Study: One-fifth of emails never hit shopper inboxes

With 20% of emails being filtered into spam folders, retail marketers are missing out on the opportunity to drive an ROI from email.



This was according to “2017 Deliverability Benchmark Report,” a study from data solutions provider Return Path. The report analyzed 2 billion brand emails.



According to the study, just 80% of email is delivered to the inbox, while the remainder is diverted to spam folders or gets blocked altogether. While this is consistent with the company’s 2016 and 2015 benchmarks, which reported a 79% global inbox placement rate, these filtered messages still keep marketers from driving meaningful revenue from the email channel.



Email marketers in the United States saw the lowest inbox placement of any country analyzed, with just 77% of messages reaching subscribers. On a positive note, this is a jump from 73% in 2016.



Meanwhile, Canadian marketers achieved one of the highest inbox placement rates in this study, with an average of 90%. For the second year in a row, Australian marketers maintained average inbox placement of 90% — tying with Canada for the best result in the study.



Marketers in European countries generally exceeded the global inbox placement rate, with averages of 82% (France and Spain) and 84% (UK). Of the European countries studied, only Germany fell slightly below the global average with 79% inbox placement, data revealed.



Looking at inbox placement by industry, the best results were found in sectors with strong account-based consumer relationships, such as banking & finance (94%), distribution & manufacturing (92%), and travel (90%).



When analyzing the retail category, clothing/apparel marketers find it hardest to connect with consumers. These marketers saw an inbox placement rate of 85%, compared to 93% the previous year.



“Email remains the most popular and effective channel available to marketers, so it’s more important than ever to get it right. If your emails aren’t reaching the inbox, you’re missing out on an opportunity to build relationships and generate ROI,” said Return Path president George Bilbrey. “But email filtering continues to evolve, as mailbox providers apply increasingly sophisticated algorithms to deliver only the content their users truly want.”