Holiday recap webinar

transcript

Other product and company names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners. No part of this copyrighted work may be reproduced, modified, or distributed in any

form or manner without the prior written permission of Experian. Experian Public.

February 11, 2016

2015 holiday trends and creative recap

Meet the presenters

David Kepets Creative Director, Client Services

Experian Marketing Services

Liz McLemore Senior Manager, Strategic Services

Experian Marketing Services

Benchmarks Q4 2015 – All Industry

Volume Up 23.4%

Unique

Open Rate Down 4.2%

to 16.4%

Unique

Click Rate Down 12.6%

to 1.9%

Revenue

per Email At 7¢ Vs. 9¢

Benchmarks Q4 2015 – Multichannel Retailers

Volume Up 26.1%

Unique

Open Rate Down 5.4%

to 15.6%

Unique

Click Rate Down 20.8%

to 1.9%

Revenue

per Email At 8¢ Vs. 9¢

Benchmarks Q4 2015 – Rates were down, but actual quantity was up

Unique Opens Unique Clicks Transactions Email Revenue

Higher Volume But sent in fewer mailings

10/4/15 10/11/15 10/18/15 10/25/15 11/1/15 11/8/15 11/15/15 11/22/15 11/29/15 12/6/15 12/13/15 12/20/15 12/27/15

Total Holiday Themed Standard

Max messages sent

by any single brand

per week

0 2,000,000 4,000,000 6,000,000 8,000,000 10,000,000 12,000,000 14,000,000 16,000,000

Visualizing the relationship between volume and open rates shows an inverse relationship (correlation (.29))

The Relationship Between Open Rates & Volume The higher the volume, the lower the open rate

Volume

BLACK FRIDAY

CYBER MONDAY

HOLIDAY THEMES

END OF SEASON

RECOMMENDATIONS

Introduction What are the +/- figures?

40 Brands

27 Clients

Retail only

• Baseline performance for all 40 brands was averaged

• +/- figures represent changes expected from baseline

• Allows every brand to understand effects

BLACK FRIDAY

Highest transaction rate and conversion rates

recorded during Black Friday week

Black Friday increased average relative efficiency

by 79%, compared to 84% LY

24% lift in clicks and 59% increase in conversions,

compared to baseline

Source: Experian Marketing Services

15% 18%

Open Rate Click Rate Session Rate Sessions Per Clicker Transaction Rate Avera Order Value Revenue per Email

Mailing on Black Friday, regardless of mentioning the holiday, did very well Average change per brand compared to brand baseline

Peak Week – Black Friday performance Black Friday was very effective

Versus 84% in 2014

Black Friday Preview

Promote Mobile

We’re Closing

Black Friday

Announced early on

10/26/15

Black Friday

#OPTOUTSIDE

Black Friday

Thank you email sent

Saturday 11/28

Black Friday

CYBER MONDAY

The average campaigns doubled

expected revenue per email.

Cyber Monday has been the top day for email

transactions for the last five holiday seasons

121% lift in transaction rate and 96% increase in

conversions, compared to baseline

Peak Week – Cyber Monday performance Cyber Monday still on top

24% 21%

Open Rate Click Rate Session Rate Sessions Per Clicker Transaction Rate Avera Order Value Revenue per Email

Cyber Monday was again the most effective mailing day of the year Average change per brand compared to brand baseline

Versus 116% in 2014

Cyber Monday

Cyber Week

Moving beyond

Black Friday and

Cyber Monday

Cyber Monday | Green Monday

Highest transactional days tend to cluster around holidays

Wednesdays were the best transaction days outside of the traditional holidays

Opportunities to email on high transaction, low volume days

HOLIDAY THEMES

DISCOUNTING

GIFTING

FLASH SALES

MOBILE

FREE SHIPPING

GIFT CARDS

The share of holiday-mailings fell considerably from last year

► 60% during peak weeks (11/22-12/6) vs 72% LY

Holiday-themed mailings made up 28% fewer total mailings sent than LY

Higher Volume But less of it was holiday-themed

10/4/15 10/11/15 10/18/15 10/25/15 11/1/15 11/8/15 11/15/15 11/22/15 11/29/15 12/6/15 12/13/15 12/20/15 12/27/15

Holiday Standard

Did Holiday Messages Work, Though? Holiday messages seemed to perform well

Revenue per Email

Transaction Rate

Sessions Per Clicker

Session Rate

Click Rate

Open Rate

On average, customers were much more responsive towards Holiday themed mailings Average change per brand compared to brand baseline

Standard Holiday

Discounting

91% of themed messages included discounts

Brands focused primarily on email purchases when

presenting discounts

Did Discounts Work? Some discounts worked better than others

Though % off discounts were spread far & wide, only a few showed consistent positive impact on revenue per email Average change per brand compared to brand baseline by percentage off

$ off discounts were less varied…and decidedly more of a mixed bag

Average change per brand compared to brand baseline by dollar off

Discounting

Moving beyond

Black Friday and

Cyber Monday

Gifting

Gifting was the main theme in 15% of holiday emails,

down 13% from LY

Third most popular element, after apps and coupons

Emails mentioning gifting had 11% lower

revenue per email vs. baseline

Gift Guides

Hits our inbox as early

as mid October

Gift Guides

as mid October

Gift Guides

Rollover options

for each product

Gift Yourself

Flash Sales

Most common theme, featured in over 40% of emails

Transaction rate had a 51% lift compared to baseline

Click rate 25% higher than baseline,

and rev/email was 33%

Flash Sales

Mobile

Mobile app mentioned in nearly a quarter of emails

App focused mailings had 11% higher open and 8%

higher click rate vs. baseline

31% lift in open rate and 24% lift in click rate for

mailings focused on mobile enrollment

Mobile

Free Shipping

Free shipping remains most popular discount

Free Shipping with no qualifier lifts transaction rate

by 66%, and revenue per email by 54%

Little impact on engagement, but definite effect on

revenue related metrics

While the average improvement to transaction rates and revenue per email declined YOY, free shipping remains a significant conversion driver

Transaction Rate

Average Order Value

Revenue per Email

Free shipping continues to be an incredibly effective tactic, though its impact is slightly down from last year Average change per brand compared to brand baseline

With Qualifier No Qualifier

2015 2014 2015 2014

Transaction Rate 18% 29% 30% 53%

Revenue per Email 13% 20% 20% 35%

With Qualifier No Qualifier

Free Shipping = Significant conversion driver

Free Shipping

Gift Cards

Only 5% of themed emails had gift cards

as the main focus

Most gift cards publicized around Christmas

Gift Cards

END OF SEASON

Christmas underperformed compared to baseline,

but stronger than 2014 (-10% relative vs. 28%)

Christmas Eve remained equally as unproductive

(-45% vs. 41% in 2014)

Open Rate

Click Rate

Session Rate

Sessions Per Clicker

Transaction Rate

Average Order Value

Revenue per Email

Average change per brand compared to brand baseline

Christmas Eve Christmas

vs. -28% in 2014 vs. -41% in 2014

Christmas didn’t bring great cheer to email marketers

Happy Holidays!

Thank You

RECOMMENDATIONS

Countdown Clocks

Continue the conversation in 2016

Animation/Kinetic

Countdowns

-20% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%

Revenue per Email

Average Order Value

Transaction Rate

Session Rate

Click Rate

Open Rate

Countdown clocks weren't very popular, but in the rare cases they were used, engagement soared Average change per brand compared to brand baseline

Animations

-5% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Revenue per Email

Average Order Value

Transaction Rate

Session Rate

Click Rate

Mailings that included animation saw significant engagement increases (opens remained flat, as expected) Average change per brand compared to brand baseline

Live Twitter Feed Interactive Menus Rollovers

Kinetic/Interactive Solutions

Accordion Slider/Carousel

How to continue the conversation with your holiday acquired customers

1. Track lifetime value by source

2. Profile your customer demographic and motivations

3. Develop triggers to gain second purchase in first few months

What Does It All Mean? Key takeaways

• Start early! Holiday messages land in the inbox in October

• Black Friday and Cyber Monday are your money makers

• No specific theme is better than others—stay true to your

• Percent-off offers drove the most engagement and revenue

• (but they were also richer, giving up more margin)

• It’s never too early to start planning! Growing a great

program takes time to cultivate and nurture

• Test, test, test

• No one theme or discount will save your brand – do the

legwork throughout the year to create a relationship with your

customer

Other product and company names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners. No part of this copyrighted work may be reproduced, modified, or distributed in any

form or manner without the prior written permission of Experian. Experian Public.

• Redesign

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