More email in 2016 holiday forecast

If this past holiday season was any indication, American consumers can expect to receive even more email from retailers in the coming year as improved targeting has increased the efficacy of the marketing tactic.



Email volume rose 24.8% during the 2015 holiday season compared to 2014, across all-industry verticals, according to Experian Marketing Services, and there was a corresponding increase in the number of email opens, clicks and transactions. Unique email opens increased 19%, unique email clicks increased 10% and email transactions increased 20%. The year over year increase for multichannel retailers was even higher at 27.5%.



“As retailers find more ways to incorporate data to create more personalized and relevant emails, we are seeing both volume and transactions increase,” said Spencer Kollas, VP of global deliverability services at Experian Marketing Services. “The 2015 holiday season showed us once again that marketers are still finding email to be a valuable way to increase sales.”



Experian released a report called the Holiday Hot Sheet: Insights for the Holiday Marketer, which included details or retailers use of email in what proved to be a challenging holiday season. Some of the key finding included:



• 90% of retail email campaigns during the 2015 holiday season included an offer. Free shipping was the most common at 65%, followed by percent off at 59%. The percent-off email offers featuring coupons or codes increased from 34% to 40% in 2015, allowing more tracking of responses.



• Mobile gained ground with the percent of email clicks received on a mobile device from retailers during the peak of the holiday season growing 7%. In addition, SMS messaging continued to be an emphasis. 88% of text messages included an offer with 55% of text messages including some percent off.



• Cyber Monday rules as the top email volume and transaction day. Although Thanksgiving Day unseated Cyber Monday as the top online shopping day, Experian Marketing Services research shows that Cyber Monday retained its rank as the top email volume and transaction date.