Retailers failing to use email marketing effectively study finds
Retailers are apparently failing to properly utilise their data as they adopt a ‘one size fits all’ approach with their email marketing, research has revealed, with only Amazon found to follow up with a tailored post purchase email.
According to research carried out by dotMailer, the majority of retailers in the UK are reducing the accuracy of their communications, with 87% failing to post-sale targeted email marketing.
As a result retail brands are adopting a general approach and are likely to experience lower conversion rates the company has claimed. Meanwhile, the Hitting the Mark report has also found that retailers such as Republic and Amazon are able to achieve a better rate of return on investment through using the marketing channel through using it correctly.
69% of emails were found to have no presonalisation at all, while 87% of messages sent after a purchase, were found to be no different from emails to cold prospects.
The study also found that retailers were apparently making no attempt to cross-sell, up-sell or repeat purchase based on online consumer behaviour, while 13% of emails were customised based on the gender of the recipient.
Only Amazon was found to follow up an online purchase with an email marketing message tailored to that purchase.
Despite this, 93% of retailers use trigger emails following purchase, while 67% kept online purchasers informed of their order’s progress through email.
Tink Taylor, managing director at dotMailer, commented: “By their nature, online sellers should have access to customer data that can allow them to dramatically increase the relevancy and impact of their email marketing communications with customers. In this tough economic climate, marketers who are not actively collecting and using that data to create targeted email messages that drive related sales are really missing a trick.”