24 — 2 days only: 40% off Beach Living Swimwear + Free Shipping‏
Norm Thompson, 6/24 — The envelope, please! See what you've won...‏
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: Color swatch treatments

2009-06-24T10:03:00.000-04:00

AM Inbox: The style quiz that wasn't

2009-06-23T10:08:00.001-04:00

Executive Series on Email Marketing: How Email Marketing Is Different from Direct Mail. Download this free report 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:

The Company Store, 6/22 — Save on Sheets & Much More - Summer White Sale‏
I’ve been researching polls in emails for a client for the past few days so I got excited when I saw this email. But my excitement quickly ebbed when I discovered it wasn’t a poll after all. It was just copy that linked to a landing page for their White Sale. This was a big missed opportunity. Not only could they have linked to individual landing pages for the three style choices, which would have provided easier browsing and likely boosted conversion rates, but they also missed the opportunity to collect preference data that could have been used for a triggered email featuring the chosen style, future segmentation for hero images, or dynamic content in future emails.

Omaha Steaks, 6/22 — Want 74% Savings PLUS Free Burgers, Free Cutlery and Free Cutting Board? Just open this...
Omaha Steaks promoted a true “style” quiz in this email, with the landing page asking 10 questions to determine what cut of steak is best for you. I question the science behind this quiz, but it was still interesting and I’m sure lots of subscribers took the quiz just for the heck of it. Other style quizzes include Oriental Trading’s Duck Personality Quiz (see Apr. 27 AM Inbox) and most notably Spiegel’s Signature Style Quiz (see March 17, 2008 AM Inbox). The question now is whether Omaha Steaks leverages the results of these quizzes in future emails.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Orvis, 6/22 — 25 patriotic styles to show your colors this 4th of July.
Hanna Andersson, 6/22 — New! Save On Stars And Stripes For Babies, Girls And Boys!
Cooking.com, 6/22 — Quick Fourth of July Recipes: Potato Salads, Corn Salads + Bean Salads‏
Bluefly, 6/22 — EXTRA 10% OFF Everything - Summer's Officially Here!
J. Crew, 6/22 — NEW ARRIVALS: love them...need them...can't resist them (+ free shipping)
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive

Executive Series on Email Marketing: How Email Marketing Is Different from Direct Mail

2009-06-22T10:46:00.002-04:00

The knowledge and expertise needed to succeed at email marketing is significantly different from what’s needed to excel at direct mail and online marketing.

The third installment in our Executive Series on Email Marketing, “How Email Marketing Is Different from Direct Mail,” helps you make this case to executives who may not fully understand the email channel. The one-page issue explores four critical ways that email and direct mail are different 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 “How Email Marketing Is Different from Direct Mail” from Smith-Harmon’s Research Library for free.

Other reports available from Smith-Harmon:
Email Design Look Book 2009
Why the Marginal Cost of Sending 1 More Email is Higher than You Think
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
…and you can find even more reports in Smith-Harmon’s Research Library.
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: Petco redesigns emails

2009-06-22T10:15:00.002-04:00

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, 6/19 — PETCO The Summer Sitewide Sale Is Here + FREE Shipping!‏
Petco has redesigned their emails, in addition to changing their sender address. Among the changes: (1) Because of the address change, their preheader text is now three lines instead of two. (2) They’ve made their logo a tad smaller and brought the navigation bar up next to it. (3) Their nav bar is now rendered in HTML text rather than images as it was before. (4) To better delineate the products in the product grid, they’ve added dashed boxes around the price and call-to-action. (5) They’ve softened their calls-to-action, changing them from “Buy Now” to “View Details.” (6) They’ve dropped the logo at the bottom of their emails. And (7) they’ve made their social media bar larger and more prominent.

Here’s the new design (left) and the old design from a May 22 email:

Backcountry, 6/19 — Coupon Ending for 20% Off select brands‏
After not doing a good job of utilizing their preview pane real estate in recent emails (see May 29 AM Inbox), Backcountry does a much better job in this email, using the space to the right of their logo to add urgency by highlighting the expiration date for the coupon in the email. Backcountry used this exact same creative in a June 9 email, but left that space blank.

Oriental Trading, 6/19 — July 4th Finale: Get $3.99 shipping plus a free gift‏
Here’s a nice example of how a preheader message can build and reinforce a subject line. The preheader for the email is: “Order by June 24: $3.99 Shipping + a FREE Gift* Shop now»”.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Sports Authority, 6/21 — 1st Day of Summer Sale - $25 Off $100 Orders All Week Long‏
J&R, 6/20 — Apple Mac® for Dads and Grads!
JCPenney, 6/21 — Happy Dad's Day! Enjoy 40% Off Original Prices, Online Only‏
Ralph Lauren, 6/21 — Happy Father's Day From RalphLauren.com‏
Toys “R” Us, 6/19 — Only 2 Days Left for Super Deals on Disney Bikes, Father's Day Gifts and more!‏
Sports Authority, 6/19 — Father's Day Sale: $25 Off $100 Coupon + Online Gift Certificates Available!‏
Office Depot, 6/19 — 2 Days Left - Get Dad the Perfect Gift. Coupon Enclosed‏
Spiegel, 6/21 — Summer Wedding Ahead? Find Perfect Looks from Just $30 + Pay NOTHING Until October!‏
Bluefly, 6/19 — Eco-Friendly Arm Candy from Matt & Nat!‏
Chadwick’s, 6/19 — 30% off your entire order - first time ever!‏
Sephora, 6/20 — Try Bare Escentuals' #1-selling makeup item‏
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive

Week-End Trends: Father's Day propels Retail Email Index to new YTD high

2009-06-21T13:24:00.000-04:00

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index rose 5% to a year-to-date high of 252 during the week ending June 19, 2009, and is up 2% 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 versus comparable 4-week moving average last year).

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

The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: We had our first reference to the back-to-school season last week. Those references will stay very rare until we get past the 4th of July. Messages targeting Independence Day will build this week and peak next week.

Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Independence Day (7/4): 4th of July 2008 Season Finale
Back to school (June-Sept.): Back to School 2008 Season Finale
Labor Day (9/7): Labor Day 2008 Season Finale
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive

Ping Time: WhichTestWon, Agassi Foundation makeover, etc.

2009-06-19T14:56:00.000-04:00

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

>>Anne Holland has launched a new site that challenges you to determine which design in an A/B test won. >>Follow the ping

>>Chris Frasier and Rachael Anderson of BlueHornet discuss some of the key successes of the eec’s work with the Andre Agassi Foundation, including their newsletter redesign, which Smith-Harmon did. >>Follow the ping

>>Stefan Pollard of Responsys writes that changes at Yahoo Mail are boosting the imperative to get your sender address added to your subscribers’ address books. >>Follow the ping

>>John Caldwell debunks five email marketing urban myths about spam filters. >>Follow the alligators in the sewer

>>StrongMail releases a survey showing that social media is being claimed by direct marketers rather than public relations and other departments. >>Follow the ping

>>John Harrison of Yesmail shares a win-back email from Timberland. >>Follow the ping

>>In my latest Email Insider column, I discuss the failing I’m seeing in nailing down the first and last miles of email design: the preview pane and landing page. >>Follow the ping
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: Know who you're speaking to

2009-06-19T13:16:00.000-04:00

AM Inbox: First back to school reference

2009-06-18T13:57:00.001-04:00

AM Inbox: Short-form story-telling in email

2009-06-17T14:16:00.000-04:00

>>The Email Design Look Book: Examples of Outstanding Email Design and Copy. Download this free report 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:

Neiman Marcus, 6/15 — What do pizza, origami, and TANO bags have in common?
After highlighting some nice long-form story-telling by Drs. Foster & Smith in yesterday’s AM Inbox, here’s a nice example of short-form story-telling around a product from Neiman Marcus. Just because inbox attention spans are short doesn’t mean that there’s no opportunity to capture subscribers’ attentions with a quick story that adds depth to a product. Neiman Marcus has been featuring quotes from designers in many of their emails this year and I think it’s been very effective at bringing the personality and authoritative voice of those designers forward, as well as highlighting the access that Neiman Marcus has. Featuring these blurbs by designers also gives their emails a little bit of a fashion magazine vibe. Do you have opportunities to be the conduit for the authoritative voice of your product designers and suppliers?

Omaha Steaks, 6/16 — $0.00 SHIPPING plus 4 FREE Steaks and 56% Savings - ENDS TODAY‏
People read from left to right so be careful about where you’re placing your copy. This is of extra concern if your emails are wider than the recommended 600 to 700 pixels (see Soon Even More Emails Won’t Be Optimized for Width). For instance, in this Omaha Steaks email, which is 750 pixels wide, they place a Father’s Day reminder in a dot-whack in the upper right-hand corner. In that position it’s less likely to be seen.

However, if you move it to the left—as it is in the mockup below—it’s suddenly much more apparent. If you have doubts about the placement of copy, it’s an easy thing to run an A/B test on to confirm the optimal placement for your subscribers.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Brookstone, 6/15 — Last Day for Free Shipping Sitewide—Shop our Top Father's Day Gifts!
RedEnvelope, 6/16 — Final day to save with Standard Shipping rates + 20% off for Dad
Kmart, 6/16 — Last-Minute Gift Savings for Dad and Two $5 Coupons‏
Barnes & Noble, 6/15 — This Week -- Coupons, Last-Minute Father's Day Gifts, More‏
NFLshop, 6/15 — Guaranteed Delivery for Father's Day + Great Gift Ideas‏
1800Flowers, 6/16 — Free Shipping Upgrade for Father’s Day! Limited Time Only!
Lands’ End, 6/16 — Extended: Fast Free Shipping for Father's Day + up to 50% off swim‏
Harry & David, 6/16 — FREE Father's Day Delivery on featured gifts!
Omaha Steaks, 6/15 — Father's Day Recipes for Beer-Cooked Mains + Krups Beer Tender Savings‏
Sears, 6/15 — Save On All Tools and Appliances. Plus Great Gifts For Dad.‏
Hanna Andersson, 6/15 — New Splash Landing - Swimwear Just Added To Our Sale!
Lands’ End, 6/15 — Click, save, swim: half off + Free Shipping ends today‏
Nordstrom, 6/15 — Everyday Sandals Get Sophisticated‏
Bed Bath & Beyond, 6/16 — Outdoor living. Everything for your pool, patio or deck.
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: The footer isn't dead space

2009-06-16T16:57:00.000-04:00

>>The Email Design Look Book: Examples of Outstanding Email Design and Copy. Download this free report 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:

Sears, 6/12 — Super Saturday Sale Plus Doorbusters Start at 9am‏
Sears has added an announcement to the end of their email about their new MySears community. (Kmart had a similar link to the MyKmart community.) The new community features product reviews, buying guides and discussion boards. Besides the fact that Sears has launched this social site, the placement of the link is also interesting. As much as I talk about optimizing for preview panes, some subscribers do actually scroll to the bottom of your emails. For those that do, give them something interesting to click on. Images stand out particularly well among the footer text, as you can see in this Sears email. In addition to the link to MySears, Sears has been including EnergyStar and LiveGreener logos that link to those product categories for a while now. While these links probably don’t generate many sales, it too minimal effort to add those links to the template.

Urban Outfitters, 6/12 — FREE SHIPPING!
Urban Outfitters is engaging the fashion blogging community by giving them clothing and featuring them in this email and on their site. I like how they’re being above board with it and not trying to secretly influence bloggers. Bloggers and people with large Twitter followings can be big social influencers for your brand. Are you doing enough to target and reach out to these individuals?

Sephora, 6/12 — 6 new beauty inventions‏
Sephora includes a call-to-action in this email that allows subscribers to be emailed when Urban Decay’s new Complexion Primer Potion debuts in stores. While I’ve seen plenty of instances on websites where the retailer offers to email you when a product launches, this may be the first time I’ve seen that service brought forward into an email.

Sam’s Club, 6/14 — Celebrate July 4th Savings at Sam's Club‏
Sam’s Club has notified subscribers that they are making upgrades to their newsletter system and that their preferences won’t be active during the upgrade.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Lillian Vernon, 6/12 — 4th of July Product Blowout Sale! Save Over 80%
Sam’s Club, 6/14 — Celebrate July 4th Savings at Sam's Club‏
Ralph Lauren, 6/14 — IT'S FLAG DAY: Show Your Pride With Flag Polos‏
Office Depot, 6/12 — The Dads and Grads Sale You've Been Waiting...Starts Sunday‏
Linens ’n Things, 6/14 — Two Days Left to Save on Dads 'n Grads‏
Kohl’s, 6/14 — LAST DAY to get it there for free by Father's Day!
eBags, 6/14 — Final Day for Father’s Day Delivery‏
Cabela’s, 6/13 — Ends Tuesday! $5 Shipping for Father's Day @ Cabelas.com‏
Orvis, 6/12 — There's still time to give Dad the perfect gift.‏
Sports Authority, 6/14 — Save $25 Off $100 on Father's Day Gifts + Guaranteed Delivery‏
Harry & David, 6/14 — Delicious gifts for your hero - FREE Express Upgrade for Father's Day arrival!‏
Kmart, 6/12 — Transform Your Dad with Savings on Grills, Tents, Workboots and More‏
Neiman Marcus, 6/13 — FATHER'S DAY is June 21 + Free online shipping at ANY PRICE‏
Saks Fifth Avenue, 6/13 — Polos Dad will love‏
Diamond.com, 6/14 — Father's Day Sale Reminder - Save Up to 71% Plus Free Shipping‏
RitzCamera, 6/14 — Gifts for Dad, Free Shipping over $100 & No Sales Tax‏
BabyUniverse, 6/12 — Make travel easier for Dad!
Sports Authority, 6/14 — LA Lakers are 2009 NBA Champions - Get Your Champs Gear!
HSN, 6/14 — HSN Top Searches: Your Most Sought-After Items & Stores‏‏
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: Show don't tell at its finest

2009-06-15T18:52:00.000-04:00

>>The Email Design Look Book: Examples of Outstanding Email Design and Copy. Download this free report 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:

Drs. Foster & Smith, 6/10 — "Pet Tails" - Stories from our Clinic‏
After seeing that educational content can actually boost the power of promotional content when the educational content is put first (see MarketingSherpa case study), Drs. Foster & Smith have launched “Pet Tails,” which are educational stories from their clinic. If the rest of the stories follow the format of this first one, then the moral of each story will be tied directly to a product or product category. Drs. Foster & Smith’s story approach makes a more emotional case for buying the product and is more genuine because of its real world nature. Saying you should by heartworm medication for your dog doesn’t have nearly the same impact as conveying a real world case where a lack of diligence with giving a dog their medicine resulted in several visits to the vet and mortal risks to the pet.

ShopNBC, 6/10 — ShopNBC is everywhere. Connect with us in new and exciting ways.
ShopNBC dedicates an entire email to promoting other ways for subscribers to interact with them. It’s a straightforward presentation of the options, but they probably made it too clean and simple. They could have done a better job of explaining the unique benefits of each channel. For instance, what does their iPhone app do? Relegating that to the landing page may have lightened the sales pitch too much. You could certainly A/B test a version like this and one that explains the channels more fully with some quick bullets.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Linens ’n Things, 6/10 — Shop for Dads 'n Grads: 10% Coupon Enclosed‏
Ralph Lauren, 6/11 — LAST DAY To Receive Free Shipping For Father's Day‏
Bass Pro Shops, 6/10 — Last Minute Gift Ideas for Dad‏
eBags, 6/11 — 3 Days Left for Father’s Day Delivery + Bonus Savings‏
Barnes & Noble, 6/11 — 4 Days Only -- 40% Off Father's Day Savings Event‏
Walgreens, 6/10 — Save 33% on Gifts for Dad: 4 Days Only‏
Buy.com, 6/10 — Father's Day Gift Guide: LG Bluetooth Headset $14.99, Air Purifier $26.99, Deluxe Tote $24.99,..
Harry & David, 6/10 — Special gifts for Father's Day - Delivered FREE!
Williams-Sonoma, 6/10 — Great Grilling Gifts for Dad: Under $50‏
Cabela’s, 6/10 — $5 Shipping for Father's Day @ Cabelas.com‏
1800Flowers, 6/10 — 20% Sitewide Savings for Every Dad and Everyone Else on your List!
Finish Line, 6/10 — Free Shipping On Great Styles For Your Dad!
Eddie Bauer, 6/11 — Great Savings On Wrinkle-Resistant Styles For Dad‏
Macy’s, 6/11 — Give dad a piece of New York baseball history!‏
Harry & David, 6/11 — Juicy gifts for Father's Day - delivered FREE!
Home Depot, 6/11 — 10% Off Appliances + Hurry for Father's Day Gifts‏
J&R, 6/11 — Joe's Father's Day Picks‏
RedEnvelope, 6/11 — Father's Day Email Exclusive Pricing AND 25% Off
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive

Email Design Look Book 2009

2009-06-15T11:15:00.001-04:00

The Smith-Harmon team reads tens of thousands of emails each year to stay current on trends and gather new ideas to give our clients an edge in the inbox. We’ve assembled 20 B2C emails from the past year that really stood out in the minds of our staffers and compiled them into the first annual Email Design Look Book.

Highlighting innovative designs and superior copywriting, the Look Book includes a screenshot of each featured email, plus a commentary from a Smith-Harmon designer, copywriter, account manager or executive on what makes the message stand out.

Our hope is that this email compilation will inspire you as you plan your future email campaigns.

The 2009 Email Design Look Book features promotional and triggered emails from Adidas, American Eagle Outfitters, Anthropologie, Apple, Benefit Cosmetics, Betty Crocker, Bluefly, Coach, Crate & Barrel, FontShop, Giggle, HPshopping, J. Crew, Johnnie Boden, Kate Spade, Neiman Marcus, PB Teen, Sephora, Tommy Bahama, and Urban Outfitters.

>>Download the “Email Design Look Book” from Smith-Harmon’s Research Library for free.

Other reports available from Smith-Harmon:
Why the Marginal Cost of Sending 1 More Email is Higher than You Think
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
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive

The Retail Email Blog turns 3 years old!

2009-06-15T10:15:00.001-04:00

On June 15, 2006, the first AM Inbox post debuted and the Retail Email Blog as you know it was born. Since then I’ve collected data on more than 31,000 retail emails and published more than 1,170 posts—all of which are thoroughly tagged by post category, selling season, retailer and topic, making it easy to mine past content.

I sincerely hope that you’ve enjoyed all the content and that it has helped you plan your campaigns, inspired you to try to tactics, and given you ammo to justify email program changes and redesigns. I’m truly thankful for your readership and your kind words of support and appreciation throughout the year.

This past year brought two significant changes:

First, I joined Twitter under @RetailEmailBlog. In addition to giving me a way to share tidbits that didn’t warrant a blog post or were slightly outside of the scope of my blog, Twitter allowed me to take part in some great conversations. I turned some of those conversations into Bird Watching posts, making them easier to follow. Other conversations gave me ideas for posts and research projects. If you’re not on Twitter yet, I recommend trying it out.

Second—and more importantly—I joined email marketing agency Smith-Harmon. For me, it means that I get to work with some extremely talented designers, copywriters and coders, and some great clients like Alaska Airlines, REI, Shutterfly, Williams-Sonoma and Yahoo. For you, it means that all of my latest research reports are available for free in Smith-Harmon’s Research Library. I hope that you’ll check them out and stay tuned for more reports, including the always popular Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season, which will be released in August.

Thanks again for your support. I look forward to continuing the conversation for another year.
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive