Retailers miss opportunities to grow e-mail address lists, says Forrester
Growing the address list address is the most challenging aspect of e-mail marketing, according to recent findings from Forrester Research Inc. But it doesn’t have to be as difficult if marketers get better at mining list-building opportunities on sites, in stores, and in call centers, the research firm concludes.
In a recent report, “Growing your retail e-mail list,” Forrester contends that sites should actively merchandise their e-mail programs. In a survey of 20 retail sites, it found that while all showed an e-mail sign-up field or promotional message on the home page, many placed the links low on the page and identified them only with generic, non-promotional language. And only 50% allowed consumers to select specific types or frequencies of e-mails. Sites looking to build their lists through such programs would do better to take measures such as promoting the benefits of e-mail sign-up, showing e-mail samples before sign-up and adding e-mail subscription opportunities to every page, Forrester says.
While more than 80% of retailers surveyed said their POS systems can collect customer information and 77% say store associates collect e-mail addresses, Forrester’s observations suggest otherwise. To build the e-mail list from within the store, Forrester says, associates must actively promote the e-mail program and get credit for every address collected. Using in-store kiosks can make it easier for customers to sign up, and contests for store associates provide incentives to collect e-mail addresses, Forrester notes.
Based on data from Shop.Org’s “The State of Online Retailing 7.0,” Forrester says only 50% of the customer service representatives at catalog retailer call centers actively collect e-mail addresses during customer contacts. To boost that number, retailers should make sure all call center reps, not just those that are web-dedicated, understand e-mail newsletters and programs and see all that go out on any regular basis, Forrester suggests. Configuring the reps’ data entry screen to remind reps to update customer e-mail information and make it easier to enter the data is another best practice identified by Forrester.
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