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Why Email Marketing Remains Relevant For Online Stores

Forbes Business Development Council

Director of Sales and Strategic Partnerships at ReadyCloud, the Shipping, Returns, Growth Marketing and CRM Suite built for eCommerce.

Emails are still one of the most popular forms of communication. Think tank Statista estimates that 319.6 billion emails will be sent in 2021, a number that’s projected to exceed 376 billion per year by 2025. Given the immense popularity of this communication channel, it’s still considered to be one of the best ways to reach consumers who have opted-in for such communications at your online store.

I’ve previously covered why SMS is a viable marketing tool for online retailers. But today, I’d like to delve into some interesting factoids about email marketing — because it’s just as important of a tool.

Opt-In Emails Get Opened

Consumers like hearing from the brands they trust. When they “opt-in” to receive emails at your online store, 23.6% of them will open the email you sent within the first hour, according to research by Marketing Charts that was sourced from GetResponse. When these emails are sent during prime e-commerce shopping hours — between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. — they get the most traction.

Email services provider Constant Contact explains (via Marketing Sherpa) that 61% of consumers surveyed want to receive promotional messages from retailers at least weekly, and 38% of them want to be emailed more often than that (daily, twice a week or three times a week). So don’t hesitate to send that next promotional message out to your base — they’re likely eager to receive it.

Marketing Emails Influence Buying Decisions

We’re being advertised to all the time — nearly every waking second of the day. A market research firm in 2007 estimated (paywall) a person living in a city saw about 5,000 ads a day. Estimates since then can vary but include ranges from 4,000 to 10,000 ads a day. While some of the many ads may have a subconscious element to them, the reality is that we ignore most of them unless something intrigues us.

Opt-in e-commerce emails, on the other hand, are often welcomed by consumers. The Texas Chronicle reports (via data from a Smith-Harmon survey) that 76% of consumers have made purchases from an email marketing message they received. HubSpot gathered highlights from their own research finding 59% of consumer respondents surveyed agree that email marketing influences their buying decision.

The ROI On Email Marketing Is Massive

The same HubSpot summary from above also yields something else interesting: Email marketing can have an amazing return on investment. What’s the potential ROI? Try 3800%. That’s a $38 return for every $1 dollar invested. Segmented campaigns take it a step further, and in one estimate, they created a 760% increase in revenue. No wonder an estimated 85% (download required) of marketers in one survey are using email marketing software to increase awareness, improve loyalty, and earn new sales and repeat business.

Cross Promotion Is Effective

Cross-selling is one of the main reasons why email marketing is still one of the most valuable remarketing mediums that exist. Cross-selling involves suggesting related products to consumers either at the time of checkout or when engaging them with any form of a marketing message. Most shopping carts have the technology in place that can automate cross-selling by using the order activity and behavior of the specific consumer to offer related products to them in a marketing message.

Sales Cycle’s 2021 Ecommerce Stats & Trends Report finds that certain dates throughout the year can influence buying decisions — making cross-sell and upsell emails an important part of your digital strategy to draw more customers.

Abandoned Cart Emails Increase Conversions

Cart abandonment is just part of selling online. This occurs when a shopper adds one or more items to the cart but doesn’t complete the checkout process. The game changes if that shopper happens to be a repeat visitor to your online store and has elected to receive email messages from you. In these cases, you can automate the process and send something called a cart abandonment email. This is an email the consumer receives that reminds them that they left items in their cart without checking out. It can help increase conversions while utilizing emails more.

So, there you have it. Email marketing for e-commerce is still one of the most effective marketing methods you can use — provided you’re only sending messages to users who have opted in. Given that most consumers who opt-in like getting marketing emails and that many will go on to make a purchase as a result, generating substantial returns, it’s a no-brainer.

If you are not currently using this medium to remarket to your base, there’s never a better time than the present to get things in motion.


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