The vast majority of UK’s top retailers have still to wake up to even the most basic personalisation techniques offered by email marketing, instead opting for a generic, catch-all approach to communications.
According to an eCircle study of the top 50 retailers (by turnover), some 92% of the emails they sent were mobile optimised, yet only 23% used personalised content.
With some companies sending upwards of 16 emails a month containing irrelevant content, eCircle claims this is a missed opportunity which could ultimately prove damaging to a brand’s reputation, influence swings to competitors or prevent them from creating new sales opportunities. Some 84% of retailers send a regular newsletter.
Retailers are clearly failing to collect and use the demographic and behavioural data they hold about their customers and channel it into an effective CRM strategy, with a strong email component at the centre, the report states.
Simon Bowker, country manager for eCircle and Aprimo, said: “As the inbox becomes ever more crowded and the number of communication channels continues to proliferate, personalisation, mobile optimisation and customer experience are becoming increasingly important to both retailers and customers in the rapidly evolving digital market.
“At a time when the high street is witnessing a dramatic decline and online spend is rising, retailers need to recognise and utilise the benefits of email. As new technologies emerge, it’s always assumed that it has to be at the expense of another, but it needn’t be. Email is still in fine health.”
Despite this, a recent report by the DMA claimed that email marketing budgets are set to rise this year – bucking the trend of most DM channels – with brand owners citing the medium’s impressive ROI as the key driver for growth.
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