Retail, in the eyes of the everyday customer

My buddy Mike from Vexxt shared this great email from 1-800-PROFLOWERS:

Nybgshop.org has a nifty strategy to grow their registration list.  They call it “Member Price”:

Get Elastic posted a fantastic example of how Office Max uses the checkout process to expand their email list.  You can read the whole article here.

Related Articles: Tell Me What I’m Getting Into, Making The Most Of “Out Of Stock”.

Every eCommerce store wants you to join their email list.  But customers hate the idea of getting email blasts and this apprehension can be a negative for companies that actually do send out well crafted, thoughtful emails.  Madeinnapavalley.com solves this by providing an example of their typical email newsletter:

Here is the sample email pop up:

I know it’s tempting to send mass emails to your customer database in hopes that 1% would convert and buy your products but a few companies have realized that by sending relevant marketing messages they can significantly improve conversion AND generate word of mouth without annoying 99% of their paying customers.  This email message that my wife received from Flat Top Grill is a perfect example:

Flat-top-grill-email-marketing-message

It sucks when an interested customer stumbles on your site only to discover that the item they were just about to buy is out to stock.

This morning I was reading the hugely popular Outblush blog where they profiled Karacoma Sofa.  After reading the article I visited conranusa.com and realized the product was “Temporarily out of stock”.

I wish the message would have said “Temporarily out of stock — drop your email address and be the first to be notified upon availability”.

This would be a win win for the retailer, either they would get a future sale or walk away with the consolation price of my contact information.

In a world inundated with marketing messages Dale and Thomas Popcorn is asking customers to return at a later date:

Dale and Thomas Popcorn

Will shoppers used to instant gratification have the patience to check back on the 28th?

Linda over at GetElastic linked to an article by DJ Waldow which I am now reproducing for my blog.

DJ Waldow shares an excellent email strategy by SideStep.  Click here to see it.

No etailer likes it when a customer unsubscribes from their emails. I am always curious about new email marketing strategies so I subscribe and unsubscribe at a fairly regular rate. After reviewing few email samples I scroll to the bottom of the email and click the unsubscribe link. I am then taken to the retailer’s unsubscribe page. What’s odd is that I don’t recall any instance where an etailer enquired about the reason of my unsubscribe?

Instead of just loosing me the etailer should ask questions like:

- Are you unsubscribing because the content was boring?
- Are you unsubscribing because we sent too many emails?
- Are you unsubscribing because we were sending promos you were uninterested in?
- Are you unsubscribing because you’ve found a better site?
- Other? If other please specify

If you are aware of examples where etailers have asked such questions please share.

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