by Rachel Fielding
First Published on www.mycustomer.com
United Kingdom - The UK’s top etailers are struggling to engage customers with dynamic and relevant content, and a fifth of online retailers fail to communicate with customers over email at all, even after they have actively signed up to receive emails.
The analysis of websites from the top 50 online retailers in the UK by Responsys, a provider of email and cross-channel marketing solutions, also found that 78% of etailers do not personalise emails, and struggle to engage customers with dynamic and relevant content.
Despite the hype among marketers to target customers with information based on their preferences and previous interactions with a brand, only 8% of retailers target customers according to gender and just 12% make recommendations based on location.
Less than a quarter send emails that respond to individual customer behaviour such as abandoning shopping carts or browsing the website. Instead, in an effort to provide customers with timely information, two thirds of online retailers link emails to upcoming offers or brand events, and a further 14% use bank holidays and national events as a hook.
And although 20% of those companies analysed fail to communicate with customers over email at all, even after they have actively signed up to receive emails, a similar proportion (22%) are frequent mailers; sending emails out every 3 to 5 days. Over a third send weekly updates.
Simon Robinson, senior director of marketing and alliances at Responsys EMEA, said: “The results of this study highlight that with more channels than ever before, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for marketers to gain a single customer view.
“To target customers successfully, cross-channel marketers need to segment them and provide relevant content linked to their past interactions with the brand. This means that eTailers need the ability to collate insight about customers across the different channels in order to deliver dynamic and targeted content designed to drive sales and increase brand advocacy,” Robinson added.
The study highlighted growing emphasis on cross-channel marketing, with brands using email to drive traffic to other interactive channels such as social, mobile and the web. Almost a half of retailers now include social media links in emails, a fifth include a mobile element, and 20% encourage users to share content by forwarding emails to a friend.
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