AM Inbox: Horrible product photography

RetailEmail.Blogspot monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 of the top online retailers. Here are highlights from our inbox this morning:

Urban Outfitters, 11/16 — UO x Nylon
I’ve seen some fantastic product photos from retailers—Ralph Lauren and Neiman Marcus leap to mind. I’ve also seen some lackluster product photos, but this is certainly among the worst that I’ve witnessed. Urban Outfitters seemed to go out of their way to ensure that the designs of the t-shirts were obscured by either the models’ hair or bright light or folds and shadows. Thankfully the product shots on the landing page are solid, but it forces subscribers to clickthrough in order to see decent pictures. You’re trying your subscribers’ patience when you make them work extra hard to shop with you like that.



Macy’s, 11/16 — One Day Sale: Don't miss the extra savings!
It looks like Macy’s was doing a pseudo-A/B test, exploring the effects of animation in their emails. In this Friday email, they use a 5-frame animated gif.



Here’s the animated portion of that email:


Macy’s, 11/17 — Ends at midnight - Shop the One Day Sale!
…and then in this Saturday email they use four out of the five images in the animation from the Nov. 16 email across the bottom of the creative. While not a true A/B test because it was two separate emails, it can give Macy’s some indication of the performance of each method. Macy’s used a design similar to the Nov. 16 in an Oct. 19 email, so it’s possible that this part of an ongoing test of animation.



Toys “R” Us, 11/16 — Our Commitment to Safety: A Holiday Message from Toys"R"Us, Inc Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
As we head into the core of the holiday season, Toy “R” Us is still doing damage control from the late summer toy recalls (see Sept. 14 AM Inbox). Having this kind of message come from the chairman lends it extra credibility (although after three major recalls he may not have much credibility to wield). Retailers have used this same tactic when issuing apologies for site outages, etc. (Explore tag: Apologies).

Two points about the subject line: First, it’s not grammatically correct. It needs either a “the” after “from” or an apostrophe-S on “Inc.” And second, coming in at 100 characters, it could have been shorter. An alternative could have been: “Our Commitment to Safety: A Holiday Message from Our CEO”—which is only 56 characters. The subject line seems overly concerned about getting Storch’s full title in there.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER:
Circuit City, 11/18 — Coupon inside--shop now, turkey makes you sleepy
Sears, 11/18 — Get set for Thanksgiving with 50% OFF tableware
Lillian Vernon, 11/16 — Pre-Thanksgiving Sale! Save on Toys, Décor & More
Costco, 11/16 — It's Here! Thanksgiving Week Savings on costco.com!
Hallmark, 11/18 — Still time to SAVE UP TO 20% on Thanksgiving centerpieces
Linens ’n Things, 11/16 — Introducing Our Gift Shop + 20% Off
Lands’ End, 11/16 — Our gifts last; free shipping doesn't. 4 days!
Brookstone, 11/16 — Quick and easy holiday decorating-indoors and out!
Home Depot, 11/16 — Prepare for the Holiday's with Great Appliance Offers
RadioShack, 11/16 — Blow Out Deals! Beat the rush.
Cooking.com, 11/16 — Holiday Gift Preview + Special Shipping Offer
Neiman Marcus, 11/16 — FREE SHIPPING & win Tory Burch + FREE GIFT WRAP on THE BIG 100
Road Runner Sports, 11/16 — Hurry! Enjoy FREE Shipping + Shop Over 400 New Arrivals & Gift Ideas!
Bluefly, 11/18 — Always a Hit: The Little Black Dress
Nascar, 11/18 — Jimmie Johnson - 2007 NEXTEL Cup Champion!
Neiman Marcus, 11/18 — FREE SHIPPING AT ANY PRICE + These aren't your grandmother's florals!
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