Major online US retailers sent a new record average of 4.6 promotional emails during the week ending December 10, 2010, according to according to Chad White, research director at Responsys and author of the Retail Email Blog.
Top online retailers sent each of their subscribers an all-time high of 4.6 promotional emails on average during the week ending December 10, 2010. That’s up 4% week-over-week from 4.4, up 36% from about 3.4 four weeks ago, and up 25% year-over-year from a little more than 3.6.
Promotional Email Volume Up 25% YOY
Holiday retail email volume tends to peak the week prior to the week of Christmas, so White expects email volume to set yet another new all-time high this upcoming week.
Dec. 10 Participation Rate Ties Black Friday
Friday, December 10 was the most popular day to send retail emails last week, with 69% of major online retailers sending at least one email. In fact, the same percentage of retailers sent email last Friday as they did on Black Friday (Nov. 26), putting it in a tie for the second most popular day of the year-to-date to send promotional retail email.
Monday, November 29, 2010, which was Cyber Monday, was the most popular day to send retail emails this year, with 77% of major online retailers participating. It was also the most popular day ever to send retail email, up from the previous record of 71% on Cyber Monday 2009.
Other days last week with high promotional email participation rates included Monday, December 6 (67%) and Wednesday, December 8 (64%).
9 in 10 Promotional Emails Mention Xmas
Ninety percent of promotional retail emails sent last week mentioned Christmas, with no other holiday or event registering a significant rate of mention. New Year’s messaging is expected to pick up the week before Christmas and spike the week after Christmas.
Online Holiday Spending Reaches Almost $22B
In one sign retailers’ heavy use of promotional email may be working, comScore data indicates that between November 1 and December 10, 2010, US shoppers spent slightly more than $21.95 billion online, 12% more than the almost $19.7 billion they spent online during the same period last year. In addition, the most recent week (ending Dec. 10) reached $5.15 billion in online spending, an increase of 11% compared to the $4.6 billion spent online during the corresponding week last year, as two individual days each surpassed $900 million.
Online spending showed healthy growth rates during the traditionally high-volume days of Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 25, up 28%) Black Friday (Nov. 26, up 9%) and Cyber Monday (Nov. 29, up 16%).
