As a loyalty device, e-mail clicks with customers, 88% of whom say they have made a purchase as a result of receiving a permission-based electronic message, according to a new survey from DoubleClick.
Even more dramatic, 37% said they made a purchase after clicking through an e-mail solicitation, according to Court Cunningham, vice president and general manager of DoubleClick unit DARTmail technology online advertising company, which sponsored the research.
E-mail use in general is up, with consumers receiving 159 messages a week, 45 of which are business-related. Among all e-mail messages, an average of 36 are permission-based, twice last year’s number.
Consumers are spending more online, averaging $1,023 a year spread out over 15.4 purchases, up from the $750 in last year’s study. Eighty six percent said they made a purchase from the same online merchant more than once, up slightly from the 83% that did so in 2000.
But some of their spending may be motivated by the Web’s facility for bargain hunting. E-mail is a great way to do clearance or liquidation sales,” Cunningham said. “It’s a low-cost way to stimulate people to action.”
The pinched economy may have also contributed to the growth of a low-cost medium like e-mail. Among nine channels measured, including visits to Web sites, telemarketing, person-to-person communication, postal mail, banner advertising and mass media, only e-mail showed a jump in use between 2000 and 2001, from 58% to 64%.
“People are sending more impulse offers,” Cunningham said. “[E-mail is a good impulse purchase medium.”
Broken out by category, specials and offers from online merchants were the most popular, with nearly four out of five respondents saying that they either receive or would be interested in receiving such e-mail. Sixty-five percent said that they would like to get specials or offers from local retailers or restaurants, but only around 30% said they actually did.
Network
