WITH PERSONALIZED

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1 A special survey report from the editors of Internet Retailer PUMP UP THE VOLUME WITH PERSONALIZED Personalization is a proven strategy for boosting click-throughs and conversions. In fact, as long as messages speak to shoppers preferences, they ll welcome even more of them. Sponsored by:

2 Pump Up the Volume with Personalized Personalization is a proven strategy for boosting click-throughs and conversions. In fact, as long as messages speak to shoppers preferences, they ll welcome even more of them. Customers want personalized and retailers know it Virtually every retailer and brand relies on to engage customers and to keep them coming back. And to maximize results from your campaigns you must make sure you are putting the right products in front of the right customers at the right time. Fortunately, your customers have already told you what they want. Online shoppers leave all sorts of hints behind about what interests them. Those hints include what they have already bought from you, what they ve browsed on your web site, preferences they ve indicated, social media comments, and what they put into a shopping cart but did not buy. Furthermore, customers expect retailers to pick up on those hints. According to a Listrak-sponsored Harris Interactive Survey, 1 69% of customers are willing to share their preferences with businesses in order to receive s that are more relevant to them, while 77% of shoppers say they are more likely to buy from a retailer that sends them personalized s featuring products based on their shopping behaviors and preferences. What s more, 82% say they are likely to buy more items online or in store if the retailer s s speak to their shopping preferences. And retailers are seeing the impact of personalization in their own results. In a recent survey conducted by Internet Retailer, 2 in collaboration with Listrak, 59.5% of retailers say s featuring personalized products increase click-through rates and 57.4% report higher conversion rates. 82% age of shoppers who say they are likely to buy more items online or in store if the retailer s s speak to their shopping preferences. Source: Harris Interactive Survey What those numbers mean is that not only should you be sending personalized s, you should be sending a higher volume of them. Although some retailers may fear that a higher volume of will result in higher unsubscribe rates, the data actually indicates that this need not be a concern. 1 A SPECIAL SURVEY REPORT FROM THE EDITORS OF INTERNET RETAILER

3 In the Internet Retailer survey 65.3% of responding retailers say sending s featuring personalized products has no effect on unsubscribes and 26.8% actually say that personalizing products in has decreased the rate at which consumers unsubscribe. Some retailers have already realized the benefit of sending more . Of retailers responding to the Internet Retailer survey, 63.2% plan to increase their monthly s in the next 12 months. And the 2014 edition of the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide shows the leading e-retailers in North America sent s per month in 2013, an increase of 34.1% from 9.59 a year earlier. There s good reason for that, says Ross Kramer, CEO of Listrak. Retailers have found that by moving their programs from a few times per week to a daily cadence, overall engagement of their list will rise, as well as overall revenue, he states. These same retailers have found that when they stop mailing daily they can never replace the revenue that was generated by the daily campaigns, so they have continued to mail daily. What impact does including personalized products in s have on unsubscribes? 26.8% 65.3% No change: 65.3% Unsubscribes decrease: 26.8% So why aren t more retailers doing it? Surprisingly, even given the data, a significant number of businesses are still not taking advantage of personalization. Among retailers responding to the Internet Retailer survey, just slightly over half feature personalized products in their campaigns. A high percentage of the surveyed retailers are using batch and blast campaigns to highlight new products (68.9%) and daily or weekly sales (50.5%); however, only 37.4% of those same retailers feature personalized products in their new product s and only a quarter of responding retailers feature personalized products in daily and weekly sales s. What s more, few retailers are taking advantage of the hints customers leave as they traverse the web to create opportunities to engage subscribers with personalized s. Only slightly more than a third of surveyed retailers send marketing s featuring top sellers, customer favorites or most-pinned items from the social network Pinterest. This reveals another missed opportunity social media. Consumers are acting as third-party marketers by posting, tweeting and pinning their favorite products online for the world to see. And yet a startlingly low 12.6 % of responding retailers use social media data as the basis for marketing campaigns. Another significant missing opportunity our research revealed is the use of shopping cart abandonment data. Of all of the retailers surveyed, only 35.8% retarget shoppers with shopping cart abandonment campaigns, and of them, only 29.5% personalize the products they feature in shopping cart abandonment s. In addition, of those retailers who feature personalized products in marketing s ( blasts), a mere 28.9% use shopping cart contents abandoned by customers to help determine what products to feature in those personalized campaigns. 2 A SPECIAL SURVEY REPORT FROM THE EDITORS OF INTERNET RETAILER

4 These results, do not surprise Kramer of Listrak. Cart abandonment campaigns are some of the most under-underutilized campaigns with some of the highest ROI, he says. Listrak has seen the impact of these campaigns from its clients, such as Sigma Beauty, which sells beauty products online and ships to over 160 countries. When Sigma Beauty began sending consumers who abandoned shopping carts follow-up s, it increased revenue by 4%, according to Sigma Beauty Marketing Manager Shauna Spangenberg. Sigma sends one six hours after the customer clicks away from the online shopping cart. Another goes out two days later, offering a 5% discount. Sigma sends a third two days after the last message, offering 10% off. And Sigma plans to expand the campaign by sending a personalized fourth to those who don t respond to the first three. That message will have product recommendations based on what they are interested in, Spangenberg said. Not following up with consumers who leave items in a shopping cart is like a football player fumbling at the one-yard line success is just one step away. For many retailers, that step is a shopping cart abandonment campaign. And there are other triggered marketing campaigns that many retailers are not taking full advantage of that can also be optimized by personalization. Not sending re-engagement campaigns is a mistake. Retailers and brands need to keep in touch with customers frequently. Ross Kramer, CEO of Listrak Be ready to pull the trigger based on shopper behavior Triggered solutions lead to some of the best ROI campaigns, because they are built one time, set on a cadence and then they generate revenue every day, Kramer says. Welcome s prompted by a consumer joining a retailer s list represent one example. While our survey clearly shows that retailers understand the value of quickly engaging with new subscribers (two-thirds of the retailers who responded to the Internet Retailer survey send welcome s), only a quarter personalize those s, which indicates a missed opportunity. Even fewer retailers less than half in the Internet Retailer survey send re-engagement s to customers who have not purchased for several months. Kramer comments, It is very difficult to win someone back who has been latent to your brand 180 days, 200 days, 365 days. It s a lot easier to convince someone new to the brand to transact with the brand than someone who has lapsed. That being said, Kramer advises, not sending re-engagement campaigns is a mistake. Retailers and brands need to keep in touch with customers frequently. Again, personalization can help to optimize re-engagement s. According to the Harris Interactive Survey, 84% of online shoppers who ve signed up to receive promotional s 3 A SPECIAL SURVEY REPORT FROM THE EDITORS OF INTERNET RETAILER

5 reported that they find it helpful if products featured in s were relevant based on their shopping habits and preferences. And not all triggered s need to be triggered by a sign-up or purchase. Retailers also get strong results from sending to customers just after they browse. Retargeting customers who browse and abandon your website allows retailers to introduce new products, sales and discounts all directly relevant to the shopper s visit. Do you plan to send more personalized campaigns in the next 12 months? 18.4% It s easier than ever to send frequent, triggered and personalized Kramer says the reason many retailers don t send more personalized s even when they recognize the results they can achieve is because they lack the resources to craft and deploy them. This is where automated tools come into play, and Listrak offers new tools that enable even small staffs to generate big results. Listrak offers an integrated digital marketing platform that lets clients create and schedule s, and customize the look of personalized products merchandised in them, without going to outside programs, such as Dreamweaver or Photoshop. Listrak account managers can help to develop strategies to map out exactly what you want to accomplish, and its professional services team can help you to realize your vision with text and images. 81.6% Yes: 81.6% No: 18.4% Listrak recently launched Recommender, a personalization engine that allows retailers to merchandise products in and online that are determined by individuals preferences and shopping behaviors, including browsing history, and that are based on customizable algorithms. Recommender is part of Listrak s integrated digital marketing platform that makes it easy for retailers to create and share relevant content across all consumer touch points and marketing channels, including , web, mobile and social. With Recommender, retailers can meet each shopper s preferences with ease, flexibility and more control than ever before. Conclusion: Marketing automation tools like Listrak s Recommender are crucial in order for retailers to keep pace. Your competitors are sending an increasing number of s, getting their marketing messages in front of consumers more often. And, as the data cited in this survey report demonstrate, consumers are happy to receive more relevant from retailers and brands they like, but they expect the you send to reflect their tastes, preferences and shopping behaviors. What is promising is that 82% surveyed are planning to send more personalized s in the year ahead, however, they need a strategy to get there. The bottom line is that personalized generates sales, and sending personalized more often will generate more sales. For more information about Listrak s digital marketing services, please visit 1. The Harris Interactive Survey was an online survey to consumers conducted in December 2013 on behalf of Listrak. It generated responses from 2,019 U.S. men and women age 18+, 84% of whom shop online regularly (more than twice a month) and who have signed up to receive promotional s from a retailer. 2. Internet Retailer Survey: This report contains a detailed statistical analysis of the results to the survey titled Marketing & Personalization Trending, sponsored by Listrak. The results include answers from all qualified retailer respondents who took the survey in Feb-March, completed responses were calculated for the survey. 4 A SPECIAL SURVEY REPORT FROM THE EDITORS OF INTERNET RETAILER

6 Survey Summary This report contains highlights of the results to the survey titled Marketing & Personalization Trending, sponsored by Listrak. The results include answers from all qualified respondents who took the survey from February 18, 2014 to March 10, completed responses were calculated for the survey. 1. What is your primary line of business? Store-based retailer 19.5% Catalog 11.1% Web-only retailer 57.9% Consumer brand manufacturer 11.6% 4. Do you personalize the products featured in your s? Yes 53.7% No 46.3% 2. How many campaigns do you conduct each month? 1 to % 4 to % 6 to % 9 to % 11 to % 16 to % More than % 5. What types of campaigns do you send? (check all that apply) Welcome/welcome series 66.8% Batch and blast/marketing 75.3% Shopping cart abandonment 35.8% Transactional (order/shipping confirmation) 66.8% Post purchase 45.3% Re-engagement 44.7% 3. Do you plan to increase your number of monthly campaigns in the next 12 months? Yes 63.2% No 36.8% 6. Of the types of campaigns selected in question 5, please indicate the types in which you feature personalized products (check all that apply)? Welcome/welcome series 25.3% Batch and blast/marketing 30.5% Shopping cart abandonment 29.5% Transactional (order/shipping confirmation) 36.3% Post purchase 31.6% Re-engagement 25.3% 5 A SPECIAL SURVEY REPORT FROM THE EDITORS OF INTERNET RETAILER

7 7. Which of the following marketing s do you send? (check all that apply) Daily or weekly sales 50.5% Top sellers 32.1% Customer favorites 31.1% New products 68.9% Most pinned or other social media-based categories 12.6% 8. Of the types of marketing s selected in question 7, please indicate the types in which you feature personalized products (check all that apply)? Daily or weekly sales 24.7% Top sellers 25.8% Customer favorites 25.3% New products 37.4% Most pinned or other social media-based categories 6.3% 9. What data do you use to determine which personalized products to feature in s? (check all that apply) Customer shopping history 53.7% Customer browsing history 24.7% Shopping cart contents abandoned by customer 28.9% Customer's expressed preferences 32.6% Customer's social media and sharing activity 13.7% Other (please specify) 7.9% 11. What impact does including personalized products in s have on click-through rates? No Change 36.8% Click-through rate of personalized is lower 3.7% Increases click-through rate by less than 10% 22.1% Increases click-through rate 10-20% 24.2% Increases click-through rate 21-50% 11.6% Increases click-through rate by more than 50% 1.6% 12. What impact does including personalized products in s have on conversion rate of customers who click through to your site? No change 40.0% Conversion rate of personalized is lower 2.6% Increases conversion rate by less than 10% 30.0% Increases conversion rate 10-20% 19.5% Increases conversion rate 21-50% 5.8% Increases conversion rate by more than 50% 2.1% 13. Do you plan to send more personalized campaigns in the next 12 months? Yes 81.6% No 18.4% 10. What impact does including personalized products in s have on unsubscribes? No change 65.3% Unsubscribes increase 7.9% Unsubscribes decrease 26.8% 14. Do you believe your subscribers would be willing to receive more s from you if products in the s were personalized? Yes 60.0% No 10.5% I don't know 29.5% 6 A SPECIAL SURVEY REPORT FROM THE EDITORS OF INTERNET RETAILER

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