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eCommerce Email Marketing: 13 Astounding Facts Every Online Retailer Needs to Know

kohnny770 01 1

eCommerce Email Marketing: The Good News and the Bad News

With iPhones, Whatsapp, and Facebook, it can sometimes feel like email is becoming obsolete, or at least only useful at work and for “official” things.

Social media now dominates personal communication, and digital marketers are constantly grappling with the existential question: Is email dead? Or is still alive and well?

To find the answer, we looked at the various channels that eCommerce sites use to acquire, convert, and retain customers, and we found that eCommerce email marketing still comes out on top despite the illusion created by social media and other more trendy marketing fads.

Here are some astounding facts that demonstrate the power of email marketing – especially personalized email messaging – and the need for online businesses to use better, more effective email marketing strategies.

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eCommerce Email Marketing Is Highly Overlooked Yet Incredibly Profitable 

The Good News:
  • Email is reported to have an ROI of 3800%; for every $1 spent, retailers make $38. (Source: CampaignMonitor)
  • Email accounts for over 15% of overall site revenue. (Source: SmartInsights)
  • Just under one in four marketers reporting that email actually generates over 25% of their site sales. (Source: eMarketer)
  • Online retailers report that email is 40x more successful at acquiring new customers than Facebook and Twitter. (Source: CampaignMonitor)
  • When asked how shoppers prefer to receive promotional content, 72% chose email versus 17% who chose social media. (Source: MarketingSherpa)
The Bad News:
  • As of 2015, only around 50% of eCommerce sites were using email marketing, and of those 50%, they reported that their top uses of email are newsletters, promotional content, and welcome series. (Source: Capterra)

That means that while the power of email marketing for eCommerce is strong, many retailers are not harnessing that power!

But as email software providers have expanded their offerings to include automation filters and personalization features, following in the footsteps of Amazon, triggered messaging and product recommendations in email are gaining popularity.

The Value of Personalized Email Engagement

eCommerce personalization is a hot topic for marketers and business owners, alike. When personalized engagement is done right, the results are impressive.

The Good News:
  • Over 75% of email revenue comes from behaviorally triggered messaging (versus non-segmented campaigns). (Source: DMA)
  • Personalized email messages improve CTR by an average of 14% and conversions by 10%. (Source: Aberdeen)
  • 81% of online shoppers report that they are likely to make a purchase as a result of receiving emails based on shopping habits. (Source: eMarketer)
  • Looking at purchases made as a direct result from marketing messages, personalized email campaigns come in at the top, compared to social, direct mail, and more, with a conversion rate of 66%! (Source:DMA.)
The Bad News:
  • 20 of the Top 500 online retailers were found to be using generic product recommendations rather than personalized ones in their email messages. (Source: MarketingProfs)
  • The majority of online retailers are not even using data-driven strategies in their email marketing campaigns. (Source: eConsultancy)
  • What’s even more shocking is that despite the fact that only about 5% of site traffic reaches the cart page and even less (around 1%) reaches the checkout, only 37% of retailers are using cart abandonment emails and 28% are using browse abandonment emails to recapture lost shoppers. (Source: eConsultancy)

If you’re still working out the basics of the eCommerce email marketing strategy for your online store, you may want to check out this video from Google Small Business.

So are you part of the rare few that are truly utilizing the behavioral data on your site to trigger the right, personalized messages to your shoppers? 

Or are you in the majority of merchants using generic eCommerce email marketing strategies that could be improved upon?

We love hearing from our readers. Comment below about your eCommerce email marketing strategies and how you’re using email to increase sales and improve customer retention. Wanna chat about it? Talk to us.

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Inside you’ll discover flow charts, design examples and best practices 

for the 10 most profitable automations you’ll ever send.

Get The eCommerce Email Automation Playbook

Inside you’ll discover flow charts, design examples and best practices for the 10 most profitable automations.

book template