E-mail growth slows, but there’s no let up on volume, eMarketer says

The growth rate is going to slow, but the number of e-mail messages will continue to boom in the U.S., reaching 2.7 trillion-with a “tr”-in 2007, says a new report from researchers eMarketer Inc. EMarketer expects e-mail messages to number 1.8 trillion this year. E-mail volume exceeded 1 trillion in 2001, eMarketer says.

Since that time, the rate of growth has slowed, but is still healthily in the double digits, eMarketer says. E-mail volume grew 19.8% in 2001 over 2000, 18.3% in 2002, 16% in 2003 and will grow 15.4% this year, eMarketer says in its E-Mail Marketing Report, just released. In 2007, growth will reach 13.5%. That’s a compound growth rate of 14.6% from 2001 to 2007.

"E-mail is a way for companies to get closer to their customers, at least those customers who give permission,” says David Hallerman, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the report. “Research from Intelliseek shows that 66% of consumers trust e-mail they signed up for, while 95% distrust e-mail they did not sign up for."