E-mail marketing boosts ROI by up to 700% for Shopatron Inc. clients

E-mail campaigns promoting branded manufacturers’ online stores have helped them achieve return-on-investment rates as high as 700% on the campaigns, says Brian Clausen, executive vice president of Shopatron Inc.

Shopatron, a retailer-integrated e-commerce provider, manages a network of more than 300 consumer product manufacturers and 6,000 retailers in 20 industries. Orders placed on the manufacturer’s web site are fulfilled by a participating retailer with the product in stock.

Shopatron earlier this year integrated the Bronto Software Inc. e-mail marketing system into its e-commerce platform, allowing its customers to execute coordinated online marketing strategies around their online stores. Using the Bronto system, Shopatron helps clients publish monthly newsletters, product promotions, seasonal new product introductions, end-of-season close-outs and frequent-buyer incentive programs, Clausen says. Conversion tracking reports help identify the effectiveness of product campaigns so clients can adjust as necessary, he adds.

During the past six months, newsletter programs produced a 26-fold ROI for a toy manufacturer, a five-fold ROI for a power sports manufacturer and a seven-fold ROI for a sporting goods manufacturer, Clausen says.

ROI is calculated by dividing the cost of the e-mail campaign by the online sales generated by the e-mail campaign.

With product promotion campaigns, a product discount campaign produced a 15-fold ROI for a sunglass manufacturer while a free shipping promotion generated a 12-fold ROI for a running shoe manufacturer, Clausen says. A seasonal product promotion produced a 23-fold ROI for a snow sports manufacturer.