DEATH OF PUREPLAY RETAIL

INTELLIGENCE REPORT DEATH OF PUREPLAY RETAIL CUSTOMER ACQUISITION

Compensating With Email In light of limited organic search visibility,

Death of Pureplay Retail: Average Email Volume Per Week, by Business Model August 24, 2015—October 24, 2015, n=24 Pureplay Retailers, n=18 Evolved Pureplay Retailers

organizations have turned to email as a way to maintain consumer mind share. With few other marketing levers to pull, pureplay e-tailers are especially reliant on email marketing, arguably to the point of oversaturation. An analysis of pureplay e-tailer strategies revealed a negative correlation between organic search visibility and email activity—brands with lower organic search visibility sent consumers a higher volume of emails per week. In addition, pureplay e-tailers averaged almost triple the number of emails per week versus evolved pureplay retailers, indicating their elevated reliance on the channel. Fighting for visibility in crowded inboxes, e-tailers that average more than one email per day (including Bare Necessities, Beyond the Rack, Bluefly, Gilt, JackThreads, The RealReal, Revolve Clothing, and Rue La La) are often forced to turn to promotional tactics to capture the consumer’s attention. A slew of sales and free shipping offers may drive open rates, but with significant impact on margins.

Pureplay Retailers

Evolved Pureplay Retailers

2.3

6.7

Source: L2 Intelligence Report: Death of Pureplay Retail, January 2016.

1

2

1. ModCloth emails incite action with limited time offers and promote the brand’s free shipping and loyalty programs.

2. Rue La La averages 13 emails per week, and uses email to promote its unlimited shipping loyalty program.

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January 12, 2016