Experian Marketing Services reports multichannel retailers had highest volume gain in Q1 2013

NEW YORK, June 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Overall email volume^[1] increased 11.6 percent in Q1 2013 versus Q1 2012, according to Q1 2013 email benchmark report by Experian Marketing Services , a global provider of integrated consumer insight, targeting and cross channel marketing. The report also found that unique open rates increased 9.7 percent year-over-year in Q1 2013.

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Analyzing the email volume among different industries shows multichannel retailers had the highest gain in volume as 70 percent of brands increased mailings in Q1 2013. Consumer products and services (CPG) had a strong quarter, with almost all metrics matching or ahead of Q1 2012. Other findings include:

• Fifty-nine percent of CPG brands had statistically significant increases in unique clicks in Q1 2013, while 53 percent had statistically significant increases in unique opens.
• More than 63 percent of Media & entertainment brands had statistically significant increases in open rates in Q1 2013.

"With overall email volume increasing nearly 12 percent this past year, coupled with revenue per email remaining steady, the channel is showing strong growth to date in 2013," said Peter DeNunzio, general manager for cross-channel marketing at Experian Marketing Services. "This growth is evidenced in that 51 percent of brands saw increases in transaction rates. Multichannel retailers are receiving the highest gain in volume as consumers are continuing to engage across several channels, demonstrating the need for marketers to deliver consistent experiences to be successful today. Case in point being that more than 50 percent of total email opens occurred on mobile devices for Q1 2013."

E-receipts
In 2012, a new trend in transaction-based emails emerged; the offering of e-receipts. To identify early trends in this growing practice, Experian Marketing Services' e-receipt study looked at 12 brands that regularly deployed e-receipt emails in 2012.

• E-receipts have higher unique open rates than bulk mailings in part because they are triggered at the customer's request.
• Unique click rates are lower for e-receipts, as there are likely to be fewer calls to action or links to click on e-receipts.
• Higher bounce rates for e-receipts may be due to the differences in quality of addresses provided at point of sale. Email addresses collected at point of sale often can be inaccurate due to manual entry or inaccurate information provided by customers.
• In spite of their lower click rates, e-receipts show good potential to generate repeat purchases, as transaction rates were slightly higher than those for bulk mailings. This initial study showed revenue per email of $0.13 cents for e-receipts, compared with $0.09 cents for bulk mailings.

Trend to watch: gift ideas
One trend to watch is the use of the words "gift ideas" in email subject lines.  Use of these words is most popular during the holiday season; however, we have seen an increase in the number of these campaigns sent for Mother's Day and Father's Day.

• For Father's Day, campaigns with "gift ideas" in the subject line had 18 percent higher unique click rates and forty percent higher transaction rates than other Father's Day emails.
• During the Christmas season, "gift ideas" email campaigns for beauty, flowers, and gift brands had more than 24 percent higher transaction rates and revenue per email than other holiday mailings.

The full Experian Marketing Services Q1 2013 email benchmark report is available to download. 

Read about additional digital marketing trends in our 2013 Digital Marketer Report.

About Experian Marketing Services
Experian Marketing Services is a global provider of integrated consumer insight and targeting, data quality and cross-channel marketing. We help organizations from around the world intelligently interact with today's dynamic, empowered and hyperconnected customers. By coordinating seamless interactions across all marketing channels, marketers are able to plan and execute superior brand experiences that deepen customer loyalty, strengthen brand advocacy and maximize profits.

For more information, please visit http://www.experian.com/marketingservices.

About Experian
Experian is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients around the world. The Group helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score, and protect against identity theft.

Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended 31 March 2013 was US$4.7 billion. Experian employs approximately 17,000 people in 40 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; California, US; and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

For more information, visit http://www.experianplc.com.

Experian and the Experian marks used herein are service marks or registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

[1] Email volume is defined as mail sent from our clients or promotional email

Contact:
Matt Tatham
Experian Marketing Services Public Relations
1 212 380 2939
[email protected]

SOURCE Experian Marketing Services