eBags plans a reward for its fastest shippers—product promotion

Looking for ways to promote last-minute shopping while minimizing the risk of customers’ not receiving their orders, eBags is evaluating the performance of its drop shippers so it can feature the 25 fastest-shipping brands in a last-minute gift section. EBags will be focusing on those suppliers who turn orders around in a day. “We have a drop-ship system so timing is important,” Peter Cobb, vice president of marketing, tells internetretailer.com.

EBbags also will participate in its first catalog campaign this fall, although it will not send a catalog of its own. Rather, it will insert six pages in the Travel Tools catalog, which goes to 200,000 customers. Recipients are mostly students and professionals, eBags’ core market. EBags is going along for the ride with an existing catalog because it is easier and less expensive than creating its own catalog.

Other plans for the holiday shopping season include two major promotions aimed at expanding the web store’s customer database. On Nov. 5, eBags will launch a promotion to give away 15 desktop computers from Tiger Electronics. The second promotion, launching Nov. 8, will give away $1 million in a sweepstakes which the company developed inhouse.

Both promotions will allow eBags to gather e-mail addresses. Ebags plans to boost sales by sending contest participants an immediate thank you e-mail with a discount coupon. “People like it and use it because it comes right away after submitting their entry,” says Cobb. These promotions also will benefit eBags’ affiliate partners, who can gain 50,000 to 100,000 new contacts within 30 days if consumers who participate approve receiving e-mail offers from affiliate companies, Cobb adds. “This is a cost effective way to acquire and retain customers,” says Cobb.

Cobb says promotions during the year have grown the database from 290,000 in January to 1.3 million. Cobb says a major promotion with the Pepsi Cola Co. this summer helped give eBags great exposure: the eBags logo appeared on 40 million bags of Frito Lay snack products.