Top 5 Flash Sales tips. Get em while they last!

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Arline Carter
8 years ago
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1 Top 5 Flash Sales tips Get em while they last!

2 Top 5 Flash Sales tips Get em while they last! Flash Sales are all the rage in marketing right now engaging customers more than most other types of sales and promotions. The number of daily deal companies continues to increase and traffic to Flash Sales websites increased more than 128 percent in June 2011 over June of last year according to Experian Hitwise. Flash Sales are more than timely offers. The Flash Sale is proving to be one of the hottest tools today to capture customers attention and foster ongoing engagement. It also is a great tactic for single brands looking to compete with the various Group Buying sites. is a key traffic driver for advertising Flash Sales. On average, traffic from represents 18 percent of the referrals to Flash Sales websites higher than social (13 percent) and search (11 percent). To uncover the trends and optimal strategies that marketers need to know about Flash Sales, Experian CheetahMail s Strategic Services team analyzed the performance of Flash Sales compared to bulk promotional campaigns from January 2010 through February For the purposes of this study, Flash Sales were defined as sales lasting less than 24 hours. After analyzing the data, it is clear that there is a recipe for Flash Sale success.

3 1 Flash Sales increase engagement Fifty-six percent of businesses have higher click-to-open rates on their Flash Sale s compared to their yearly click-to open rate. The metrics prove that these sales promote deep, longterm customer engagement with your program. Regardless of your industry, Flash Sales can be a great tool for retailers to get rid of excess inventory, for hotels to drive bookings in specific regions, for restaurants to drive traffic on typically slow times of day, and so on. 2 A couple of hours may be all you need Two hour Flash Sales report the best click-toopen rates, which are 14 percent higher than the average for the same businesses. Three hour Flash Sales have the best transaction-to-click rates, which are 59 percent higher, as well as the highest transaction rates (.14%). If you re goal is purely engagement, or re-engagement, shorter Flash Sales can be more effective.

4 3 Flash Sale s have more than 2x the increase in transaction rates compared to other offers Overall, Flash Sales generate a 35 percent lift in transaction rates. This is noteworthy given the fact that all mailings with offers in subject lines have an average lift in transaction rates of 16 percent less than half of the increase Flash Sale s provide. 0.12% 0.10% 0.08% 0.06% 0.04% 0.02% 0.00% Flash Sales generate a 35% lift in transaction rates 0.11% 0.08% Transaction rates Create a sense of urgency by clearly mentioning the discount, as well as the time limit of the discount, in the subject line. All mailings same clients Flash Sales (<24 hours) 4 Flash Sales cause more actions and transactions Seventy-four percent of mailers have higher transaction-to-click rates, and 67 percent have higher transaction rates, on their Flash Sales compared to their yearly rate. The best Flash Sales have some combination of strong offers (50% to 70% off) and a selection of desirable products.

5 5 Flash Sales perform well in the evening Flash Sale s sent after 3pm tend to perform better than Transaction rates and revenue per are higher in evening Flash Sales mid-day or Lunchtime sales. $0.15 $0.14 Evening Flash Sales have 9% higher open rates than Lunchtime sales, and 33% higher total click rates. $0.12 $ % $ %.12%.10%.08% Transaction rates are 23% higher for evening Flash Sales compared to Lunchtime sales, and revenue per is $0.06 $0.03 $0.00 Evening Lunchtime.06%.04%.02%.00% 30% higher in the evening. Regardless of the reason for the Revenue per Transaction rates higher performance, testing time of day can help your message stand out. If you can t test sending a Flash Sale later in the day, test sending a reminder to those that opened and clicked but did not convert. The lack of inbox competition for the customer s attention later in the day, offers marketers an opportunity to optimize Flash Sale campaigns to improve ROI. For more information on Flash Sales, StrategicServices@cheetahmail.com or visit our blog at experian.com/marketingfoward.

6 Experian Marketing Services 955 American Lane Schaumburg, IL Experian Information Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved. Experian and the Experian marks used herein are service marks or registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners. September 2011

The coupon report: Benchmark data and analysis for e-mail marketers

The coupon report: Benchmark data and analysis for e-mail marketers : Benchmark data and analysis for e-mail marketers Coupon trends and strategies for successful e-mail marketing An Experian white paper Introduction The Internet is quickly becoming a major channel for