The stores aren’t going to be the only things clogged during the runup to Christmas. According to Responsys, retailers will send more e-mail marketing message on Cyber Monday – the first Monday after Thanksgiving – than on any other day of the year.
“Despite the down economy, marketers are investing even more in the e-mail channel and Responsys predicts this will be the busiest e-mail marketing day in recorded history,” the company predicted in a statement.
According to Responsys customer data, Cyber Monday was the highest-volume e-mail day during both 2008 and 2007. Cyber Monday email volumes were 40% higher in 2008 than 2007.
Responsys claimed that Cyber Monday accounted for $846 million in online spending last year, up 15% from 2007.
"With the top retailers attributing up to 40% of their online sales through their e-mail marketing efforts, e-mail is definitely the power channel behind Cyber Monday's rise to prominence," said Scott Olrich, CMO of Responsys, in a statement.
"Thanks to retailers' vigorous promotion efforts and mainstream media coverage, most consumers have become familiar with the term, which has become synonymous with 'online-only,' 'one-day sales,' as well as many involving limited-quantity 'Web busters,'" added Chad White, research director at Responsys.
According to Responsys, twice as many retailers promoted the date by name in their email marketing messages last year as did in 2007. Retailers are also more comfortable promoting Cyber Monday by name than they are Black Friday. While 36% of retailers referenced "Cyber Monday" in their email messages on December 1st last year, only 25% of them referenced "Black Friday" in their November 28th email campaigns.
