Thanks largely to in-store initiatives, Bombay Co.’s e-mail file has grown from about 20,000 names to 600,000 in two years.
Matt Corey, the company’s vice president of Internet marketing, said he didn’t want e-mail to compete in any way with the company’s 450 retail stores. Instead, Bombay positions e-mail as a tool to promote all channels. “This helped us get support [internally] right out of the gate,” he said during a session at the American Catalog Conference in May.
A key factor in building the file was getting the support of store managers, who were wary of the Web site stealing retail sales. Corey communicated to them that the average response to an e-mail campaign might be a 2% or 3% conversion rate. The other 98% or so of people who read the message were likely researching online and then going to the brick-and-mortar store to buy — a fact store managers liked to hear, Corey said.
The file was built largely by collecting names in the retail stores, either through bag stuffers, guest books or having store associates talk up the benefits of being on the company’s e-mail list. The latter is a great tactic, but should be done with care, said Corey. If you have seven people waiting in line, don’t ask customers for additional information and keep impatient shoppers waiting. Save that for when lines are small and the store is less hectic.
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