Aug 28 2008
EEC: “Cyber Monday” Biggest Day for Email Marketers. For Customers, Not As Much
I must admit, I have a soft spot in my heart for “Cyber Monday,” the Monday following Thanksgiving that is billed as the biggest online shopping day of the year. As a general rule, I think our country could use more holidays whose names sound like they came from the 1992 film “The Lawnmower Man.”
But my personal feelings aside, the Email Experience Council’s latest Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season sheds a little light on what actually happens online immediately after Black Friday. Apparently, Cyber Monday has really caught on…with email marketers.
67% of the retailers tracked by the Retail Email Blog [sent] at least one promotional email on Nov. 26. That was up from 44% of retailers the year before. The jump made Cyber Monday the most popular retail email marketing day of the year, eclipsing the day after Christmas, which was the biggest retail email day in 2006.
Of course, higher email volumes didn’t translate into higher sales this past year, as the EEC points out in its findings. Yes, Cyber Monday may be an unofficial holiday accepted in the business world, but it’s more of a marketing holiday than a shopping one. Don’t despair too much, though, because the EEC has lots of strategic ideas for retailers to improve their holiday mailing performance, including special holiday email series and e-gift cards.
And in case you were wondering, Reve News has a handy list of last year’s top holiday online shopping days so you can witness the magic of “Whopping Web Wednesday” for yourself.
