An Experian Marketing Services study | Page 1 International holiday email performance study A look back at global trends (Oct. 1, 2012 – Dec. 31, 2012) International holiday email performance study Page 2 | International holiday email performance study (Oct. 1–Dec. 31, 2012) A world of insight and digital opportunities About this study The focus of this study conducted by Experian Marketing Services — a global provider of consumer insights and targeting, data quality and cross-channel marketing — is to observe the practices and results of email communications sent by clients during the holiday season. Every year from October to December, brands across the world approach holiday shoppers with varying tactics to maximize revenue and engage consumers. Since this is the time of year that generates the highest revenue for many retailers, this study aims to support organizations that already have a global footprint or are looking to expand internationally. We hope to provide global insights to help marketers make adjustments to improve their holiday communication plan and ultimately learn from the past holiday season to make the next even better. Today, global brands can maximize operational efficiency and return through international holiday email campaigns, thanks to an ability to reach a broader international audience and employ similar messaging tactics across multiple countries. Yet, results of this study indicate that although some countries do celebrate holidays similarly, there are opportunities to communicate with email subscribers about local events that are more relevant to recipients. Also, depending on each market’s level of maturity, some email practices and tactics are not yet common across all countries. Thus, global brands could benefit from this insight to obtain a first mover advantage. For example, abandoned cart and integrated social media email campaigns could surprise, delight and educate recipients in countries that are not used to these practices, thereby capturing recipients’ attention and increasing engagement and conversion. This study examined email campaigns from October through December 2012 throughout 10 countries: Australia, China, France, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. More than 1,000 brands and more than 100,000 campaigns were included. Metrics for volume, unique open and unique click rates were compared by country and by various types of email campaigns. International holiday email performance study An Experian Marketing Services study | Page 3 Listed below are key holiday dates for email marketers to consider in planning holiday email campaigns within the countries examined in this study. Month Holiday (the 2012 date is included in parentheses) Countries October National Day (1) China and Hong Kong Mid Autumn Festival (1) Singapore Tag der Deutschen Einheit (3) Germany Sport Day (3) Japan Día de la Hispanidad (12) Spain Labour Day (22) New Zealand Chung Yeung Festival (23) Hong Kong Hari Raya Haji (26) Singapore Halloween (31) United States and United Kingdom November Toussaint/Allerheiligen/ Día de Todos los Santos (1) France, Germany and Spain Culture Day (3) Japan Bonfire (5) United Kingdom Melbourne Cup (6) Australia Armistice (World War I) (11) France Veterans Day (12) United States Deepavali (13) Singapore Click Frenzy (20) Australia Thanksgiving (22) United States Black Friday (23) United States Cyber Monday (26) United States and France December Cyber Monday (3) United Kingdom Saint Nicolas/ Día de la Constitución (6) France and Spain Fête des lumières/ Día de la Inmaculada Concepción (8) France and Spain Emperor’s Birthday (23) Japan Réveillon de Noël/Heiligabend/ Noche Buena (24) France, Germany and Spain Christmas (25) All except China and Japan San Sebastian (26) Spain Boxing Day (26) Australia, New Zealand and United Kingdom New Year’s Eve/Saint Sylvestre (31) All International holiday email performance study Page 4 | International holiday email performance study (Oct. 1–Dec. 31, 2012) Global email volume trends and mailing opportunities Because the holidays often are the top revenue-generating business event of the year for many brands, it is helpful to look at how and when email volumes ramped up between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2012. Western countries Western countries (France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and the United States) showed a similar growing trend up until December, which is the peak month until Christmas Day on Dec. 25. During the last week of December for Europe, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, we noted a clear decline in terms of volume. France In France, holiday campaigns began to be deployed in November. Most French consumers begin considering holiday shopping options after the fall break, which was during the week of Nov. 1. December email volumes increased until Christmas week, allowing online retailers to promise gift delivery in time for Christmas Day. Spain Spain showed a little more email volume variability than France, with a strong start in early October due to Spain’s Día de la Hispanidad on Oct. 12, which in 2012 gave Spaniards a three-day weekend. Emails sent to take advantage of Día de la Hispanidad offers were sent during the week before this holiday. Another peak week for emailers in Spain was the week of Nov. 4. This occurred because Nov. 1 and 9 were also holidays in 2012. Brands leveraged this long weekend to interact more with their customers. After that, volumes remained high from mid- November until the Christmas week. The last email volume peak for Spain (the week of Nov. 18) was not only driven by Christmas, but also by San Nicolás, who gave his first gifts on the night of Dec. 5, followed by Dec. 6 and 8, which were holidays (Día de la Constitución España and Inmaculada Concepción). Percent of holiday season email volume per week - France, Spain and United Kingdom Percent of Holiday Season Email Volume Per Week - France, Spain, and United Kingdom Start of week Country France Spain United Kingdom % sent per wk. % sent per wk. % sent per wk. 10.0% – 5.0% – 0.0% – 8.0% – 6.0% – 4.0% – 2.0% – 0.0% – 10.0% – 5.0% – 0.0% – 9.6% Oct. 1 Oct. 7 Oct. 14 Oct. 21 Oct. 28 Nov. 4 Nov. 11 Nov. 18 Nov. 25 Dec. 2 Dec. 9 Dec. 16 Dec. 23 6.1% 8.5% 9.0% 8.7% 8.4% 7.2% 7.3% 7.3% 7.0% 8.6% 7.5%7.6% 6.8% 4.9% 8.5% 8.2% 8.1%8.5% 8.0% 7.4% 6.5% 8.3% 8.2% 7.2% 7.8% 8.5% 6.9% 8.4% 8.7% 7.7% 7.5% 7.3%7.2%7.2% 9.3% 8.5%8.5% 6.8%5.9% Experian Marketing Services’ International holiday email performance study, a look back at global trends (Oct. 1, 2012 – Dec. 31, 2012) International holiday email performance study An Experian Marketing Services study | Page 5 United Kingdom Following the Anglo-Saxon tradition of celebrating Halloween, the United Kingdom had a first email volume peak in mid-October that reflected Halloween preparation. The holiday-related campaigns then started in mid-November to target early Christmas (Dec. 25) shoppers. Holiday volume peaked between the weeks of Nov. 25 and Dec. 9, which included Cyber Monday on Dec. 3. Cyber Monday is the Monday following Black Friday, where retailers expect high online sales driven by holiday gift- giver purchases. United Kingdom Halloween example International holiday email performance study Page 6 | International holiday email performance study (Oct. 1–Dec. 31, 2012) Australia Australia experienced a continuous increase in email volume from the end of October until mid-December. Volumes started to decrease during the week of Christmas (Dec 25). Peak volume for campaigns deployed occurred during the week of Dec 9. New Zealand New Zealand email volume peaks were influenced by the beginning of the summer season in December, with many retailers focusing on end-of-season sales and “new season in store” communications to help encourage spending that is over and above gifting and less related specifically to the holiday. United States In the United States, there are three key holidays that email marketers focus on to create and mail messaging: Thanksgiving (the fourth Thursday of November), Cyber Monday (the Monday following Thanksgiving and Black Friday) and Christmas (Dec. 25). The graph above clearly shows the mid-November peaks preparing for Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This was followed by a slight decrease then bump again in early December to promote Christmas shopping. See Appendix 1, page 24. Percent of Holiday Season Email Volume Per Week - Australia, New Zealand and US Start of week Country Australia New Zealand United States % sent per wk. % sent per wk. % sent per wk. 10.0% – 5.0% – 0.0% – 10.0% – 5.0% – 0.0% – 10.0% – 5.0% – 0.0% – 9.6% Oct. 1 Oct. 7 Oct. 14 Oct. 21 Oct. 28 Nov. 4 Nov. 11 Nov. 18 Nov. 25 Dec. 2 Dec. 9 Dec. 16 Dec. 23 5.9% 8.1% 9.0% 7.9% 7.6%7.6% 8.0%8.1%7.9% 8.0% 6.9% 7.2% 6.3% 5.5% 8.2% 7.6% 8.5% 7.6% 8.8% 8.0% 7.4% 6.6% 7.4% 7.7% 7.9% 6.7% 6.6% 9.6% 9.4% 9.1% 7.2% 7.0% 6.3% 9.0% 8.2% 6.7% 6.3% 6.6% 6.5% Percent of holiday season email volume per week - Australia, New Zealand and US Experian Marketing Services’ International holiday email performance study, a look back at global trends (Oct. 1, 2012 – Dec. 31, 2012) International holiday email performance study An Experian Marketing Services study | Page 7 Asian countries Asian countries showed pronounced volume variability. The region is less influenced by the Christian calendar, and each country we observed showed different volume trends between October and December 2012. Percent of Holiday Season Email Volume Per Week - Singapore, India, China and Hong Kong Start of week Country Singapore India China Hong Kong % sent per wk. % sent per wk. % sent per wk. % sent per wk. 15.0% – 10.0% – 5.0% – 0.0% – 10.0% – 5.0% – 0.0% – 20.0% – 10.0% – 0.0% – 10.0% – 5.0% – 0.0% – 9.6% Oct. 1 Oct. 7 Oct. 14 Oct. 21 Oct. 28 Nov. 4 Nov. 11 Nov. 18 Nov. 25 Dec. 2 Dec. 9 Dec. 16 Dec. 23 5.2% 8.2% 6.4% 6.9% 15.5% 3.6% 7.3% 6.6% 9.1% 12.4% 5.5% 7.3% 5.7% 6.1% 12.8% 11.1% 6.2% 5.8% 6.4% 4.5% 5.5% 4.1% 11.0%11.8% 7.1% 5.8% 7.0% 8.6%8.6% 6.4% 10.1% 7.4% 7.7% 8.8% 9.2% 8.2% 8.1% 5.2% 3.3% 0.9% 17.6% 25.3% 13.4% 2.4% 10.1% 2.1% 7.9% 7.7% 1.4% 6.3% 3.0% 1.8% Percent of holiday season email volume per week - Singapore, India, China and Hong Kong China and Hong Kong •   In China and Hong Kong, email activity slowed down in early October due to  National Day, which is a bank holiday. •   China showed strong volumes from the week of Oct. 21 until mid-December,  with two rises occurring in early November and at the end of November. •   Hong Kong was lower, in terms of volume trend, than the other countries until  mid-November. This was followed by an initial increase during the week of Nov. 18 and then a second peak during the week of Dec 9. Experian Marketing Services’ International holiday email performance study, a look back at global trends (Oct. 1, 2012 – Dec. 31, 2012) International holiday email performance study Page 8 | International holiday email performance study (Oct. 1–Dec. 31, 2012) Holiday offer types and performances Over time, customers have become accustomed to receiving special offers during the holiday season. However, depending on the country, customers responded differently to the incentives marketers proposed. Tip: Differentiate your incentives Shoppers are receiving offers all year long. In order to differentiate your holiday messages, make sure you differentiate your own incentives and make them specific to this unique time of the year. 21.3% 9.8% 17.5% 20.9% 7.8% 25.2% 18.6% 3.9% 2.0% 3.3% 2.2% 2.1% 3.8% 1.7% 16.8% 3.5% 14.5% 13.6% 2.7% 2.1% 21.8% 10.7% 17.0% 9.8% 21.0% 20.2% 12.6% 4.4% 2.6% 2.9% 1.8% 3.5% 2.3% 2.3% 16.1% 3.0% 14.8% 2.1% Holiday season offer comparisons by offer type and country Mail type Country % of campaigns % off Australia 12.7% China 11.0% France 5.6% Hong Kong 2.1% India 9.0% New Zealand 4.8% Singapore 6.5% Spain 14.1% United Kingdom 9.8% United States 7.8% Unique open rate Unique click rate $ offer Australia 5.1% China 6.1% France 6.8% India 4.4% New Zealand 10.6% Singapore 2.7% Spain 3.2% United Kingdom 0.7% United States 9.9% Percentage and dollar amount off are the most popular offers, but not differentiating Globally, the most popular discounts during the holiday season are percentage and dollar amount off. •   Australia, China and Spain are heavy users of percentage off campaigns.  In China, these campaigns had higher open rates than standard mailings, but lower click rates. •   In Spain, percentage off mailings performed worse than standard mailings. The  Spanish market also preferred to use the percentage off more than a euro off offer. •   Depending on countries, percentage off or dollar/euro/etc. off offers beat other  offers in terms of opens or clicks. These offer types present good test opportunities for regions relying only on one over the other. •   New Zealand and France were the two countries relying most on dollar/euro off  promotions. Yet, in spite of the high proportion of campaigns promoting dollar/ euro/etc. off in the subject line, these messages had lower open and click rates than standard campaigns. Experian Marketing Services’ International holiday email performance study, a look back at global trends (Oct. 1, 2012 – Dec. 31, 2012) International holiday email performance study An Experian Marketing Services study | Page 9 Spanish euro off example Subject line: BONO DESCUENTO de 5 Euros en Vuelos ¡Aprovecha los Puentes de Noviembre! International holiday email performance study Page 10 | International holiday email performance study (Oct. 1–Dec. 31, 2012) 19.9% 11.7% 16.5% 21.9% 14.8% 12.8% 3.2% 1.9% 2.9% 5.4% 2.9% 1.7% Free shipping — expected, but not sufficient Mail Type Country % of Campaigns Free shipping Australia 2.8% China 3.7% France 1.6% Spain 0.5% United Kingdom 2.1% United States 5.1% Unique open rate Unique click rate Free shipping — expected, but not sufficient Free shipping offers also were used globally, as recipients who are now used to buying online have higher expectations — one of which is to not pay delivery fees when ordering from retailer Websites. Marketers agree that free shipping offers generally garner great conversion rates, although open and click performances may be slightly lower than average mailings. During the holiday season, free shipping offers are usually combined with other incentives, such as a percentage off or a free gift. 1 See Experian Marketing Services’ study HÁBITOS DE COMPRA OFFLINE Y ONLINE DEL CONSUMIDOR ESPAÑOL EN EL SECTOR RETAIL Tip: Offer opportunity in Spain In Spain, even during the holiday season, free shipping is not widely used. The maturity of this market, especially for e-commerce, and actual customer requests to get this type of offer are growing simultaneously. 1 Because of this, there is a real “first mover advantage” in Spain for brands proposing free shipping incentives. Experian Marketing Services’ International holiday email performance study, a look back at global trends (Oct. 1, 2012 – Dec. 31, 2012) [...]... Services’ International holiday email performance study, a look back at global trends (Oct 1, 2012 – Dec 31, 2012) Page 16 | International holiday email performance study (Oct 1–Dec 31, 2012) International holiday email performance study With many brands trying to differentiate themselves and provide relevance to their customers, social media has gained signficance in holiday campaigning The holidays... Services’ International holiday email performance study, a look back at global trends (Oct 1, 2012 – Dec 31, 2012) Page 24 | International holiday email performance study (Oct 1–Dec 31, 2012) % Clicks per wk 25.3% 22.6% 20.0% – % Clicks per wk % sent per wk % Sent per wk % Clicks per wk Hong Kong ■ Start of week % Clicks per wk % Clicks per wk ■ Country International holiday email performance study Appendix... the effects of emails conveying urgency should be tested (as results may actually be poorer than standard mailings), including personalization and utilizing social media are proven approaches to increasing holiday engagement in email communications Page 22 | International holiday email performance study (Oct 1–Dec 31, 2012) International holiday email performance study •   uring the holidays, and often... including recipients’ first names We also noted performance improved when campaigns leveraged the name of the agent or the store contact the customer knows - a tactic for marketers to test Page 14 | International holiday email performance study (Oct 1–Dec 31, 2012) International holiday email performance study Urgency tied to the holidayUrgency tied to the holiday schedule schedule Mail Type Country %... 4.0% 6.0% Unique Click Rate Experian Marketing Services’ International holiday email performance study, a look back at global trends (Oct 1, 2012 – Dec 31, 2012) An Experian Marketing Services study | Page 25 International holiday email performance study Appendix 3 – Subject line features by country Holiday season subjectLine Features by Country Holiday Season Subject line features by country Country... subscribers tend to sign up for their favorite brands’ email communications during the holiday season The better the onboarding experience for a customer, the more engaged, attentive and loyal the new member will become to the brand Page 20 | International holiday email performance study (Oct 1–Dec 31, 2012) International holiday email performance study Timing considerations — weekday or weekend? Marketers... 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 0.0% 1.0% 2.0% 30.0% 4.0% 5.0% 6.0% Mail performance study, a look back at global trends Experian Marketing Services’ International holiday email Type (Oct 1, 2012 – Dec 31, 2012) ■ Weekday ■ Weekend An Experian Marketing Services study | Page 21 International holiday email performance study India, the United States and France sent emails aligning closest to the mathematical distribution.. .International holiday email performance study Spanish example of a free shipping holiday campaign Subject line: En Navidad, los sueños se hacen realidad An Experian Marketing Services study | Page 11 International holiday email performance study Buy one get one (free) (BOGO) and reward-based offers — the specifics One of... the holiday season not only to drive additional revenue, but also to ensure that customers in this high-value segment remain strong brand advocates See Appendix 2, page 25, for results from all offers by country Page 12 | International holiday email performance study (Oct 1–Dec 31, 2012) International holiday email performance study Subject line tactics and results Marketers should carefully craft email. .. the highest open and click rates, as new members are actively looking for information in a high conversion period Page 18 | International holiday email performance study (Oct 1–Dec 31, 2012) International holiday email performance study Holiday season trigger mailings by country Holiday season trigger mailings by country Country Mail type Australia Birthday Welcomes All Mailings China France New Zealand . Services’ International holiday email performance study, a look back at global trends (Oct. 1, 2012 – Dec. 31, 2012) International holiday email performance study Page 8 | International holiday email. International holiday email performance study, a look back at global trends (Oct. 1, 2012 – Dec. 31, 2012) International holiday email performance study Page 20 | International holiday email performance. Services study | Page 1 International holiday email performance study A look back at global trends (Oct. 1, 2012 – Dec. 31, 2012) International holiday email performance study Page 2 | International