Email volume up 13% over 2013 holidays

By now, we've all heard about the strong sales - both online and off - that helped retailers make their 2013 revenue goals. New data from Experian Marketing Services indicates some of those spending growth may have been helped along by email.

by Kristina Knight

Cross channel marketing, improved data quality and enhanced targeting. Those email targeting options, according to new data from Experian Marketing Services, helped brands create a strong holiday shopping season. Experian data shows email volume was up 12.8% over the 2013 holidays, and while email click-thrus and transactions were down (2012 vs. 2013) that volume increase helped retailers push 9% more transactions overall.

"Marketers have become more sophisticated in their email marketing strategies, and we're seeing that reflected in the data," noted Peter DeNunzio, general manager, cross-channel marketing, Experian Marketing Services. "Traditionally, as email volume increases, performance decreases, but in the 2013 holiday season we saw the opposite. An increase in total transactions and revenue tells us that leading marketers have found their stride, sending more relevant emails to each customer based on his or her unique needs."

Some interesting findings from the report include:

• November 8 and 15 were two of the Top 10 email transaction days
• Fridays ranked highest for email transactions
• 65% of multi-channel retail emails were opened via mobile devices

"With Thanksgiving late again in 2014, the key lesson for marketers is that there is an opportunity to win early in the season and before the weekend," said DeNunzio.

Image via Shutterstock

Tags: 2013 holiday trends, email marketing, email message, email trends, Experian